Chóra - Apíkia - Evrousés - Strapouriés - Mesathoúri - Ypsiloú - Chóra |
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Evaluation:
This walk is a combination of hike [2] until Apikia, walk [10] until
Mesathoúri and hike [1] that goes back to Chóra. You combine in this way
three splendid stretches, which makes that this hike deserves the
maximum of ****. Route description: (0h00) For all hikes leaving from Chóra you have to depart from the main street near the large church of the Panagía tis Kímisis, which is visible from all over town (for more details you might have a look at the description of the short hike in Chóra itself). For the hikes in the direction of Apíkia and Vourkotí you have to follow the main street inland for a short while (to the right when facing the church). You then have to take the first street off the right, the Odós Stamátis Empiríkou. Via a staircase of about 50 steps you thus descend until you get to a promenade with a couple of restaurants; you are now close to the mouth of a small river, where the Nimborió-quarter begins. You cross the bridge – on the parking lot on the right side, there is an information board of Andros Routes – and you follow the asphalt road for 1 more minute, between the palm trees. (0h08)
After
1 minute you take a left
and you walk on
the wide white
stairs (walking
sign to Apíkia 3,2 km
/ Bistis tower 5 km / Katakaléï 4,9 km / Vourkotí
7,1 km +
[2]). The hiking sign at the beginning of walk [2]. Then you continue straight ahead on the concrete ramp and follow the street [2], until you arrive at a cross street, where you go to the right [2]. Almost immediately a beautiful staircase begins along a wall [2]. A look back, on the beautiful path from Chóra to Apíkia. Later on, the really beautiful trail is sometimes 3-4 metres large and it climbs gradually above Chóra and the sea, for about 9 minutes. Panoramic view on Chóra. You
then get to a concrete road and you follow it, while describing a curve
to the left [2], but after about one minute this road becomes again a
very nice trail.
(0h24)
Another 4 minutes
later you get to an asphalt road off the right, but you follow the
ancient staircase going up on the left [2].
You continue on a
large staircase, overgrown with flowers.
Some 4 minutes later
this staircase crosses an asphalt road - on the left you can see a
commemoration plate from 1907 for the "great patriot" Alkibiádis
Empiríkos, “because he created a road from
the
town to there”.
In Spring, a lot of flowers cover the path... (0h28)
You
already have a great panoramic view on Chóra, but you have to continue
climbing up on the staircase [2]; after 7 minutes you pass an (open)
chapel with a terrace and stone benches. After another 50 steps, you cross the asphalt road and
you continue, via a newly constructed staircase (hiking sign Apíkia 1,7
km / Vourkotí 5,6 km + [2]). You
continue going up, towards the hill crest. Over here you can really
admire the walls, built in a typical Andriotic way: these walls
are made out of regular stones alternated with large, flat
schist-plates; this method of construction was probably used to save
building materials and time, but it also resulted in a very aesthetic
unity. Have also a look at the construction of the trail itself – with
the foundation stones piled up vertically! The typical walls on Andros. The nice pavement of the path. The side of the monopáti. (0h36) After another 8-9 minutes, the stone pavement of the trail has basically disappeared – it is quite likely that the stones have been used to build the walls in the neighbourhood. You cross another broad asphalt road, leading to Agia Marína, and you go straight ahead (hiking sign and [2]). You are now on the crest of the hill and in front of you you discover the beautiful, green valley of Apíkia (with the remarkable Sáriza-hotel); all the way high up the mountain slope you can distinguish the village of Katakaléï, on the right there is the village of Steniés and on the far right the bay of Giália. View on Apíkia. (0h46) Since the gravel
road you crossed a couple of minutes ago, your trail thus has become a
gravel road as well, which you follow for about 6 minutes – for some
moments, you see above you and to the left the big monastery of Agia
Marina; near the driveway to a house (gate), you keep to the left. Three
minutes later, the trail continues
down to the right [2]. Some 3-4 minutes later this beautiful trail
splits up and you go down on the right (sign). The shadowed path, just before you reach the bridge underneath Apíkia. The bridge near Apíkia.
(1h03)
You then
proceed on a paved staircase and a concrete ramp, you cross the asphalt
road (sign) and you continue on the other side on a concrete staircase
[2]. [Here, you could
continue to the left to the waterfalls of Pithára (hiking sign
+ [2a]) - see the walk Chóra - Apíkia - Pithára and back.] You go right for a
short while (hiking sign + [2], with the big hotel Pigí Sáriza in front
of you, and on the left-hand side of the hotel you go up the shining
white staircase (hiking sign Vourkotí 3,9 km + [2]) until you see the
famous Sáriza-well on the left in front of you. One still can read the
date 1787.
The
water of this well is famous and it is bottled in a small factory a
little further down in the village. (1h04)
The Sáriza well in Apíkia. [Opposite the closed hotel, there is since August 2013 the café-restaurant "Tou Parianoú", with nice music and a very good espresso...]
(1h10)
You continue to follow walk [2]: you still climb, but after
62 steps (with to the right the school and 50 meters further the
church), you do NOT proceed towards the church, but you keep to the left
on a narrow staircase [2] and you continue to climb the concrete stairs
while keeping to the left [2] - there are still 150 steps [2].
The hiking sign for walk [10] to Evrousés. |
This
road comes to a dead end after 2 minutes, but there is a concrete path
that goes straight between houses [10]; this trail soon becomes a long
concrete staircase with an irrigation gutter next to it, where water
flows abundantly.
(1h28) Later, you cross to
the right a rocky riverbed and you continue to the
left [10] through a gate. The trail is a little overgrown now, but the
stretch that follows is beautiful - you are still going through a rocky
bed and you go up on a few sets of rocky steps - notice the many water
pipes in this area with abundant water, and also the beautiful view
behind you, up to Steniés and Giália.
The nice path to Evrousés. (1h35)
You reach an open slope with a beautiful view of the valley - on the
other side, you already see the chapel of Taxiárchis. When you reach a
small gate, you go up to the right [10] and you finally reach the top -
for the time being...
The river in Evrousés.
For the continuation of
the walk, you can step over the
water, a little to the left, you again go up [10] and you get to the
side-path [10a] (hiking sign Ano Evrousés 1 km). You continue on the
main trail that climbs to the left [10] (sign Strapouriés 1,4 km /
Mesathoúri 2,9 km). You climb quickly on a path that is most of the time
rocky, sometimes stony - it continues between beautiful walls,
especially towards the end. Soon, you see the chapel high in front of
you and you have a very nice view of Apikia; after a climb of 9
minutes, you arrive at the top next to the chapel of the Archangel Gabriël or Taxiárchis - it is open and you enjoy a beautiful view of the
valley that winds up to Apikia.
Two details of the path between Evrousés and Strapouriés: just before the chapel of Taxiárchis, to the right the path towards the hill crest. (2h07) You cross the road and you continue on the right side of the cistern between walls [10]. There is some concrete for a while, then you continue to the right on a stony path between walls [10]. The whole valley already extends in front of you, with Chóra to the left! After 3 minutes, there is a bifurcation where you take a left [10] following the left wall, and you still veer left to arrive again between walls, always with beautiful views of Chóra. You still veer left and after a few minutes you reach another beautiful spot, with lots of water, which flows next to the remains of a water mill - there is a nice bench.
The remains of a water mill.
(2h14)
Pay attention: for the continuation of the descent, you should stay to
the right of the water [10] - a beautiful descent right next to the
water. You veer to the right [10] with the irrigation gutter, but a
little further, you go left [10] on a concrete path and later on, you step over
the gutter. After a few steps, you are going down to the right [10], then left again, and
you still go down on concrete steps [10]. (2h52) Near the tower of the church, you keep to the right [1], and a little later you get to a concrete road that you follow to the left ([1] on a pole). You follow this road for a few moments, but after 2 minutes, you continue to the RIGHT on a staircase (sign Chóra 55 minutes and [1]) - and right now, you arrive next to the first source of Ypsiloú (date 1763). The inscription on the first source of Ypsiloú. At
the next crossroads, you turn RIGHT onto a narrow concrete path [1], but
soon you follow a nice paved staircase. Close to the house with the high
white chimney, you keep to the LEFT [1]. You pass above the church with
the blue dome of Ypsiloú, and further, still near a white house, you
take another left [1].
The last source of Ypsiloú and an old bridge of benefactor Empiríkos.
You get to the road again, where you continue on
the opposite side ([1] on a pole). You
continue straight and shortly after, you veer left on the concrete path
along a gutter and again next to a nice row of cypresses [1].
Chóra in the evening sun. (3h30)
You cross a small concrete road [1] and - while enjoying magnificent
views of Chóra, bathed in the evening sun - you finally arrive, after a
splendid stretch of 6 minutes, in the valley and on the road [1] that
leads straight into the river bed with the wooden bridge.
with only the text in one column, click here. |