Chóra - Moni Chozoviótissa - Asfondilítis - Egiáli

Evaluation: This is definitely one of the most fabulous hikes on Amorgós. You follow the spine of the island, you get to know the marvellous Chozoviótissa-monastery, you discover some unique landscapes and you finally arrive at the pleasant bay of Egiáli, where you can have a swim. This hike obviously gets the maximum evaluation of ****.
[Update by Raymond on 17 September 2011, on 12 May 2013, on 23 September 2015 and on the 2^nd of October 2017 .]
[The translation of this walk was made with some help of Google translate - so, please, do not mind the mistakes...]

Estimated time: The actual hiking time (AWT) takes about 4h20 for the total distance of 13,5 km, so it is necessary to depart fairly early – for example by taking the bus from Katápola to Chóra at about 9am. It is advisable to visit the monastery before the arrival of the majority of the tourists, so around 10am at the latest. You can then picnic after having been hiking for about two hours, close to the deserted village of Asfondilítis. You will thus get to Egiáli at about 4pm which means that you still have time for some relaxing hours at the beach. You can take your evening dinner in one of the taverns at the harbour and you can return to Katápola with the evening bus (about 45 minutes) or with the Express Skopelítis (about 1 hour).

Route description: (0h00) From the bus stop at the entrance to Chóra you leisurely walk to the other side of the village, via the Mési, the main street.
You therefore go past the Bayoko café and the farmakío (pharmacy) and on the left-hand side of the beautiful church of Agii Pándes. A little further down you find two other little churches on the left: at this marvellous corner you take a right and you get in this way to the main street, the Mési, which you follow to the left. 
Just past the Zígos-bar you can see the Gavras-tower on your right hand side (dating from the 16^th century), with the archaeological museum (open 8h30 - 15h00, not on Monday). Further on you pass the churches of Zoödóchos Pigí and Tris Ierárches. 
You finally get to the pleasant square of the Plateáki, with the beautiful terrace of Kath' Odon. You continue by taking the stairs on the left side and on the nice little square with the trees, you proceed to the left of two simple churches. You pass through the Embrostiáda, a nice kamára or vaulted passage, and so you leave the village by passing the schools (the gymnásio and the dimotikó), until you get to the OTE-building (the telephone company) and the aerial.

(0h10) On the right side of the big square, you find a sign pointing to the right to the monastery, but first you should definitely admire the marvellous view on the large open spot in front of you. To the right and behind a metal gate, starts the marvellous descent to the monastery (hiking sign). For 15 minutes you now follow the magnificent staircase going down, high above the sea.

(0h25) In this way you arrive after about 290 steps at the asphalt road which you already saw running deep underneath (hiking sign Chozoviótissa 20’). You take this road to the left for about 6 minutes, till the parking lot. You go through the entrance and immediately you get a first view on the impressive monastery. You go up a very beautiful staircase with about 240 steps to the monastery, which is high and sparkling white and which seems to be stuck to the overwhelming cliff.

You definitely have to spend enough time to visit this monastery at ease; you have to remember though, that you have to be dressed decently in order to enter (men have to wear long trousers and women a skirt or some long pants and covered arms – these long clothes are available at the entrance of the monastery). The oldest buildings here date back from the 9^th century, the current building is 5 metres wide at the most and there are 8 floors. Amongst others you should notice the nice Venetian arch above the low entrance (dating from the 15th century), and the beautiful icons in the little church. The monks offer you some water, loukoum and a glass of liqueur, so it is recommended to also leave a small gift behind for the guardians of the marvellous spot.

(0h41) When leaving the monastery, you can now start with the actual hike. You go through the metal gate (hiking sign Asfondilítis 1h50 / Egiáli 3h30 and [1]). A staircase takes you up even higher, along the rocks and after 5 minutes you arrive at the top [1]; 2 minutes later, you get to a second gate [1] - for some minutes, the descent is difficult, because of the loose stones [1]. You cross a big slope with loose stones and then you get to a stretch between vegetation. The landscape is impressive and the silence is overwhelming; high above you towers a huge cliff and on the right you see the sea deep beneath. About 10 minutes after the monastery, the path becomes easier and you climb now slowly. Along your path, you see big red marks and signs…

(0h59) Twenty minutes after the monastery you get to a kind of plateau, strewn with big white rocks and with remnants of stable walls – behind you, the highest top of the monastery is just disappearing.
You continue over the rocky and overgrown slope, going straight ahead all the time (you pass a path off the left which leads to the Byzantine church of the Panagia Theoskepastí and further on another path off the right to Agios Ioannis Chrysóstomos - signs). You then go up towards the left on a stony path, in the direction of the brown line through the landscape; this line is a stony road which you reach after about 10 minutes.

(1h09) You follow this useless destruction of the landscape through an impressive and rocky wilderness. Some 21 minutes later you reach a kind of saddle with the two coasts of Amorgós both to the left and the right. There is a crossing of roads and also a well.

(1h29) You should continue here to the right (hiking sign Asfondilítis 55’ / Egiáli 2h40 and [1]): your trail runs to the left of a stony road, with to the right the Xenodochio, the remnants of a kind of medieval hotel on the road from Chóra to Egiáli. The trail zigzags between the low vegetation and goes up for a little while - some large cairns show you which way to go, and after 4-5 minutes, you again see a [1]. You walk high above the modern road and you get a marvellous view on the carved north coast and on the island of Nikouriá. The brownish trail remains visible in front of you and continues almost flatly.
After 9 minutes, the trail climbs again, you pass a large cairn in masonry and you climb towards the highest point of the gray cap in front of you, with a splendid view to the left on Kéros and Náxos.

(1h45) You get now to the highest point of your walk, at an altitude of about 420 meters, with on the right the summit of the Kástellas (485 m) – the view on Nikouriá is still fantastic; you see how the brownish trail continues to the next height. So you go down, then you go up again and you find in front of you an impressive valley: the path will now run around this valley.
The trail stays approximately at the same height and begins to descend only after 7 minutes, with gray rocks on your right - from time to time, there is a large cairn built with bricks.

(2h01) When you get next to a big pale cairn, you arrive in front of a shallow bowl-shaped valley; the trail continues far ahead, beside or between crumbling walls. On your left you see passing a triangular summit, 460 meters high. You thus arrive between walls, which further on diverge: you follow the right wall. The walls converge and diverge again, and then you should follow the left wall; in this way you arrive between some ruins, with a goat farm on the left side.

(2h13) You go through a passage in a side-wall and later on, the trail becomes stony again, with a wall on the left [1]; the wall veers to the left and shortly after, you finally see the abandoned village Asfondilítis in front of you.
You descend on a very stony path: it continues on the slope covered with vegetation and you approach very slowly a long wall; after 9 minutes, you continue along or between walls.
You thus arrive at the recent asphalt road (hiking sign Egiáli 1h50), which becomes a gravel road beyond a large double gate. This (too) large gravel road continues between fields and some stables – this is Asfondilítis. (2h39)

Until recently, this "village" was totally abandoned, lonely on the rocky plateau. In recent years, houses were built here and there, and a few houses are restored - there is even a café to the left, which is open in Summer. The church has been restored too - a little too much for our taste ...
You are definitely more than halfway now, because you have already been hiking for 2 hours and 40 minutes.

(2h39) Beyond the church, you continue straight - the road becomes a broad path. Pay attention: BEFORE the last of the eight wells you have to walk up to the left [1] - the path on the right descends to Chálara. Mind also the graffiti on the rocks on your left-hand side, at the beginning of the ascent. They are old, because you even notice dates like 1916 and 1920. 
For many more minutes you now follow the marvellous trail: in front of you, you can already distinguish the triangular top of the mountain, with on the left side the stump of a mill – your path will pass on the left-hand side of this hill.

(2h47) After 7 minutes there are several stretches with large flat stones and after 4 minutes you start going up to the pass, on a wonderful trail that rises gradually. The electricity poles without wires tell you that Asfondilítis was still inhabited a few decades ago... Just before you reach the pass, you should keep to the left – the path to the right descends to Chálara (signs).

(3h04) You cross the windy pass to the left of a white stable, you pass through a breach in the side-wall and you continue straight between converging walls. So you arrive on a stony plain – this is Oxo Meriá.
You continue between walls again, with some stables to the right, and then you discover the sea on your left. The trail will now surround a magnificent amphitheatre, first on a flat or slightly descending path, then rising gradually - all the time between walls. In this way, you will arrive at the chapel of Agios Mámas, which you can already spot from here.
Pay attention: after 3 minutes you have to keep to the right: the path that goes down on the left leads to an old farm and you would then be obliged to follow a very steep climb. It is better to take a right and in this way you can continue easily during nearly 10 minutes.
At the end, you obviously keep to the right between ruins [1], you first rise on a stony path, later on on heavy steps, and so you arrive on the left of the chapel. Again you notice the beautiful view over Nikouriá, especially in the evening light. 

(3h26) From now on you will only descend, first on a very stony path. You already can see Tholária, then the pier of Egiáli appears, later also Langáda; behind you, towards the left, you can see the sandy tongue of Agios Geórgios, in the narrow strait that separates Amorgós from Nikouriá. You then descend for a long time on an uneven paving or on steps - good shoes are quite useful again. On a stony path you then descend in a side-valley and below you can see a well and some fig trees.

(3h42) The trail is now more or less flat, but further on you get to the descent to Potamós – following many, many steps. You pass on a well and, next to the first houses of the village, you arrive at a concrete street.

(3h57) This is Potamós, where you pass the nice Kamára cafe. You pass also a small chapel and later on the parking lot. After 250 steps you reach Káto Potamós: at the side-street, you take a right and down. You describe a curve to the left and then you go right – in this way, you arrive at the main church, where you descend to the right. 
The stairs turn left again and so you come after 180 steps under the church, where you continue to descend – and after another 280 steps you reach the end of a concrete road (hiking sign Chóra 4 hours).

[Pay attention: recently, red signs and trail markers [1] send you straight; in this way, the hike could continue to the right of Egiáli and lead to the beautiful path towards Langáda...]

(4h12) However, you should follow the concrete road to the LEFT; later, you cross an asphalt road and just before the end of the road and opposite the post office, you take the small street on the left. It bends to the right, it passes next to some tempting cafes and it arrives at the water-side, opposite the pier, and next to Mike’s hotel. (4h20)

On the right of the harbour pier you find the bus stop and also a couple of restaurants. And more importantly, the beach of Egiáli is a very pleasant place to spend some relaxing hours. The bus trip takes about 45 minutes (there is one at 6pm), but in a little office you can also buy tickets for the Express Skopelítis, the boat that goes back to Katápola usually at 7.30pm. The boat trip through the narrow channel in between the main land and Nikouriá is really worthwhile and in one hour you are back in Katápola.

[If you want to make this hike in the opposite direction, you have to depart from the harbour pier in Egiáli and take the street which leads straight to Potamós. Over there you follow the staircase which goes up to the church with the blue dome and then you go higher and higher all the time.
We would suggest though, to make this hike in the direction Chóra-Egiáli: climbing up from  Egiáli is quite difficult and long, while at Chóra you begin this hike at a higher altitude already. It is also much better to visit the monastery in the early morning – in the afternoon, the monastery lies in the shadow – and… when arriving in Egiáli there is the great beach to freshen up!]