Filóti - Agia Marína - Zas - Pýrgos Chimárrou

Evaluation: This is a very lonely hike, on the slopes of the highest mountain Zas; in a fairly adventurous manner the hike then continues to the ancient tower of Chimárrou. For the second part of this hike you need a decent sense of direction, but the desolate and beautiful nature is absolutely worthwhile. This hike deserves an evaluation of **.

Estimated time: You can catch the bus to Filóti and then hike up through the village till the small chapel of Agia Marína – this will take about 35 minutes. After Filoti the bus continues in the direction of Apíranthos and Apóllonas and you can save some 20 minutes by asking the driver to get off the bus at the crossing to Danakos. A beautiful trail gets you to the junction in about half an hour, where you could take a right and go up to the summit of Zas. Next, there is a long stretch of about 75 minutes to the twin hills 524 and 523 (Leproú). From this point you can finally distinguish the tower: on the map there is a path, but it is not very obvious. The following descent of about 25 minutes is really difficult and then it takes another 15 minutes alongside the asphalt road to get to the Pýrgos Chimárrou. All together this makes for three hours of actual hiking time – when taking into account some pauses you will devote about six hours (TWT) to this hike. The only possibility to return to Chalkí is by taxi – so do not forget to write down the necessary phone numbers in advance!

Route description: It is usually quite busy in the neighbourhood of the bus stop in Filóti: at this point the roads to Chalkí, to Agia Marína, Apíranthos and Apóllonas and to Damariónas come together. Most of the taverns and shops are situated in the vicinity. For a short while you walk in the direction of Agia Marína (to the right when facing the outdoor terrace of the kafenío O Plátanos). You go up the first steps on the left; you are ascending all the time and then you walk horizontally for a short while in order to pass underneath the church of Agios Andréas. You go higher up again, via the houses 506/507; you should take care to reach the highest point of the village (do not go too much to the right). Via a concrete staircase you get to the highest point, where you can find a small parking lot. There is a small road off the left and to the right of this road you can see two trails: you take the left-hand trail - a truly beautiful path that quite soon gives you a nice view over Filóti. After some five minutes you keep to the right on a rocky spot; over there you find a staircase that meanders upwards. The panoramic views over Filóti, Chalkí, Tsikalarió and to the right over Moní and the entire Tragéa-valley with thousands of olive trees are marvellous – the red roof midst the olive trees is the large school of the Tragéa-valley, next to Chalkí.

After a lot of zigzags there are another 30-40 concrete steps, until you arrive at the asphalt road, which you follow towards the left till the crossing. Over here you take a right, in the direction of Danakós.

[This is the spot where you could ask the driver to get off the bus.] 

A little further down you can take a narrow path off the right and thus cut a corner of the road. When continuing you could make a small detour to the right to go to the chapel of the Profítis Ilías – again this same name! From this point the view is great; you can look all the way to Chóra and beyond you can even discern the island of Páros... From the chapel you turn back for a while and slightly further on you can take a right to get to the next bend in the asphalt road. You continue by following the zigzags of the road and in the meanwhile you have a great view again on the summits and on the white chapels on top of them. After having followed the road for about ten minutes you reach the very modest chapel of Agia Marína. At this point, on the left of the chapel, also the hikes to Danakós and Fotodótis commence. 

Today you take the beautiful, large and shaded trail nr.2, on the right of the chapel. Slightly further you keep to the left on the main trail and after 3-4 minutes you go through an iron gate; you pass a house and the path starts to go up (again there is a figure 2). You climb up easily and after about eight minutes you get to a nice and flat sandy trail. After some ten minutes all together you open a wooden gate (again there is a figure 2). By curving to the left you get against the first – green – slope of the Zas and a little further on you find the beginning of the real climb. Some five minutes later you pass a couple of water reservoirs and you continue upwards to the right. The next stretches are really beautiful – there are some steps and an obvious rock trail, which meanders upwards quite steeply once in a while. To the left, at the far end of the valley you can see Danakós and in front there is the sea with the island of Amorgós. You climb up smoothly (sometimes you notice the figure 2) and after another 15 minutes you reach a wall with some railings on top of it. On the right you can see a cairn – it marks the trail that goes all the way to the top of the Zas. You follow the trail straight ahead, which continues fairly horizontally – you are now at an altitude of 700 metres.

You walk on the right-hand side of a tall wall, but after a couple of minutes you leave this wall to continue on a very beautiful stone path. Later on you descend into a valley with some trees and with lots of goat. You go through an open gate and you move on in south-western direction, underneath a couple of trees. At first you walk again on the left-hand side of a wall, actually going too much to the south-west. After a short while though, the fairly obvious trail curves more to the left. You go down amidst the trees and the bushes and you reach a beautiful and flat path – this path now goes straight in the right direction, so to the south. After 7-8 minutes you arrive at some large trees, located in a depression of the hill. You continue by curving to the left; for a short while you walk on he right-hand side of a wall, but then you should go a little further to the right on a vague trail, running on a rocky and fairly flat side of the hill. You follow the stony hillcrest, you get to the right of a crumbled away wall and you go slightly down on a fairly obvious trail. In front you get a magnificent view on the island of Amorgós, with above it the typical rectangular cloud; to the right there is the island of Irakliá, then the flat island of Schinoússa, the 2 Koufoníssia and beyond the higher island of Kéros – all the way to the left there is the isle of Donoússa. This is a windy, but absolutely great spot. 

In the valley in front of you, you can distinguish your next aim: a chapel and three gravel roads leading towards this chapel. You should watch out now: you descend in the direction of the most right-hand part of the gravel road on the right of the chapel, a valley with lots of trees and a square stable. However, after some five minutes you should keep a little more to the right, in order to follow the clear path on the other flank of a small side-valley. You now go towards a hole in the wall and towards the stable at the beginning of the gravel road. The trail is stony, but it is fairly easy to follow. You open an iron gate in the hole of the wall and you go down on the right of the wall. This descent is quite difficult in the narrow space between the brown rock and the wall – you go all the way down. You go through a wooden gate, which is obviously rarely opened. You continue across the bed of the river and you go up again directly on the opposite side. Once more you walk on the left-hand side of a wall and you keep a little to the left, until you arrive at the gravel road – on the left-hand side of the small building. In fact, there is no trail anymore, but still this part of the hike is feasible. Everywhere you can hear goats and little bells on the slopes and between the rocks – and still, here are quite a lot of trees. 

You follow the gravel road for some five minutes, first going to the right and then meandering to the left. You finally get to a very ugly, modern church. This spot is still littered with building materials and debris, and you can also notice a new bell on the ground (on the 27^th of May 2004). This spot is windy and not very pleasant, but the panoramic view on the island of Amorgós and on the smaller islands is still magnificent. You continue on the left-hand gravel road and you go down for a short while. Already in the first bend though, you find another trail going straight ahead. This path goes towards the south-southwest and at first it is fairly unclear. You should move on towards a point between the lowest tree and the lowest but one tree in front of you. In this way you get to a more obvious trail, which runs about 100 metres above a stable. You are now at an altitude of 550 metres. From here you can see the trail continuing in front of you on the hillside next to a wall – your aim is the depression between the hills in south-southwestern direction in front of you. These are the twin hills of Leproú, the one on the right-hand side has an altitude of 524 metres and the left-hand one – with a small pole on top (a trigonometric point) – has an altitude of 523 metres. On the map the trail runs between these two hills, but it seems a better idea to first aim for the hill on the right. Watch out not to go too much to the left, because you might end up in a very steep valley…

After five minutes you reach some skinny trees and from this point your aims already seems a lot closer. The trail goes clearly to the right, but first you should cross two side-valleys. After another 3-4 minutes you cross the first small gorge in between some trees. You then continue on a vague path, staying more or less at the same level, until you arrive at a very picturesque spot between two trees. From here you can see an obvious trail descending on the right and you can also distinguish the lines of paths continuing on the opposite side – that is where you will finally end up. This means that after the descent between the trees you will have to climb up again quite a lot in order to reach the right trail. But maybe, it is a good idea to first have some rest here – this is an ideal picnic spot, since you can sit on a rock under a tree. The only sounds you hear are the bells of the goats; you can see the sea, the islands and the cliffs of the isle of Amorgós, far away at the horizon beyond the sea. 

After this pause you descend for some three minutes until you get to the narrow gorge. You then go up again to the left straight away, till the lowest path. You continue to go up in the same direction for some five minutes; thereafter you go a little higher up in order to arrive at a  second path. You now walk on a clear earth trail, but do not go too much down or to the left! The slope is longer than expected, but you should continue straight towards the south, until you notice the asphalt road in the green valley in front of you. Also at this point you should not proceed in the direction of the valley. You should continue straight ahead on a barely visible, red-brownish trail between grey rocks, towards the hilltop directly in front of you. At last you arrive on top of the rocky and flat hilltop. The view is marvellous from here as well: in front of you, in south-eastern direction, you can finally discern the Chimárrou-tower at the far end of the road. And further away in front of you, there is still the great view on the islands of Ios and Amorgós, with in between the Small Cycladics. Over here the silence is overwhelming…

You now descend towards the east, in the direction of the twin hill with the pole on top of it. In the gentle valley between the hills you take a right on a very vague trail. Do not try to descend straight towards the tower or the road, because otherwise you will also have to cross a very deep valley! You thus continue more towards the right, in south-western direction – as indicated on the map. You go towards the trees, straight to the extreme right-hand point of the asphalt road. At first there is still a vague trail, but very soon this trail seems to disappear. You should avoid to end up in the bed of the river; instead you should try to get to the right of the bridge. At the end you go through a breach in a wall and then you go through an iron gate. You thus arrive on the asphalt road on the right-hand side of the bridge. You have descended from an altitude of 524 m to an altitude of about 380 metres.

You follow the road to the left; some eight minutes later you can see the tower. After about 12 minutes the asphalt road comes to an end and after fifteen minutes all together you finally reach the tower. The Chimárrou-tower is a Hellinistic tower, which belonged to a fortified farm. This tower was in fairly good condition, until it was badly damaged by a stroke of lightning quite recently – as a result the tower almost collapsed. Restoration works began in 1997, but due to a lack of money the work is not continuing – some piles of marble blocks in the neighbourhood await better times… Inside the tower you can still see the spiral staircase, which goes upward against the inner wall. Really visiting this monument is impossible.

From this point it is a good idea to call a taxi – walking along the road on foot to Filóti would be 12 km, and once arriving there the bus would have left most probably.