Ioulída - Míli - Thólos - Kalogerádos - Ioulída

Evaluation: This hike first follows the trajectory of the (barely signposted) hike [9], but it then – unintentionally - deviates from this hike [9], in order to return to Ioulída via a gravel road that is not indicated on the Anávasi-map. It gets an evaluation of **. 

Estimated time: This fairly short hike only takes about 80 minutes (actual walking time) to the gravel road in Kalogerádos and then another 30 minutes till the mills and thus back to Ioulída – this means a total walking time of about 3 to 3 1/2 hours.  

Route description: For all hikes departing from Chóra you leave from the parking place (with bus stop). You walk on the left of the small shop of Kianos, through the picturesque arched passage (the stóa). In this way you arrive at a tiny square, the Piátsa, with the outdoor terrace of the café/estiatório I Piátsa. The small street on the left leads to the Kástro, but you take a right, through a modern vault, to the centre. After some 20 metres you keep to the right at a large wooden hiking sign; in front of you, you can see the church with the red dome of the Agios Dimítrios. You pass the nice bar + terrace En Levkoó and via the Odós A. Lazarídi it takes you a few hundred metres to get to the central square, the "platía", with the "dimarchío" or town hall.
You continue and at the small electricity store you take a right almost immediately; you then go up the staircase street (a small sign points to the "archaíos léoon", the "old lion"). After some 2 minutes you get to the junction of the important hikes [1] (straight ahead to the Lion and Otziás) and [3] (on the right to Karthéa). You now take a right into the Odós Ilía Malavózou, a nice staircase street, and you follow thus the trajectory of hike [3] for a short while. After 14-15 steps, you go up straight across on the right [3] and a little further you keep to the left [3]. After 77 steps you pass one of the three bakeries of Ioulída and slightly further you find a mini-market on the left. Over here you can still buy some drinks or other supplies.  

Hike [3] continues up, but you have to take a right. Thereafter you take the 2^nd staircase on the left (just before an arched passage), and then the 1^st on the left; you go through two other vaults and then you take the 1^st staircase on the left again – you thus keep going higher and higher. After 1 minute this staircase gets to a small concrete street – you go left for a short while and then you take the uppermost street going up on the right. About 1 1/2 minute later you get to a nice staircase, which brings you to the asphalt road in about 2 minutes. Almost straight across you notice a wooden sign "Thólos 20' / Kalogerádos 50' / Elliniká 1u45" and that is the beginning of your hike [9].

The staircase goes up beautifully and it then arrives between walls; you thus climb up for a fair amount of time – sometimes the steps are rough-hewn in the rock. After 5 minutes you reach the gravel road that runs over the hill crest with the mills, close to a chapel. Over here, there used to be 26 mills, mainly on the right, but also on the left – this is the largest number of mills anywhere on the Cyclades! You follow the gravel road to the left, but some 50 metres further, between a house and the first of two mills, the old trail takes a right; in this way you pass on the right-hand side of the 2 mills. You thus avoid a part of the road, but a little later you do get to this road again, where you take a richt. Further down, you go to the right again (there is a red [9] on the wall). 

[Some 10 metres on the left of this road you find the beginning of the overgrown staircase, leading to the 512-metres high summit of the Thólos.]

You thus take a right on the concrete road and you climb up a little. You then have a nice view on the row of mills; you can count 13 of them, of which some have been restored. About 3-4 minutes later you DO NOT go left, of course, but you proceed straight ahead. After a few more minutes you reach the highest point of the road (approximately 420 metres), with on the left a great view on the slopes of the Profítis Ilías, densely covered with oak trees. After a couple of more minutes you pass the chapel of Agios Ioánnis Theológos: it is open and was restored in 2001.

Slightly further, you can see a cart track on the left (red [9] + an arrow to the left) and you now walk steadily, usually going down slightly on the slope of the valley full of oak trees.

[In order to follow hike [9], you have to watch out, some 13 minutes after the beginning of the cart track, or 14 minutes after you have passed the chapel of Theológos! You then notice a rocky staircase going down into the valley on the left – on the reverse of a stone on the left, you can see a vague [9]. See the walk Ioulída - Agios Nikólaos.]

Today, we walk past the barely visible turn of hike no. [9] and some 4 minutes further, the cart track turns into a path – which is fairly narrow and overgrown. A couple of minutes later you pass a large bush (not without difficulties), and then also some tree-stumps. This should not put you off, though, because after a few minutes you reach a junction, about 32 minutes past the chapel of Theológos. Over here you take a right and thereafter the trail becomes broader and more obvious. Some minutes further there is another junction and you go right again, and up. The clear trail goes up fairly steeply now. You then get to a flat part, where you can admire the green interior of Kéa. On the left in front of you, you can clearly see the continuation of the trail and indeed, the following climbs up are rather nasty. You finally arrive at a gravel road, some 50 minutes all together after the chapel of Theólogos.

You now follow this gravel road – which is not indicated on the Anávasi-map – to the right. This road gradually curves to the right and after some 10 minutes you can already distinguish the mills of Ioulída far away in front of you. About half an hour later you arrive at the hill crest with the mills. You take now the gravel road which passes the ruins, to the right. Later on, you can take the beautiful trail to the left, before the last mill on the small hill (as described in the hike "In and around Ioulída"). You can also continue a little until you get to the sign to Thólos and Kalogerádos, where you have started hike [9] earlier today and where you should take the staircase to the left, of course, to the highest part of Ioulída.