Panagiá - Vársamo - Panagía Kamarotí - Pyrgí and back |
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Evaluation:
This hike begins in Panagiá
and follows first of all for twenty minutes walking path [4], which continues
thereafter until Gýftika. Then you follow beautiful trails through the real
interior of Sérifos, passing by the Panagía Kamaroti, from where start three to
four paths.
Your ultimate goal could be the beautiful beach of Karavás, but there is only a
clear path down to the abandoned hamlet of Pyrgí, situated above the bay.
Deserves ***. That AWT can amount to a total walking time (TWT) of 6 hours, with a picnic near Pyrgí, where you can enjoy the amazing views on the bay of Karavás and the silence ... Route description: [As you start from Panagiá, you first must take the direction of Pýrgos and Galaní, until you take the road to the left to Panagiá. You can leave the car near the first houses where there is also an anonymous café and store, which is almost always open. You continue to walk up to the square and the Byzantine church with the red dome ...] The beautiful Byzantine church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, whose feast is on August 15th – the church dates from 1000 AD! When it is open, you can admire frescoes dating back to the 1300s and there is also a beautiful iconostási.
The church of Panagiá. Some antique columns... ... but the ancient frescoes suffered a lot... (0h00) You continue in the left corner of the small square – there is a sign indicating walk [5] and some signs 4-5 show you the wright way. You then go right, left and right, and at the next crossroads, walk [5] continues straight while walk [4] goes to the left. It is this walk [4] that you will follow and you thus keep to the left.
A very obvious signposting in Panagiá.
You continue straight through the village, you ascend a winding staircase and
when you see on your left a concrete staircase, you go straight - you go up
again, then you descend slightly on a concrete street.
You leave the village after 4 minutes, on a beautiful monopáti, with a deep
valley on the right.
Another 4 minutes later, you descend a little and you see how your path
continues ahead of you.
Down in the valley lays a simple white chapel and then you get to a low stable
with a few buildings to the left. The path leads to the Panagía Kamarotí.
The Panagía Kamarotí. From the chapel, you enjoy a beautiful view over the bay of Sikamiá - there is a trail that descends in this direction, but it stops near Agios Ioannis, the beach is much further down, so it is inaccessible from the Panagía Kamarotí ...(0h44) You follow the gravel road for a few moments, but you almost immediately take a right onto a path that continues to the right of the road - further on it will pass to the left of a farm. At first, you descend slowly, but later much faster following zigzags, to the left of some trees. You then go up again to the left in order to reach a path between walls. You must in any case get to the left of the (abandoned) farm. The stretch that follows is very nice: right in front of you, you see Kýthnos, and on the right side you always see the wide beach of Sikamiá. You get to a rocky ridge, where you find again a deep valley in front of you, with many terraces. (0h56) You continue first straight and slightly to the right, then you veer left - your path is really beautiful, it is apparently still in use and you meet shepherds with their herds of goats. In front of you, you can see an impressive trail that climbs the opposite slope.
Sometimes, you meet herds of goats... |
A winding path goes up on the opposite slope!
After 4 minutes, you keep of course right and descend on a rocky slope, first
right, then left - there are other trails here, but the main trail is very
clear.
You descend in the rocky valley, but you do not continue down to the bottom:
before reaching the bottom, you go left.
You arrive still in the riverbed, and then you go up again on a winding path. The distant bay of Karavás.
(1h17) You descend the ridge in front
of you, but you find no path down to the left towards Karavás, although there is
one on the map.
After having followed a vague trail along a wall during a few minutes, the path
becomes much clearer.
You always follow the ridge, you pass a few stables or abandoned houses and a
path on the left that goes to other buildings.
You get to a small white building and you finally arrive next to a big white
house, which seems still inhabited (in summer anyway), next to other houses in
brownstone – this is the hamlet of Pyrgí. The only inhabited house of the hamlet Pyrgí...
... and a view on the bay of Karavás.
(1h28) Because we find no path down
to Karavás, we prefer return from here the same way we came.
You thus go up, back to the small white building and other ruins – pay
attention: you continue of course always straight and you stay on the crest of
the hill, without taking to the right or further to the left and down.
You should arrive to the right of these rocks...
(1h39) You go up to the left and pass
on the left side of some other rocks; after a flat stretch of 3 minutes, you may
NOT continue on the beautiful path, but you must descend obliquely to the left,
on a relatively difficult terrain.
You continue again horizontally, and then you descend to the left between walls.
The following descent is steep and the trail zigzags down to the riverbed; you
cross it between boulders.
You go up again and a little further, you keep to the RIGHT and up in the
direction of the walls that are above you – the other paths lead to some stables
... The terraces in the valley of Dipotámata,
with Panagiá in the distance.
After 12 minutes, you should of course not go down to the left in the valley,
but you continue further to the right.
A little later, you descend to the left this time in a small side valley, and
then you go up again until next to a small white building (with the date 1942).
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