Estimated time: For the bus ride from Chóra to Sagrí – the route that is taken by most busses going to Chalkí and Filóti – you should take into account some 40 minutes. You will arrive in Ano Sagrí after a twenty-minutes-hike, and then it takes another 25 minutes to the temple of Démeter. It will only last for half an hour to return to Ano Sagrí via the shortest route. All together this makes for 1h15 actual walking time. You should multiply this time span by two when considering some pauses and visits. The site of the temple of Démeter makes for a very pleasant picnic spot. To go back from Ano Sagrí you have to call a taxi; unless you are prepared to walk to the main road and to wait for a bus over there.

Route description: Do not forget to ask whether the bus does go along Sagri, before your departure from Chóra! The bus leaves the outskirts of the town of Chóra quite slowly, but eventually it gets up towards the interiors of the island. After the town of Galanádo you get a marvellous view over the plain of Potamiá – you can also see the church of Agios Mámas. At this point you should ask the driver to stop at the turn to Káto Sagrí.

Panoramic view on the valley of Potamiá with Agios Mámas.

You continue on the asphalt road for another couple of hundred metres, until you get to a little concrete road off the right – there is a signpost to Kanakári. The nice little avenue meanders midst broom and flowers (on the 20th of May 2004); on the way you can also notice that modern Greeks often construct their houses in the same manner as the ancient living towers. In the deserted village of Kanakári you keep to the left and you thus get to a larger asphalt road: on the opposite side you find a church with the impressive name of Iera Mitrópolis Paronaxias Evangelismós tis Theotókou, with a wonderfully shaded front garden; next to it you find the ruins of a tower, which is for sale…

You descend to the left of the church and the tower, on a staircase and a concrete slope. Straight ahead you then find a narrow path between lots of weeds – in front you can see a mill and even higher up there is the town of Ano Sagrí. You go down for a couple of minutes and you then go up again on a nicely tiled trail (which is not to be found on the map). After some five minutes you get to the left of the mill; you continue on a concrete road, past the first houses, and you then zigzag through the village of Ano Sagrí, on a paved road and all the time you go in the same south-south-eastern direction. Your take thus a right, a left, then a right and a left again and when you arrive at the little square with a tree, you go left once more. Further on you take a right and, if you are lucky, you will manage to reach the other side of the village, near the restored monastery of Agios Elefthérios. Opposite this monastery and towards the left you find the monument for Xenákis.

On the opposite side and towards the right of this bust you descend on a concrete staircase and almost immediately you take a narrow sandy road off the right. On the wall you can see the painting of a red temple with an arrow to the right. You follow this sandy road for some four minutes, until you get to a trail off the left with the sign 'Naós Ag. Nikoláou'. The narrow path tends to be somewhat overgrown at first (you should not depart on this hike without long trousers!), but soon you keep more to the left and it gets better. You arrive at a field with a small, picturesque church – at the sign ‘entrance' you can climb over the wall, but the church is closed.

[Later on, after your visit to the temple of Démeter, you will return to this spot.]

You return and you keep following the sandy gravel road further to the left for about five minutes. You pass underneath a church and after another five minutes you take a rocky trail off the left into the valley (there is a worn away arrow, which is barely visible). [The trail straight ahead is beautiful and all the time it runs on the right-hand side of the valley, with a great view on the hill of the temple.]

View of the temple of Démeter.

You thus take a left into the valley, still in the right direction, towards the temple. You cross a muddy valley and you go up until you get to some olive fields. You can now see the temple fairly nearby, but eventually you still have to climb over some walls.  The following route seems the easiest to us: you first climb up from the valley to the fields (there is a red dot); just before the passage to the temple, which is blocked by an iron gate, you should keep to the left of a small building to climb over some walls; via a small field you thus get to the museum.

The temple is situated in a beautiful landscape, with a panoramic view on a pleasant valley towards the south. The temple itself dates from the 6th century BC and in the 5th century AD it was converted into a church. Later on it was completely destroyed and many parts of the church were used to build the chapel of Agios Ioánnis and even some farms in the neighbourhood. Only in 1949 the site of the temple was discovered and after endless searching and puzzling a large part of the temple and of the Christian basilica was reconstructed – the result is really quite impressive. The site is beautifully laid out and a short walk brings you to the small but interesting museum.

The temple of  Démeter.

From the temple you climb over another wall towards the north and in the middle of a pasture you find a narrow trail to the left, which runs in eastern direction. At the end of the large field you take a left and you walk around a stable. You get to a kind of cart track, which you follow for some 100 metres, in the direction of the already visible Bazéou-tower. At last you climb over the right-hand wall and you continue in northern direction, on a path that gets to some olive fields and the Christós-church after a couple of minutes. You can see an ancient floor, some old arches and a couple of vague frescos.  

To the right of the chapel you open an iron gate and then you go all the way to the left, again in northern direction towards the Bazéou-tower. You walk on the left-hand side of a white chapel. At the end of another large pasture you go slightly up to the left, onto the higher up field. You then take a right again, straight towards the tower. At the height of the white chapel you should watch out NOT to descend towards the valley. Instead, you should keep to the left and walk higher up. In this way you get to an obvious trail between walls, which you follow to the right. The trail does go down at this point; in the valley it crosses a small stream and then it goes up again in northern direction. Some 100 metres to the left of the chapel you reach a gravel road, which you follow towards the left, in the right direction.

A little further down you get to a junction: if you would go down on the right, you would follow the hike to the Bazéou-tower and further on to Chalkí (see the hike Sagrí – temple of Démeter - Bazéou-tower - Damariónas - Chalkí). This time though, when following the shorter variant, you take a left. In this way it takes about five minutes to reach the small church of Agios Nikólaos, where you have been just a few hours  ago.

You continue past the church and after a couple of minutes you get to a sand road. You go right here, in the direction of Ano Sagrí. It only takes some five minutes to arrive at this village, near the bust of Xenákis.

You can now choose between three possibilities. If you have a decent memory you can walk back to Kanakári and then continue to the asphalt road, where you can wait for the bus. Usually there is a bus at 5pm, but you should definitely ask before your departure. Another option is to just walk along the asphalt road to the right, when leaving from the bust. You walk past the windmills, you keep to the right at the crossing and in this way you reach the main road, where you can wait for the bus. Finally, you can also call a taxi, but then you have to explain very clearly where you are situated.

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