Sagrí - temple of Démeter - Pýrgos Bazéou - Damariónas - Chalkí

Evaluation: This hike is fairly long and not that easy because the trails in the surroundings of the temple of Démeter are not really obvious. But the trip is really worthwhile: you get to know a part of Náxos with not a lot of hiking opportunities, but the site of the temple is very well reconstructed – also the restored tower of Bazéou is one of the best preserved ones. If you still would like to pay a visit to this temple, but by taking a shorter hike, we refer to the hike Sagrí – temple of Démeter - Sagrí. This hike gets an evaluation of **.

Estimated time: For the bus ride from Chóra to Sagrí – the route that is taken by most of the buses to Chalkí and Filóti – you should count some 40 minutes. It will take you about 20 minutes (AWT) to get to Ano Sagrí, and then another 25 minutes to the temple of Démeter. Half an hour later you reach the tower of Bazéou, and some 45 minutes later you arrive in Damariónas – it then takes another 15 minutes to reach Chalkí. All together this makes for 2h15 actual walking time. In reality you should multiply this by two, when taking into account the pauses and the times to look around and to relax. The site of the temple of Démeter is a very pleasant picnic spot. To return from Chalkí you should have checked the time tables of the buses in advance; if there is no bus you might have to call a taxi…

Route description: Do not forget to ask whether the bus does go along Sagrí, 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.

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 town of Ano Sagrí. You walk on a paved road and all the time you go in the same south-south-eastern direction. If you are lucky you will manage to reach the other side of the village, near the deserted 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.

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.]

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.

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: when taking a left it would take you about five minutes to reach the church of Agios Nikólaos, where you were just a moment ago. However, you should go down on the right. Across the stream the trail turns into a nice rocky path for a short while; you then get to some concrete and a fairly long gravel road in the direction of the tower. Some ten minutes after the junction you arrive at the asphalt road. You have to follow this road for about seven minutes; in front you see the tower and on your right-hand side you can discern the plateau of Liás, at an altitude of 543 metres. On this plateau you notice the church of the Panagía Kalorítissa and the chapel of the Profítis Ilías all the way on top. Just before reaching the tower, you get to a steep road off the right to Kalorítissa (there is a signpost): the view from up there should be marvellous, but unfortunately the road is monotonous and there is not even a decent trail.

The 17th century tower was bought by the Bazéos-family in the 19th century, from which the tower took its name. Because also a monastery has been located in this tower, the building is also known under the name of Tímios Stavrós-tower. Since the year 2000 the restored tower has been used as a cultural centre for concerts and exhibitions.

Just before you reach the tower there is a nice trail off the right (red dot) – this is the trail you follow for the remainder of the hike. After a short while you get to a junction where you keep to the right and after about five minutes you walk underneath a large concrete reservoir. You continue on a beautiful, large path, with a nice view on the valley, all the way from Sagrí to Apáno Kástro. Some ten minutes later you walk on the right of a small hill and after fifteen minutes you reach another junction. You take a right and after a short while you arrive at a gravel road, which curves to the left. Straight ahead you distinguish a stump of a tower and you get to a small concrete road. To the left you could walk to Tsikalarió and Chalkí; you take a right though, and you thus get to a nice, flat road, which meanders between the olive trees and the flowering broom – all the time you have a nice view on Chalkí.

After five minutes you keep to the left and after another five minutes to the right – you DO NOT go in the direction of the domed church of Damalás. For another fifteen minutes you continue to follow this main road until you finally get to Damariónas. At the first houses you can descend to the left and a zigzaging road brings you to a small monument. For about 100 metres you then follow the asphalt road off the right, until you get to the actual war monument. Another alternative is to first continue straight ahead for a short while and only later on go down through the beautiful village; in this way you will also get to the road and the war monument. 

On the left of the war monument you go down the staircase and some twenty metres further on you take a large road off the right. At the following junction you go left; after about five minutes you pass an old wash place and the trail gets narrower. It meanders between walls and crosses a bridge. Then it goes right and some twenty metres further it goes left again. You thus get past a sports field with beyond it a beautiful view to Filóti. Just past a concrete slope you reach another trail (which you followed on the hike from Filóti to Chalkí) and you go straight ahead on a very beautiful and narrow trail. Across the wall you can see the picturesque church of Agios Geórgios on the right. A little later on you get to the first houses; you keep to the left slightly and you thus reach the beautiful wash place with a well on the right. You are now right underneath the large road: you go straight ahead up the concrete slope and you thus arrive at the road Sagrí - Filóti. Straight ahead and a little to the right you find the little square near the tavern O Giánnis – with the most pleasant outdoor terrace of Chalkí.

[If you have not yet paid a visit to Chalkí, you should definitely have a look first: by taking the shopping street leaving from O Giánnis you arrive close to the church Panagía i Evangelístria i Protótronos. This church contains some beautiful wall paintings and specially a marvellous ikonostási; unfortunately though, the church is usually closed. Your best bet is in the early evening: at that time of the day you might see the papás opening the church in order to go and sing the vespers. In this way you can both admire the treasures of the church and enjoy the singing of the priest! On the left of the church you can walk into the small street to have look at the large tower of the Pýrgos Grazía: also here you can notice the coat of arms of the famous Venetian family Barozzi above the entrance.]

You can find the bus stop opposite the church.