Chóra - Kechrovoúni - Arnádos and back

Evaluation: This walk back and forth follows the shortest route to the big monastery of Kechrovoúni and to the village of Arnádos. Your main goal is of course the convent of nuns of Kechrovoúni, but the village of Arnádos also is one of the most picturesque villages of the island. Also the trails and the views are wonderful. This hike deserves the maximum of ****.
[Update by Raymond on April the 27th, 2016 and on September 23rd, 2021.]
[The translation of this walk was made with the help of Google translate - so, please, do not mind the mistakes...]

Estimated time: The actual walking time (AWT) mounts up to a total of 2h50: 1h20 along beautiful trails up to the monastery, 10 minutes until the village of Arnádos and finally again 1h15 to return to Chóra. The way out until Arnádos is 5,24 km long.
But as usual, the total time (TWT) can be much longer: this is especially the case if you - like us – take a long break for a picnic in the front yard of the monastery or on the terrace of a café in Arnádos - we walked from 10h30 to 17h - a total time thus of 6h30 (TWT).

Route description: (0h00) You start in the center of Chóra, near the small roundabout, the so-called exedra, down the wide avenue that leads to the Cathedral of the Panagía Evangelístria (hiking picket for the walks T1). You follow the road along the sea to the right (while having your back to the sea), until you arrive, after 260 meters, at the roundabout with palm trees. You go up to the left in the Odós Alavánou and so you reach after a total of a little less than one kilometer the by-pass road.

(0h14) At this quite complicated crossroads, you see on the right a BP petrol station; 20 meters away, there is another bifurcation: the road to the left leads amongst other things to Falatádos and Stení, the road to the right leads to Agios Ioánnis Pórto and Agios Sóstis.
BETWEEN the junction with the ring road and that next junction, there is a small paved road on the left (the hiking sign Kechrovoúni / Arnádos disappeared).
You climb this road - the pavement becomes concrete after 2 minutes and after another 9 minutes you get again to the road to Falatádos. Just opposite ([12] on a pole), you see the beginning of an old pavec staircase between walls, which becomes very wide a little further – this is the former main route linking Chóra of to the monastíri of Kechrovoúni. After another 7 minutes, you pass a chapel and a windmill - you can enjoy a beautiful view behind you on Chóra!

(0h30) For a few moments, you continue alongside a heavy wall; a little later, your path becomes a small gravel road that has replaced the old trail - the old pavement is still visible here and there. You pass later a road on the right and at a bifurcation, you keep to the left. After 8 minutes, you cross a concrete road that ends here against a fence – more to the right, you see the chapel of Sotiráki. You continue straight between walls [12], but a little further, where a concrete road leads to a farm, there is finally a nice monopáti starting to the left.

(0h39) The wide trail has often kept the old pavement and it slowly turns right around the hill, then winds up gradually until you first come above some terraces and then reach a little concrete road next to a very large house and some chapels .

(0h50) You veer right and left [12] and you go up until you arrive to the right of a chapel. You go right [12] on a path that continues below the asphalt road and you thus get to a bend in this road. You follow the road to the right [12], but then you do NOT continue to the right on the road to Dyó Choriá and Falatádos, but you continue to follow the main road that goes straight (road sign to Kalloní and Pýrgos). A little later you see on your right two chapels on the slope, with a staircase just below the first chapel.

(0h57) You thus go up to the right [12] and so you pass between the two chapels. You climb for 6 minutes on an old path, with old steps that are sometimes half covered with soil and vegetation. You pass a small chapel in ruins, then you climb clearer steps, continuing next to a high wall. You arrive on concrete - and you discover in front of you new concrete skeletons of houses, a brand new project which also requires new roads, which destroyed much of the trail that continues straight.

(1h06) You immediately take the staircase to the left [12]; the overgrown trail first veers to the left, then quite right, crosses after 3 minutes a small concrete road and then continues horizontally. Above a small alóni (threshing floor), you see a narrow path arriving from the left and down, while you go up to the left. The somewhat neglected trail leads after a few minutes to a house with a garden and gets to a cross-path.

(1h11) You take a LEFT; you arrive in this way between an old dovecote and a chapel, and then to the right of a large ruin with another ruin below – from the terrace of the chapel below, you can enjoy a beautiful view. Above the ruin, you cannot continue straight, but you go up to the right [12] on an old staircase that passes between the buildings of the restored monastery of Agios Nikólaos Váni and gets to the asphalt road, after 90 nice steps.

(1h16) You continue on the opposite side [12], first on some concrete steps, and again on many old neglected steps. You get to a concrete slope that rises to the left up to the upper asphalt road, underneath a chapel – on the right side, you see the road sign announcing the village of Arnádos. To reach the entrance to the monastery, you should go to the left for 2 more minutes. (1h24)

This nunnery is in fact a village, with various churches: there is the church of the Zoödóchos Pigí (the Life-Granting Well), with a stone from the year 1760, and there is the church of the Kimísis tis Theotókou (Mary in the Ascension) in particular, with a wonderful ikonostási from the 16^th century, originating from Constantinople. There is of course a church in honour of the Blessed Pelagía, whose skull is kept over there. On the 23rd of July 1822 she received a vision from the Blessed Virgin, to tell her where the famous icon was buried. It is this icon that is now worshipped by so many pilgrims in the Panagía Evangelístria in the capital of Tínos. About 50 nuns are still living in this convent.
Opposite these churches and on the right, there is a real village, with some alleys and kamáres (covered passages).
There are still a fairly large number of nuns living here; the monastery is open from 9am to 1pm and from 4pm to 7pm.

Also the forecourt is a pleasant place: there are benches and three eucalyptus trees, there is a tap and there are some stalls with herbs and delicious, dried figs. From here you also have a great view over many of the Cycladic isles: all the way to the right there is the deserted island of Giáros with the island of Kéa behind it; in the middle you notice Sýros with Kýthnos, Sérifos and Sífnos beyond, and all the way to the left there are the isles of Páros and Antíparos. From the road in front of the monastery, the view of Chóra, Tripótamos and Xóbourgo is marvellous! 

[Opposite the entrance of the monastery, there is a nice staircase – there is a wooden sign and from here you could walk to Tripótamos and Xóbourgo (walk [3]) of to Chóra (walk [4]) (hiking picket Mountádos / Arnédos to the left).]

(1h24) If you want to visit Arnádos, you should retrace your steps on the asphalt road and you pass in this way the point where you arrived from the right, a short while ago (=). You pass the tavern Arnádos (=) and after 5-6 minutes you go up to the LEFT on the asphalt road (hiking pole and =). At the top you turn right (hiking picket Arnádos / Triandáros / Dyo Choriá) and you enter the village in this way. You arrive next to a first café and you go down to the right (=) to the church square, with the paradodiakó kafenío where it is very pleasant to have a drink (hiking picket T2). (1h33)

If you continue to the left of the church until the " Laografikó Mousío " (the folklore museum) and if you then go to the left - for example by following the sign "Pros Panaïdaki" - you can stroll through a dozen of beautiful kamáres. If you continue then more or less straight, you come to a small square with a terrace to the right, where you can enjoy a beautiful panorama, and to  left a source with elegant columns. Here, you could continue to Triandáros and Dyó Choriá - see the walk Dyó Choriá - Arnádos - Triandáros – Dyó Choriá .
Higher up in the village, even before you get near the first café, there are on the left also very nice kamáres!

(1h33) For the return route in the direction of the monastery, you can follow a shorter route: you should take a left near the museum, going down until you reach the asphalt road.

[Here, you could wait for the bus to return to Chóra; that bus, that also goes to Falatádos and Stení, passes at about 4.15pm.]

You go right and you pass in this way after 4 minutes to the right of the tavern. You continue to descend slowly.