Evaluation:
This
circular walk combines
the route of walk
[5] on the way
out
to that of
walk [4] on
the way back.
It follows not
only beautiful trails
- including the so-called "Roman Road"
- but
passes also the abandoned village of
Stérna Gambroú
and runs
through the very
pleasant green plain of the
crater of Makrýlongos.
Due to the quality of the
trails and the sights,
this hike deserves
the
maximum of ****.
[The
translation of this walk was
made with some help of Google translate - so, please, do not mind the
mistakes...]
Estimated time:
The actual
walking time (AWT)
from Megalopochóri to the
chapel of Agios Ioánnis
is
40 minutes and then
it is another 30 minutes
until Stérna Gambroú.
The
beautiful stretch of the
Roman Road, and the
passage of the
crater Makrýlongos
are
quite nice -
they will need
half an hour
of
pleasant walking.
Then begins
the return
route that follows walk
[4]:
to Panagitsa
it
is
- always
in AWT
- some 50
minutes, and then
it takes
another 45
minutes until back
in Megalochóri.
The total actual
walking time of
3h15 means another long
walking day, because the
total time (TWT) can rise to
the double.
Route description:
(0h00)
You start
in the center of Megalochóri,
at the crossroads below the church:
here
you can follow
the asphalt road to the right (with
your back to the church), and
outside the village you should take
the first
small road up to the right
(signpost Megalopotámi
). This pleasant
little road comes
after 14 minutes in
Megalopotámi, at the intersection
with the road that descends
to the left to Vathý.
(0h14)
At this crossroads, you go up to the right to continue
through the village (small road
sign): you arrive at a paved
street where you turn
right and left; then you
begin a steep climb on concrete, you turn
right and left again and end
up in front of a house
with a round blue
gate. Between this and
another house begins a
beautiful path that goes up
steeply and in zigzags;
sometimes it has a nice
uneven pavement, but
sometimes the vegetation hinders a bit.
[This section was cleared by Belgian scouts in the Summer 2013.]
The nice path to Agios Ioánnis.
(0h27)
After a climb of 9 minutes, you can
enjoy the view behind you on the entire coast and the Saronic Gulf,
sitting under a picturesque
tree on a false flat.
A few minutes further, the path seems to split up,
but you follow of course the main path
up to the right. You thus
arrive at about the
height of the road,
where you will arrive later on; the
uneven path remains clear,
although it has no signposting,
and so you get to
the old chapel of Agios
Ioánnis, where you enjoy
a magnificent view.
The old chapel of Agios Ioánnis.
(0h39)
You continue from the front of
the chapel, at the right side
of a lonely tree.
The path is still
clear, but overgrown.
After 8-9 minutes, you
describe 2-3 short double
bends; 2
minutes later, you go again
right and left and
shortly afterwards you
describe a broad turn.
Again two minutes later
– you are already above the road
and the plateau with
the shed and the cypress
where you will arrive –, you should look out
carefully: you have to go
LEFT through a breach
in a wall (we left a
cairn). From now on you walk
down toward the
plateau with the cypress
- there are occasional
cairns or remains of them.
(0h55)
You thus get to the plateau
where the view is
magnificent. Here you veer to the right,
along a well, and you
take the grassy track,
a pleasant country road,
which slowly rises.
The grassy road in the direction of Stérna Gambroú.
You see
already, far ahead of you,
the chapel of Agios Sotíras
with the remains of Stérna
Gambroú. After 12
minutes, you get to the asphalt road, which
you follow 120 meters
to the left.
(1h09)
At the moment you get almost
under the chapel, you
go up to the right (white signs).
You pass under
the chapel, which is open,
and you continue to the left of
the ruins.
The chapel of Agios Sotíras.
You go
up, first between
a wall and a bush,
then on the left side of a tree,
and so you arrive to the left
of the first
really big alóni
(threshing floor). Here you enjoy
a beautiful view of the
ruins of the
abandoned village, which
was inhabited until
1830. It was
named after the fact that
a young man on his way
to go for his bride in
Makrýlongos (Páno
Moúska), wanted to drink water
in a cistern
(= stérna),
slipped and drowned.
The name "Stérna Gambroú"
indeed means "cistern
of the groom"
...
A big alóni, above the ruins of Stérna Gambroú.
You cross this first alóni to the
right and so you arrive under
the retaining wall of
a second alóni,
where you find - just
above the highest ruin -
the beginning of a truly
splendid path, the most beautiful of
Méthana. It is well paved
and therefore wrongly
called the "Roman road".
The splendid pavement of the "Roman road".
You steadily rise, you even cross
an old lava flow and after
11 minutes, you get to the
asphalt road - there
is a shelter.
(1h23)
You take a left here for
220 meters and after 3
minutes you take the
country road that
descends to the left into the
crater of Makrýlongos.
Soon you get a wonderful view of
the green plain of the
old crater.
The plain of the crater of Makrýlongos.
A clear track or path across the crater...
You veer to the right and
follow a track or
path that runs across
the grassy crater.
After a while you go higher
and walk up
8-9
terraces
(blue and then
red dot on a rock).
The obvious path continues
all the way to the other end of the crater,
but at the moment you reach
the highest
terrace, planted with a
solitary tree - and BEFORE you would descend to the
lower terrace planted with almond trees -
you should go to the RIGHT. Just in the prolongation of
the wall between the two terraces,
you will discover the beginning of a clear path. It
passes to the left of two
gnarled trees and
then rises like a
clear rocky path, sometimes
between remnants of walls.
The path that climbs
from the crater to the road.
After 5 minutes you see the road
in front of you: you pass through a
small breach in a wall and
then you keep to the right, in the
direction of the road and
a shelter. |
|
(1h42)
You thus come to the point where
your path back to
Megalochóri starts, just between the
shed and the little gravel road that starts here
diagonally to the right
- there are orange
signs on a sharp rock.
After one
minute you walk on a terrace:
here, you go up to the left through a breach in
a little wall, to a higher terrace
(orange square). After 3 minutes, you
pass to the left of a large rock (big
orange square), with behind it
the ruin of
a house. A little further you
go up to the left again, through
a wall (orange arrow)
and the nice path arrives in this way
between the trees.
(1h47)
The trail seems to split
and you go left
(vague orange square): the
trail now becomes very clear, but it is
stony and steep – you get to a climb
of 10 minutes.
(1h57)
You pass an old lava flow and
continue to climb to a pass between
two rather low hills,
amid sparse trees.
You cross an ancient
lava flow...
(2h03)
Beyond the pass, you descend more
to the left and
soon you discover the road
that from Agios
Panteleímonas and the OTE
antenna runs in a
large curve to the
two houses of
Panagítsa – the hamlet itself is still invisible.
You enjoy here a splendid
view over southern
Méthana and
the isthmos, with to the left the
sea and
Póros and to the right the
Saronic Gulf.
You descend while meandering on a
pretty slippery and
stony path -
after 5 minutes you pass a
wall (orange square) between a few dry
trees. You continue
straight south, again
meandering on old
terraces that are
now overgrown
with trees. While keeping to
the right, you thus arrive next to a big pine tree
(clear square on
the stem).
(2h10)
The descent is now steep again and
while keeping to the left, you arrive
against the edge of a lava flow:
you follow the right edge
(orange signs) and you descend
on a very vague path that will
run to a beautiful grassy
plain. Below
the lava flow, you should look for
a passage through
3-4 terraces,
but on the last terrace, you go 20
meters to the right in order to find
some steps that lead to the
nice meadow.
Descent to a beautiful
green plain...
(2h17)
You cross the plain diagonally to the right - across
the plain, you see a square
sign next to a breach in in
a wall, to the left
of some large trees.
Beyond that breach, you immediately
take a left (!), where we left the
cairn - there is also
an orange sign
on a rock. You now descend in
wide zigzags - soon you see the
houses of Panagítsa and even
the chapel, and also the
beautiful meadows to the left
of Panagítsa, which lie as in
an amphitheater.
View on Panagítsa.
The
path becomes nice, arrives between walls
and is sometimes
paved, but it ends a little bit
difficult on a grassy field next to a well, to
the left of the highest house.
(2h30)
You descend on the left
side of the ruin, but
then you keep to the right,
between all kinds of rubbish
and nettles, in order to arrive under
the highest house, where you
descend to the right of the
lower house with
the cypress.
Underneath the old houses of Panagítsa...
Here, you descend to the left
to the small
terrace with the cypress
and the eucalyptus
(an orange square at the end of it).
The path now
descends on steps and then in steep zigzags – you
discover now blue dots next to
the orange signs.
The path becomes wide: the pavement is sometimes
uneven, but mostly it is
rocky. After the short
bends, you get to a long straight
end, between pretty
idyllic terraces with olive trees,
and then you
descend to a big green
meadow.
Here, you should pay attention: just
above the meadow, you should not
take the
path to the left, but do continue winding
down, while
you stay to the right of a
small stable. In this way, you get to a path
that runs on a narrow terrace
all around the depression with small meadows.
(2h45)
So you end up
exactly under the chapel of
the Panagía.
You can go up to the right - the chapel is open and you inside can
admire some frescoes of the 12th century.
The simple chapel of the Panagía, with some
frescoes.
You go down
the wide path that some years ago was
cleared by the Belgian scouts:
the pavement is sometimes uneven and
often, the path is strewn with round rocks.
You arrive between walls and
pass after 7
minutes to the right of the
big alóni with a well.
The path becomes
beautiful!
A nice alóni with a well.
(2h52)
The rapid descent
is splendid – mind the walls
built with large round
blocks!
Marks on the path between Panagítsa and Megalochóri.
You also get
great views of the coast and
the harbor of Vathý, and later
of Megalochóri
and Megalopotámi. During the
following minutes, the path meanders
between walls and
after a total of 25 minutes
since the chapel and after
a series of steps you arrive
in the rocky riverbed.
The splendid trail
between Panagítsa and Megalochóri.
(3h10)
You follow it to the left for a while,
but after one minute you go
up to the right between
two walls:
you follow the little concrete road through
the highest part of the village,
further you keep to the
left (small hiking
sign) and then you continue straight
ahead until you get to the
asphalt road (hiking sign).
You go right and after
one minute
you arrive at the crossroads
below the church, your starting point.
(3h17)
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