Apíranthos - Fanári - Kalóxylos - Chalkí
Estimated time: It takes about 40 minutes (AWT) to hike to the top of the Fanári-mountain, then one hour to the bifurcation of the path to Moní and finally 45 minutes to reach Chalkí. This makes for a total of 2h25 of actual hiking time, which means, in reality, that you should devote about four-five hours to this hike. From Chóra you can catch the bus at 9.30am; you will then arrive in Apíranthos at 10.45am. Taking a fairly long break on top of the mountain and having a picnic somewhere on the way down, means that you can perhaps make it back to Chalkí before the 4h45 bus passes. Eventually, you will have to return by taxi to Chóra...
Route
description:
Do not get off at the first bus stops in Apíranthos, but wait until the
bus reaches the furthest part of the village, after having described a
large bend. On the left you will see the church Kímissis tis Theotókou
and on your right-hand side there is a large war monument. From this bus
stop you enter the village, where you can first wander around for about
one hour.
You first get to a
rectangular square with the shop of "The Aperinthian women’s
association" (where they sell all kinds of different textile), with
some fancy bars and with the workshop "Apiranthos Art". The
square leads to a beautiful street, paved with marble tiles: to the left
there is the café Samarádiko with a great outdoor terrace; you also
pass the tiny little church of Agios Sardónis. A little further down
you get to the archaeological museum that was established by Michaďl
Bardáni: to be seen in this museum are a lot of small Cycladic statues,
a clay vase from the 3rd millennium BC, a geometric tripodos
from the 8th century, some prehistoric stone tools, bronze
arrowheads, etc.
You then reach a
small platía with beautiful houses from 1846 and 1897. Above these
houses you find the folk museum, consisting of three rooms of a not too
old house: in the living room, the kitchen and the bedroom you can see
all kinds of traditional objects and tools. If you want to, you can then
continue to walk
in the street
for a little while, whereupon you should
return to your point of departure. If you follow the asphalt road
further to the left for a short while, you can also pop into the museums
of natural sciences and geology
(0h00)
You begin this walk on the square, opposite the church of Kímissi tis
Theotókou (so to the right, if you come from the asphalt road), and you
thus take the marble staircase.
After 42 steps you go RIGHT - with a kamára (or archway) on the left
side - and then you take a left (2 X red mark).
After another 73 steps, you follow a flat street, you turn right and
further you go to the left, near a power pole.
A little later, you turn right, then you go
straight; after a right turn, there is again a flat stretch and finally,
you go up and to the left again.
(0h05)
You thus reach a small concrete road: you are here in the northwest tip
of the village, with on the left the church of Agia Paraskeví with its
white dome.
You follow across another small concrete road, which rises to the right
of the ruins of a mill; the road turns right until you pass a large cistern after some 200 metres. At this point the path bends
to the left sharply and it goes up (note the red arrows and dot). A
little later, you go right through a breach in a wall.
Later, the trail winds and describes 4 times turns right and left. The retaining walls of the monopáti are still clearly visible, but also the red dots are
convenient. The path goes up fairly steeply and behind you, you
can see that Apíranthos is quite extensive – it also appears to
consist of two parts. Beyond
the village, towards the south east, you have a great view on the island
of Donoússa (on the far left), the island of Amorgós and behind the
hill the other small islands or “eremonisiá” (the little islands
between Náxos and Amorgós).
(0h17) After climbing up steeply for about six minutes you go through another breach in an wall; the trail then continues in between walls. You now walk again on a marvellous stone monopáti, that climbs gently on the almost white slope of the Fanári - further, there are also beautiful steps, then you come again between quite abundant vegetation (two cairns).
(0h24) A little under ten minutes after the breach, you get to a clear junction: a red arrow directs you to the right sharply, at an altitude of 750 metres. Further on you arrive at a gravel road, which you follow to the right. Two-three minutes later though, you arrive at a sort of pass between the top of the Fanari and a lower summit on your right.
(0h30) You take the path that goes up to the left towards the wall and the chapel on the top of the Fanári. This is a beautiful climb, the last minutes on a staircase with 70 heavy steps. On the right, on the lowest summit, you find the small church, with a picnic table; the left-hand top is another ten metres higher. (0h39).
Over here you have a great panoramic view: in the Tragéa-valley you can see the villages of Damariónas, Chalkí and Moní. Beyond you can discern the bay of Náxos, with also the islands of Páros, Syros, Tinos and Mykonos. On the other side there is the bay of Mutsúna, with beyond the islands of Donoússa, Amorgós and Koufoníssi all the way to the right.(0h58) Some minutes later you get to a wonderful descent, on a meandering
rocky trail and amidst an impressive landscape. On the right you see the steep cliff of the Fanári, in front of you
there is the marvellous valley with the villages of Moní and Chalkí (invisible
on the left). At first the landscape is very rocky, later on you get to
fields with olive trees. This might be a good spot to have a picnic: if
you are lucky you can even see eagles circling high up in the air. You
can also try to figure out the details of the landscape in front of you:
on the left-hand side of Moní you can distinguish Drosianí; on the
right of Rachídi you can discern the basilica of Agios Isidóros; and deep underneath you
can see the trail in between the walls you will follow later on.
Next, you get to
another great descent on a meandering trail; you go down steeply in this
grand landscape! After going down for about fifteen minutes, guided by
red dots and arrows, you get against a wall. You take a right for a
short while and you then go left in between the walls. You walk
over a large, rocky stretch, where water might be flowing sometimes. After some four minutes you keep to the right again and you thus get to a
real bed of a river, in between oleanders.
(1h25)
You continue to
follow this bed, strewn with large rocks, for about 200 metres; you stay
on the right hand side of some fields with lots of “machaires”-flowers
(machairi = knife). At the point where the bed narrows, you go up
towards the right on a fairly rocky terrain (there is also a red arrow).
A little further down you take a left again in between walls (another
red arrow) – this is the rocky terrain you saw from high up, some
minutes ago. You now get to a
pleasant earth trail, which runs between stables and flocks of goat;
above the valley with olive trees this trail describes a large bend to
the left. Some seven minutes later you reach a couple of small fields,
but the red dots (even on trees) do a good job in showing you the right
way.
After ten minutes all together you get to a cart track or a road,
that
comes from the right.
(1h54)
You pass under beautiful,
large oak trees - some are really a work of art - and you now continue
on a very wide rocky track descending between walls, with a magnificent
view over the valley, with Chalkí and Filóti. The path narrows and in
this way you come under a large Mediterranean oak and at a gravel road.
This road winds down to the left, until you
reach a row of maples next to the water; you cross the river bed
and you continue on a dirt road (sign).
(1h
(2h15) Approximately
80 meters BEFORE you would reach the main road, you get to a curve,
where you continue straight ahead on a broad path that bends to the left
and that crosses the asphalt road. On the opposite side, you continue on
a concrete little road – a little further
you see the (closed) tower of Markopolíti, and you just keep walking on
this small road. Just before the asphalt road you take a paved street
off the LEFT (sign to Chalkí) and you thus pass the Pýrgos Grazía:
above the entrance you see the coat of arms of the famous Venetian
family Barozzi. A little further
you get to your point of departure, next to the Panagía-church. (2h23)
You can catch a bus here – usually at 4.45pm; if it is not too
late however, you can first have a drink in café Chalkí. A nicer and
quieter place to sit is on the outdoor terrace of O Giánnis; you get
there by taking the street straight across until you get behind this café.
A taxi from Chalkí back to Chóra costs about 13 € (in Spring 2004).