Engarés - Agios Artémios and back

 

Evaluation: This fairly long hike first follows a small concrete road, that begins in Engarés, then there is a beautiful trail that continues in a leafy valley, next to some remains of water mills and along irrigation gutters – with the massive of the Kóronos on your left. After the bridge, a gravel road climbs steeply to Kinídaros - fortunately, there are still long stretches of the old path that allows you to avoid the monotonous road – see the hike Engarés – Kinídaros and back.
In this hike, you should take a left at the bridge, in the direction of the very old churches  of Agios Dimítrios and Agios Artémios.. Deserves ***.
[The translation of this walk was made with the help of Google translate - so, please, do not mind the mistakes...]
[The 13th of May 2018.]

Estimated time: The total hike takes about 2h50 (actual walking time): we needed 1h30 to get to Agios Artémios and our way back took a little less. The distance of the way out or the way back is 5,19 km.
The total time (TWT) can amount to the double: we walked about 6 hours, from 11am until 5pm.

Route description
: [It is difficult to reach Engarés by bus, so it is advisable to rent a car and drive up to Engarés via Galíni. You can leave the car just before arriving in the village, near the junction of the road to the left, to Apóllonas.]

(0h00) You go right to the center of the village (marble sign Mésa Gitoniá, Empóli and hiking sign Kinídaros 2h25 + [11]) and you thus follow the main street. You continue on the paved street, keeping a little to the right, and already after 2 minutes, you arrive at a small concrete road.

This road continues over a very lush valley, along small fields and past some houses. After 6 minutes, you continue straight and you do the same thing a little further.

[Shortly after, in a depression of your road and with a high wall on your right, there is a path that leaves on the left (marble sign Ebóli).]

You thus continue straight on the concrete road and soon enough, you see on the left and a little down the Pradoúna tower.

(0h13) Attention: just before reaching the tower, in a depression and near a bench, there is a path that goes obliquely to the left (sign Agios Artémios 1h25 / Kinídaros 2h15) – you  will pass in this way just next to the tower (date 1787). Further on, you arrive while descending into a rocky valley and - after 4 minutes - next to an irrigation gutter. You go up and down, you go through a gate in reinforcing steel and you arrive in the valley, next to a water mill with a gutter where the water runs abundantly.

(0h21) You pass again through a gate, then to the left of a house and you continue to the right of the bed (red marks). You then cross the bed to the left - a very beautiful place ([11] on a rock). You continue over some water to the right, to the left of the riverbed now (red marks). The path meanders next to the bed and then gets to a small sandy road that continues for a few minutes through beautiful vegetation, to the left of rhododendrons.

(0h26) Another 5 minutes later, there is a side path on the left (sign Hill of Nativity + [11a]), but you cross the bed again to the right, on a stone dam. You follow the small road that goes up to the right (sign), it crosses a channel and passes next to an aqueduct.

(0h27) You thus get to a cross road where you take a left (sign + [11]). This road soon becomes a submerged path and – pay attention – near a fork, you have to go to the RIGHT (red arrows) and a little further, you have to continue straight (red marks) and NOT to the left.
The next part is really splendid: first you pass some cypresses, then to the right of a closed chapel; you arrive next to a stable and continue to the bend of a little road. You take a left here (sign Kinídaros 1h45 + [11]), next to some ruins; a little further, there is a gate in reinforcing steel (old sign and red mark).
You now continue above a beautiful green valley, with occasional gutters with water below you - and you see how the trail continues far ahead of you [11] ...

(0h42) After 10 splendid minutes, you veer left next to a concrete beam [11]); you now continue straight towards a very nice rocky hill and, while veering right, you have a beautiful view of the Kóronos. You arrive between abundant vegetation, you pass a pit of the distribution of waters [11] and the beautiful path continues again and again; you pass a second pit, you go down and up, and after a flat end, you descend, accompanied by the sound of the water, to the left of the upper part of a water mill, with an irrigation gutter. You continue more or less flatly until you get to a clearing, next to a small ruin.

(1h00) After 30 beautiful minutes, you cross the bed again, to the left and on a concrete ledge between the oleanders. For a short time, your progress is quite difficult: you pass a small white house, you must pass on rocks and through some marshy passages. You go to the right (red arrow) and you follow a path between big stones along the water (red marks).
You arrive in this way in front of a big bridge: your path passes UNDER this bridge, then turns left, with a water mill in front of you. You go up again to the left, between a gutter and the water mill, and you thus arrive on the gravel road which passes on the bridge.

[For Kinídaros, you should take a left to cross the bridge - see the hike Engarés - Kinídaros and back.]

(1h06) You do not cross the bridge, but you continue on the right: you climb for a short time on concrete, then you climb more slowly while keeping to the right on a gravel road; you arrive at the top of the beautiful green valley and further above many gardens.
The road comes to a dead end after about twenty minutes: you go to the right through a gate in reinforcing steel, and you discover on the right a very old church with three naves, it is Agios Dimítrios. You go down a little, you pass by a small wooden gate and you arrive in front of the beautiful church with three naves of Agios Artémios: it is open and the interior is very sober, but beautiful. (1h28)

(1h28) For the way back, you first cross the two gates to return to the gravel road, next to the old church, and you follow it for 16 minutes.

(1h44) Pay attention: just before the bridge, you should go down to the LEFT, with the water mill in front of you; you turn right to go under the bridge – there you will find the right monopáti, marked with red marks. The trail winds between and on the rocks and between the rhododendrons, then it becomes clearer. You pass three spots full of water, then you cross the river on the concrete ledge, to the left [11].

(1h50) You go for a few moments to the right, you cross a terrace and you reach a very obvious path that will continue now on the left bank, above the murmuring water in the very green valley. You pass quite soon next to the water mill, then next to two water pits [11] – and you continue on the path that goes down slowly for many minutes - sometimes in the middle of a luxuriant vegetation, sometimes between beautiful rocks.

(2h17) After a little more than 25 minutes of a very beautiful trail, you go through the gate in reinforcing steel; you go down near ruins, you keep to the right near the sign Engarés 35 'and you arrive to the left of the chapel - next to it, there are benches, it is the occasion to rest a little ...
Near the chapel, you go down into the valley: you cross some water, you veer to the left and, beyond a house, you go right on the small road (sign + [11]). You pass to the left of the aqueduct, you turn left while passing a gutter and you arrive in the bed - you cross it on a dam, then you veer to the left.
The small sandy road becomes after a few minutes a path that continues straight into the bed: you go along the water (where there are many turtles!), then you cross it again [11].
A little further, you leave the bed to the left, you pass right next to a house and you continue immediately to the left through a gate in reinforcing steel. You pass a gutter where the water flows very fast and, while keeping to the left, you climb on rocky steps, with another gate half way. Further on you go down and you continue more or less flat, sometimes next to a gutter.

(2h34) Pay attention: after a few minutes, there is a junction where you should keep to the right, you pass next to the tower and after another 3 minutes, you get to the gravel road (sign), where you take of course a right.
After 7 minutes you keep to the left and you arrive in the village - after a total of 13 minutes you reach the asphalt road near your car. (2h50)

 
Gpx-files:

https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/naxos-engares-agios-artemios-26390568


https://www.routeyou.com/en/route/view/5502099/hiking-route/naxos-engares-agios-artemios