Iraklia: Agios Geórgios - cave of Agios Ioánnis - Panagía - Agios Geórgios
Evaluation:
Irakliá
is mostly a
peaceful island. You can
cross it in a few hours
with as goal of the walk
the cave of Agios
Ioánnis. During the first part
of the walk you can follow
large paths
between walls, beyond Agios
Athanásios there are
beautiful trails up to
the cave; the return passes by
Panagía, the other village.
If you opt for an excursion
of one day starting
from Amorgós, the crossing
with the Express
Skopelitis is already
an event in itself. We give
this walk ***.
[Update by Raymond on September the 27th,
2015 and on May the 17th 2024.]
[The translation of this walk is
made with some help of Google
translate - so, please, do not mind the mistakes...]
Estimated time:
The
actual walking time to Agios Athanásios is 50 minutes, then it takes another
1h10 (AWT) to the cave.
The difficult walk to Panagía takes
another 1h10 and finally, the return road to the port takes 55 minutes.
The actual time for the entire
hike, which is 11,24 km long, is just over 4 hours.
Our walk lasted from 10.30am to
6pm, a total time (TWT) of just over 7 hours.
To comfortably do this walk of about 4 hours (actual time), it is better to stay
on the island.
[If you
prefer a one-day-excursion from Amorgós, you have to leave very early – you can
take the Express Skopelítis, which leaves Katápola every day, except on Sunday,
at 7am. Via Koufoníssi and Schinoússa this boat takes you to Irakliá at 9h10. It
is very likely that you will then be able to take the boat back to Amorgós at
about 3h30pm on that same day. This means that the available time is fairly
limited, about 6 hours.
Therefore, it is ideal if you can take the very fast Blue Star at 5.45am (three
times a week from Katápola). The Blue Star sails to Irakliá in about 2 hours, on
its way to Náxos and the Piraeus, and arrives at 7h40 on Irakliá. In this case,
you will have almost 8 hours.
However, do also take a return ticket for the Skopelítis, in Katápola on the day
before your departure. In this way you are sure about the hours of the boat…and
this will give you plenty of time to enjoy your hike in a relaxed way.]
You can buy a rudimentary map of the island of Irakliá in the "supermarket" To
Perigiáli, behind the tavern with the same name – but the map of Anávasi or
Terrain Maps is much more useful.
Route description: (0h00) From the
pier of Agios Geórgios (or Káto Chorió ), you go in the direction of the small
harbor – you follow the "promenade" next to the water and below the asphalt
road. You go to the right and you follow
the beach until the end. There, you go up to the left towards the square (platia
Fani Gavala), where you can start the hike itself.
You go left into the village: the street is paved and passes to the right of the
taverna / minimarket To Perigiáli .
You thus follow the main street and near the bifurcation (with crèperie To
Pérasma), you should take the LEFT street in the direction of the church with
the blue dome.
(0h04) While following the concrete road to the church, you see the first
signposting [7]. You continue beyond the church Taxiárchis, where you keep to
the right.
(0h07) You keep to the left at the
next bifurcation (walking sign Agios Athanasios
55’ / Panagía 1h10 / Cave 1h55). The gravel road is sometimes covered
with concrete and arrives after 2-3 minutes near the chapel of Agios Ioánnis -
just before the chapel, there is a trail to the right to the beach of Voriní
Spiliá [8] - see the walk Agios
Geórgios – Voriní Spiliá and back.
You continue straight on and pass a path that goes up to the left – and you
still go straight. Soon your road becomes sandy, but here and there you still
see the old pavement.
(0h15) Another 4-5 minutes later,
there is a short stretch of concrete, where you continue straight [7]. A little
further on, there is again a bifurcation, where the road sign
Panagía sends you to the left - the trail
that continues straight also leads to Agios Athanásios: this route is a little
shorter, but the left trail is nicer.
(0h21) So you go
diagonally to the left and your road becomes very quickly a real rocky, uneven
trail between walls. You climb a slope and the pavement of the staircase-path is
sometimes beautiful – later it becomes rocky and stony again. At the top, you
enjoy a nice view behind you over the village and on the island of Náxos. You
now descend, straight to the blue dome of Panagía (or Páno Chorió).
(0h36) After 15 very
nice minutes, you get to an important crossroads, located in a gentle valley -
there is a well and a watering place. On the left, the path leads to Panagía,
you should follow the road sign and [7] to the right. The trail is wide and
continues between walls and in the middle of a lot of vegetation. After another
9 minutes, you reach a T-junction: the road on the right is the road you did not
take at point (0h21) above - in front
of you, you see the beautiful coast and Náxos. You take a left, in the direction
of Agios Athanásios.
(0h45) Agios Athanásios is now just
ahead of you and after 4 minutes, you arrive at a short concrete stretch – but
after a few minutes, you leave the concrete that goes up to the right, because
you see in front of you the overgrown remains of a rocky kalderími, to the left
of a chapel. You thus continue in the direction of the few houses of Agios
Athanásios and you avoid in this way a long stretch of concrete - the trail is
not on the map and so you do NOT follow the trail marker [7]. Near the first
ruin, you do go to the right up to the gravel road, where you take a left and
you now follow again route [7], along some electricity poles.
(0h58) You pass a road sign and next
to a house, you go down to the left for a while and then up again to the right.
You arrive next to the sign “Spíleo” and in front of a small gate with the
inscription "close the door ". A clear path continues straight ahead, to the
right of a wall (green arrows).
Shortly after , there is a bifurcation: your trail continues straight on,
between a wall and a large cairn with a [4] on it.
[To the right, another trail leads to Vourkariá – there is a big cairn with a
[6]. See the walk Irakliá: Agios Geórgios - Agios Athanásios - bay of Vourkariá
and back.]
(0h59)
The nice monopáti will
from now on be signposted with the trail markers [4]. For a while, the path is
very stony and brownish, but later on it
runs clearer in between two walls [4]; this trail is fairly difficult
though, because of the loose stones. Some minutes later you describe a curve
left towards the south east (with a beautiful view on Agios Geórgios and Agios
Athanásios) and after another 3 minutes there is a curve to the right.
(1h07)
After 8 nice
minutes, you pass through a little breach and you go down in a valley
(big cairn) – and you can see how the path continues to go up to the left of a
wall. It remains clear, also when it runs away from the wall to the left,
because of the big and little cairns, the markers [4] and some blue arrows.
(1h12) Nine
minutes later, you describe a curve to the left and to the right (big cairn),
with a beautiful view, then you continue to go up, to the right of another wall.
The brownish path goes up for 7 minutes, during the last end without walls next
to it and past six big cairns + [4].
You arrive in this way in front of a cross-wall
and the path winds to the right.
You arrive between 2 converging walls, you go left
and continue for a few minutes to climb to the left of a low wall.
(1h25) You arrive on the ridge against a cross-wall with
a lot of hiking signs.
The sign to the cave (Spíleo) points straight ahead and a clear brownish trail
descends next to a big cairn + [3], straight to the tip of Ios. You see all the
way down how the trail continues next to a wall and you go down quickly during 7
minutes; then you get to a paved path to the left of a wall (the date on the
wall is “May 2008”).
(1h39)
After 5 minutes, the pavement ends, but the trail remains clear and rather easy
– after 2 minutes however, it becomes very stony. You go down for another 7
minutes, but then the path becomes almost flat; you pass the last sign “Spíleo”
and you continue straight where a side-path goes down to the right [3].
(1h53) At
the end, you go up to the left ([3] and sign) and you arrive in this way next to
the two caves: it is easy to enter in the first
cave, the entrance to
the cave to the right however is very low, but later on the cave broadens to a
large hall with an altar and thick stalagmites. Every year, on the 28th
August, a big celebration takes place in this large hall – it is hard to imagine
that both the priest and all the villagers then have to worm their way through
this low entrance. (2h00)
(2h00)
You retrace your steps by the same path – but pay attention:
after a short time, you have to take the path [3] which
goes up to the RIGHT (and not the path [5] which goes down to the left). You
then go down until you arrive next to the sign at the junction of the
main trail. You take a right and you go up slowly, later on a steep trail for
about 25 minutes.
(2h17) You arrive at the pavement after 17 minutes,
with the low wall on the left, and you then continue for another 7 minutes.
In this way, you reach the crest.
[Here you should choose your way: either you return by the same way, by taking
the path down to Agios Athanásios;
it is not difficult to keep the right direction because you see in front of you
the houses of Agios Athanásios, your goal.
Or you go to the right, to Panagía – you see already its blue dome.]
(2h31) We opt for the latter option
and so you go through the breach in the right wall (hiking sign, cairn and [3]).
The brownish path continues to the right of a wall - and you see Panagía already
in front of you.
You meander to the right and left and you still describe four shorter turns,
right and left, during which you always come back against the wall, on the
reddish, rocky trail.
There are cairns, large and small, and you see the continuation of the nice
path between walls. The descent is sometimes very stony, steep and difficult –
but in nearly every turn, there is a big cairn.
(2h46) After 15 minutes, you arrive in
a valley, you pass through a breach ([3] + sign) and you continue to the left on
a beautiful trail between walls – an easy stretch of about 11 minutes. You cross
a gate made of pallets, then you descend into a little valley and go up again.
(3h00) Towards the end, you arrive
on a rocky slope, you descend to the right into a valley and you go up to the
right until you get to a side street to the right of the church of Panagía.
(3h08) You take a left in the "main
street" and pass by the church and the pantopolío / restaurant To Stéki, which
however is closed most of the time.
You cross in this way the village and you get to the asphalt road, just beyond
a chapel.
(3h14) You follow the road to the left
for 8 minutes;
BEFORE you arrive in a right turn and next to a bench, you can go down straight
on a beautiful wide staircase (cairn).
This staircase winds down until it gets again to the road, and so you have cut a
large bend.
You pass a small bridge, but then you immediately take a LEFT onto a small
gravel road that rises slowly (sign) and that starts to the left of an
electricity pole.
This rocky, then sandy road rises gradually and reaches after 7 minutes the
T-junction next to the well, where you passed this morning.
(3h34) You take of course a right: at
first, you go up slowly, then you go down on a stony or rocky path, later on
nice paved steps.
After 13 beautiful minutes, you reach the road that comes from Agios Athanásios.
After another 8 minutes, you pass the trail of walk [8]. You thus reach the
village, you keep to the left near the church and you continue straight to the
edge of the water. (4h02)
[The café / restaurant To Perigiáli is often open) – eventually, you can wait
here for the boat of 3h30.]
Gpx-files:
https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/iraklia-agios-georgios-agios-athanasios-cave-panagia-agios-georgios-192843212
https://www.routeyou.com/en/route/view/15882493