Kóronos - Liónas and back |
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Evaluation:
This is a very beautiful and fairly easy walk which takes you to a very
lonely area, with stunning mountain views: it leads you to the pleasant
beach of Liónas with its multicoloured pebbles. Because of the
mountainous nature of the walk and the beautiful trails this walk gets
the maximum rate of ****.
Route description: [Also this time you can first enjoy the bus trip, even though it takes
a long time. The bus ride starts off really slowly; through the sloppy
outskirts of the town and the plain of Chóra the bus goes up to Galanádo.
Slightly further on you have a great view on the green plain of Potamiá
on the left. If you have a good look, you might even discern the site of
Agios Mámas. It is only past Chalkí and especially past Filóti that the
views are truly spectacular: between Filóti and the turn to Danakós and
also just before Agios Ioánnis you have a magnificent view on the large
town and on the entire valley. After Agios Ioánnis you will have a view
on the valley between the Korakiá-hills and Apíranthos. Also when
approaching Kóronos the view is wonderful!]
Panoramic view on Kóronos and Skadó. (0h00) You start the walk on the asphalt street, near the statue of Nikifóros Mandiláras, a local politician who was killed in 1967, in the first year of the military dictatorship (hiking sign Liónas 2h20).
The hiking sign on the asphalt road in Kóronos. You descend to the right in the village, until you get to a small parking lot. At this point you continue straight ahead by following the same street – the street is named after Mandiláras. You have to take a lot of steps until you arrive underneath the church. You might have noticed the blue dome of the church earlier – when passing this church you should note the marvellous old roof, made out of flat stones.
The little church of Kóronos.
[Just past the church you could first go to the left and across the inner court
of the school with a marvellous tree. You walk around the tree and in this way
you will go up on the left till the large building with the red roof that is
clearly visible from far away. This is the Information and Culture Centre, but
unfortunately it is often not open. Thereafter you walk back, past the church
and then further straight ahead.]
At the church you descend a few steps, but BEFORE the end of the street,
you take the first street on the right, you pass underneath an arch, and
you thus zigzag all the way through the very quiet village. You pass
under another arch and you go through a steep street, which leads you to
the traditional café (kafenío paradosiakó) 'tou ippóti' (The Knight).
Just before you reach the café, you descend to the left and you arrive
at a beautiful little square with a washing place and a well, and the
nice green outdoor terrace of the restaurant "I Plátsa" next to it.
The well and the restaurant on the platía of Kóronos.
I Plátsa, a marvellous spot to sit down a while... (0h07) You take a left here; a signpost points to the "káto gitoniá" or the neighbourhood at the bottom of town - there is a hiking sign Skadó 30' / Komiakí 1h40 / Liónas 2h15 + [9] and [10].
The hiking sign for walks [9] and [10].
After some two minutes and 88 steps, you keep to the right on the descending
street, next to a house with a red roof (hiking sign Liónas 2h10 + [10]) – you
DO NOT go straight ahead.
[Walk [9] continues straight (hiking sign Skadó and [9]) - see the walk
Kóronos - Skadó and back.]
You thus take a right, you cross a small bridge and you continue to the
LEFT in between the houses. A short while later, you go right (red
arrow) and then left again [10] – you thus leave the village in
south-south-eastern direction. You walk on a narrow concrete trail, on
the right-hand side of the valley. Very soon your monopáti becomes
alternately paved and stony, still running above the beautiful green
valley: you have a view on the village of Skadó on the opposite side and
after about five minutes you are also able to see the village of Kóronos
behind you.
A look behind you, on the monopáti and Kóronos.
(0h18)
After 6-7 minutes, you get to a new stretch of concrete - it was made in
2009 -, but it soon turns into a gravel road.
(0h28)
You now walk on the left-hand side of the dry bed of a river, with large
white stones -
pity that there is so much
plastic detritus.
After another 2 minutes, your trail moves away from the bottom of the
valley and the next stretch is rocky or beautifully paved – the
landscape is astounding.
(0h36)
Mind also the two inscriptions on the rocks to the left, with dates as
1947 and 1949 and with the letters IBP, NIK, etc. Some 6 minutes later,
you can notice, high up on the opposite side of the hill crest on the
right, the remnants of the famous cable way, which was used until 1989
to transport the emery iron to the harbour of Mutsúna. (0h40) You continue on the beautiful trail and far away, deep down in front of you can already see the gravel road you will end up later on. A couple of minutes further you walk on the right-hand side of a stable and then the descent gets steeper.
The nice path to Liónas.
After a few beautiful turns of the monopáti you arrive at the second arched
bridge, where you cross the same river bed – this river, which flows into the
sea, much lower on the beach of Liónas, is called the Tzoumagiá.
The bridge over the Tzoumagiá.
(0h55)
The trail continues for a little while and then it gets to the gravel road
which you follow somewhat up and straight ahead. Slightly further, at a big
stable, you open a large double gate.
[Some days, two men are into the fold, who are busy preparing the famous local cheese, the myzíthra. If you see them, you can ask them "Boroúme na perásoume = can we pass here?", and there is the chance that they will invite you to take a look inside ...]
The stable where the men prepare the cheese.
Beyond
the
stable, you descend slowly for 5 minutes, you pass through a gate again and, at
a junction, you keep sharply to the left (big red mark) - and you
meander downwards till you reach a modern concrete bridge.
The monopáti towards Liónas continues in an impressive landscape.
The
climb that follows is beautiful: you continue first on a very rocky and
stony path next to a fence in reinforced steel, and after a few minutes
on an impressive number of uneven steps, most of the time next to a
heavy wall. You thus arrive high
above a grand gorge, on a protruding rock. The panoramic view from up
here is unbelievable; you can see the trail behind you, the valley and
the gravel road and even further the path that meanders to Kóronos – the
houses are just visible underneath the hill with the aerials on top of
it. On the hills on the opposite side you can notice lots of traces and
holes of mine exploitation. This is really a great spot! |
A splendid viewpoint!
(1h24)
After leaving this great viewpoint you continue more or less
horizontally – far away you can already distinguish the sea. You get to
a second cape, from where you descend into a sort
of plateau, dotted with pale rocks.
A beautiful stretch between terraces and olive trees... In
this way you arrive again high above the descending bed of the valley,
with to the right many remnants of
mining. (1h38) You pass through a gate in reinforced steel, the trail is very pleasant and varied - sometimes it continues on pale rocks, sometimes it has an uneven pavement, sometimes it is an earth path. In front of you, you can notice the chapel of Panagía Afdeliótissa, and after 30 splendid minutes, you get to a concrete bend of a road, which you follow of course to the right [10].
View on the bay of Liónas. After
some 5 five minutes on this slightly descending road, you get to a
junction, where you keep to the a right (red arrow). After 2 minutes,
you walk above the chapel and a little further you find a small trail
with a signpost pointing to this chapel. The road itself meanders
further for about five minutes; in two large bends right and left the
road goes down and after another sharp turn to the right, you continue
for about 20 metres, but then you see a path that descends to the LEFT
(red arrow on a cairn).
The beach of Liónas.
The multicoloured pebbles!
Further in the valley you see three tavernas – the choice is difficult,
especially since all of the owners try to attract your attention. But
To Delfináki offers you a delicious sweet home made white wine with a
nice mezé. The food is excellent and the reception is very kind – there
are even two rooms!
The taverns in Liónas. [If
you do not want to walk the whole way back up to Kóronos,
you should call a taxi from this place, but
that is expensive – in May 2004 the beautiful one-hour-ride back to Chóra cost
40 €.
(2h11) The way back begins at the other end of the
beach, where you take the stairs nearly three tamarisk
(hiking sign Kóronos 2h15 + [10]); the staircase becomes a small concrete path that continues between the
houses.
After a little more than a minute, you have to take the concrete
staircase that goes up RIGHT; it veers to the left and a little farther
it becomes a path that goes up very fast on white rocks next to a wall .
After a few minutes, you arrive against a wall, where you continue to
the right, and then left. The trail becomes quite rocky and continues
first along a wall, then on the slope - and so you get to a small gravel
road (cairn and red mark).
The nice path between Liónas and the valley of Tzoumagiá.
After a stretch with uneven steps and a very stony part, you get to the
reddish road. (3h40) After uninterrruptedly climbing up for 17-18 minutes, you get to the most beautiful stretch, more or less flat and covered with large stones, in a desolate landscape. Pay attention to the 4 metal pillars and the remains of the cable car for the exploitation of emery, high up before you on the left. Note also the eroded river bed deep down in the canyon. And on a rock on your right, you notice some graffiti, with three times the date 1947...
Graffiti of people who worked here long time ago...
After
this beautiful stretch, you pass along a wall - high before you you can already
see some houses of Kóronos. You descend a little and you arrive next to the
river bed, strewn with big white boulders – it is again a nice and easy stretch
of about 4 minutes, but the litter in the river bed is really a pity! After two
minutes you go through a gate.
(3h51)
You cross the river bed on the arched bridge to the left and from now on
you will mount without interruption for a little less than 10 minutes,
most of the time on a very uneven path, paved with pale cobbles. At
first the path is very narrow and steep. Then you go left and
immediately thereafter you continue straight ahead. You mount for 5 more
minutes, now on a broader, but still unevenly paved path.
The cobbled path that returns to Kóronos.
(4h00)
After this rapid climb you reach the new gravel road, which you follow to the
right, of course. After 1 minute of gravel and 1 minute of concrete, the path
starts again: you mount again on uneven cobblestones for about 5 minutes and
after 2 minutes of concrete you reach the first houses. Midst the houses you
first go right, then left, then you go down some steps straight ahead and you
take a right over the bridge. You climb 31 steps and then you go left for the
last 88 steps up, and so you arrive at the square with the restaurant I Plátsa.
(4h13)
You go up on the right of the well and, by keeping to the right at the
cafe 'tou ippóti’, you arrive at the main street. You go left through an
arch or kamára, a little further you go up a staircase on the left, and
then again through an arch. In this way you arrive next to the church,
where you go up on the left. You have to climb up many more steps and
then you first arrive at the parking lot; a little further, after the
concrete road, you get to the asphalt road. (4h20)
[If you don 't have dragged, it may be possible to catch the last bus
back to Chóra: it usually passes at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
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