Káto Sagrí - temple of Demeter - Pýrgos Bazéou -
Damariónas - Chalkí
Evaluation:
This hike is fairly long and not that easy because the trails in the
surroundings of the temple of Demeter are not really obvious. But the trip is
really worthwhile: you get to know a part of Náxos with not a lot of hiking
opportunities, but the site of the temple is very well reconstructed – also
the restored tower of Bazéou is one of the best preserved ones. If you still
would like to pay a visit to this temple, but by taking a shorter hike, we refer
to the hike Sagrí – temple of Demeter - Sagrí. This hike gets an evaluation
of **.
Estimated time:
For the bus ride from Chóra to Sagrí – the route that is taken by most of
the buses to Chalkí and Filóti – you should count some 40 minutes. It
will take you about 20 minutes (AWT) to get to Ano Sagrí, and then another 25 minutes
to the temple of Demeter. Half an hour later you reach the tower of Bazéou, and
some 45 minutes later you arrive in Damariónas – it then takes another 15
minutes to reach Chalkí. All together this makes for 2h15 actual walking time. In
reality you should multiply this by two, when taking into account the pauses and
the times to look around and to relax. The site of the temple of Demeter is a
very pleasant picnic spot. To return from Chalkí you should have checked the
time tables of the buses in advance; if there is no bus you might have to call a
taxi…
Route description:
Do not forget to ask whether the bus does go along Sagrí, before your departure
from Chóra! The bus leaves the outskirts of the town of Chóra quite
slowly, but eventually it gets up towards the interiors of the island. After the town of Galanádo you get a marvellous view over the plain of
Potamiá – you can also see the church of Agios Mámas. At this point you
should ask the driver to stop at the turn to Káto Sagrí.
You continue on the
asphalt road for another couple of hundred metres, until you get to a little
concrete road off the right – there is a signpost to Kanakári. The nice
little avenue meanders midst broom and flowers (on the 20th of May 2004); on the
way you can also notice that modern Greeks often construct their houses in the
same manner as the ancient living towers. In the deserted village of Kanakári
you keep to the left and you thus get to a larger asphalt road: on
the opposite side you find a church with the impressive name of Iera Mitrópolis Paronaxias Evangelismós tis
Theotókou, with a wonderfully shaded front garden; next to it you find the
ruins of a tower, which is for sale…
You descend to the left of
the church and the tower, on a staircase and a concrete slope. Straight ahead
you then find a narrow path between lots of weeds – in front you can see a
mill and even higher up there is the town of Ano Sagrí. You go down for a
couple of minutes and you then go up again on a nicely tiled trail (which is not
to be found on the map). After some five minutes you get to the left of the
mill; you continue on a concrete road, past the first houses, and you then
zigzag through the town of Ano Sagrí. You walk on a paved road and all the time
you go in the same south-south-eastern direction. If you are lucky you will
manage to reach the other side of the village, near the deserted monastery of
Agios Elefthérios. Opposite this monastery and towards the left you find the
monument for Xenákis.
You descend the paved
stairs to the right of the bust and you take immediately a right onto a
narrow concrete road – mind the red drawing of a temple on the wall with
an arrow to the right ...
The road soon becomes a gravel road; you descend between agaves and
after 5 minutes you pass next to the path that leads to the Naós Agíou
Nikoláou (old and new hiking sign).
You can now make a little detour to that church, by taking
a left here: the
narrow path tends to be somewhat overgrown at first,
but
soon you keep more to the left and it gets better and
it arrives to the left of the picturesque little church of Agios Nikólaos - a
narrow trail leads to the right to that church.
After your visit, you retrace your steps until you get again to the main trail,
where you take a left; you continue to follow the path on the right slope of the green valley
and you pass below a small church; you go down a bit, then you continue
flatly again – in front of you to the left, you already distinguish the
ruins of the temple.
After another 6
minutes, there is a small concrete road that goes down to the left, but
again you should continue straight on a narrow path to the right of a
wall (large red mark).
About 4 minutes later,
a beautiful rocky path goes down to the left in the valley.
[The path that continues straight will follow the slope on the right
side of the valley, with a beautiful view of the temple site - see the
walk Káto Sagrí - temple of Demeter - Kástro Apalírou and back.]
You thus descend to the left, between walls (sign and [7]), straight to
the temple.
The trail turns first to the right, but near a small stable
([7] and red marks) it veers
left again to cross the valley, to the left of olive trees [7].
Soon you cross the muddy bed of the river (there is still a little
water, 2 May 2013), then you go through an olive grove diagonally to the
right, towards the angle of a small ruin (there is a low gate and a red
mark ).
You climb slightly next to a heavy water pipe (red marks), and after a
second low gate made of reinforcing steel, you get to a terrace.
You pass below the temple and to the right of a wall (red mark) and you
arrive to the left of the little museum - here you open the heavy bolt
of a wide gate, possibly with the help of a stone...
Now you can go up to the left to the temple site.
The temple is situated in
a beautiful landscape, with a panoramic view on a pleasant valley towards the
south. The temple itself dates from the 6th century BC and in the 5th century AD
it was converted into a church. Later on it was completely destroyed and many
parts of the church were used to build the chapel of Agios Ioánnis and even
some farms in the neighbourhood. Only in 1949 the site of the temple was
discovered and after endless searching and puzzling a large part of the temple
and of the Christian basilica was reconstructed – the result is really quite
impressive. The site is beautifully laid out and a short walk brings you to the
small but interesting museum.
From the temple you climb
over another wall towards the north and in the middle of a pasture you find a
narrow trail to the left, which runs in eastern direction. At the end of
the large field you take a left and you walk around a stable. You
get to a kind of cart track, which you follow for some 100 metres, in the
direction of the already visible Bazéou-tower. At last you climb over the
right-hand wall and you continue in northern direction, on a path that gets to
some olive fields and the Christós-church after a couple of minutes. You can see
an ancient floor, some old arches and a couple of vague frescos.
To the right of the chapel
you open an iron gate and then you go all the way to the left, again in
northern direction towards the Bazéou-tower. You walk on the left-hand side of
a white chapel. At the end of another large pasture you go slightly up to the
left, onto the higher up field. You then take a right again, straight towards
the tower. At the height of the white chapel you should watch out NOT to descend
towards the valley. Instead, you should keep to the left and walk higher up. In
this way you get to an obvious trail between walls, which you follow to the
right. The trail does go down at this point; in the valley it crosses a small
stream and then it goes up again in northern direction. Some 100 metres to the
left of the chapel you reach a gravel road, which you follow towards the left,
in the right direction.
A little further down you
get to a junction: when taking a left it would take you about five minutes to
reach the church of Agios Nikólaos, where you were just a moment ago. However,
you should go down on the right. Across the stream the trail turns into a nice
rocky path for a short while; you then get to some concrete and a fairly long
gravel road in the direction of the tower. Some ten minutes after the junction
you arrive at the asphalt road. You have to follow this road for about seven
minutes; in front you see the tower and on your right-hand side you can discern
the plateau of Liás, at an altitude of 543 metres. On this plateau you notice
the church of the Panagía Kalorítissa and the chapel of the Profítis Ilías
all the way on top. Just before reaching the tower, you get to a steep road off
the right to Kalorítissa (there is a signpost): the view from up there should
be marvellous, but unfortunately the road is monotonous and there is not even a
decent trail.
The 17th century tower was
bought by the Bazéos-family in the 19th century, from which the tower took its
name. Because also a monastery has been located in this tower, the building is
also known under the name of Tímios Stavrós-tower. Since the year 2000 the
restored tower has been used as a cultural centre for concerts and exhibitions.
Just before you reach the
tower there is a nice trail off the right (red dot) – this is the trail you
follow for the remainder of the hike. After a short while you get to a junction
where you keep to the right and after about five minutes you walk underneath a
large concrete reservoir. You continue on a beautiful, large path, with a nice
view on the valley, all the way from Sagrí to Apáno Kástro. Some ten
minutes later you walk on the right of a small hill and after fifteen minutes
you reach another junction. You
take a right and after a short while you arrive at a gravel road, which curves
to the left. Straight ahead you distinguish a stump of a tower and you
get to a small concrete road. To
the left you could walk to Tsikalarió and Chalkí; you take a right though, and
you thus get to a nice, flat road, which meanders between the olive trees and
the flowering broom – all the time you have a nice view on Chalkí.
After five minutes you
keep to the left and after another five minutes to the right – you DO NOT go
in the direction of the domed church of Damalás. For another fifteen minutes
you continue to follow this main road until you finally get to Damariónas. At
the first houses you can descend to the left and a zigzaging road brings you to
a small monument. For about 100 metres you then follow the asphalt road off the
right, until you get to the war monument. Another alternative is to first
continue straight ahead for a short while and only later on go down through the
beautiful village; in this way you will also get to the road and the war
monument.
On the left of the war
monument you go down the staircase and some twenty metres further on you take a
large road off the right. At the following junction you go left; after about
five minutes you pass an old wash place and the trail gets narrower. It
meanders between walls and crosses a bridge. Then it goes right and some twenty metres further it goes left again. You
thus get past a sports field with beyond it a beautiful view to Filóti. Just
past a concrete slope you reach another trail (which you followed on the hike
from Filóti to Chalkí) and you go straight ahead on a very beautiful and
narrow trail. Across the wall you can see the picturesque church of Agios
Geórgios on the right. A
little later on you get to the first houses; you keep to the left slightly and
you thus reach the beautiful wash place with a well on the right. You are now
right underneath the large road: you go straight ahead up the concrete slope and
you thus arrive at the road Sagrí - Filóti. Straight ahead and a little to the
right you find the little square near the tavern O Giánnis – with the most
pleasant outdoor terrace of Chalkí.
[If you have not yet paid
a visit to Chalkí, you should definitely have a look first: by taking the
shopping street leaving from O Giánnis you arrive close to the church Panagía
i Evangelístria i Protótronos. This church contains some beautiful wall
paintings and specially a marvellous ikonostási; unfortunately though, the
church is usually closed. Your best bet is in the early evening: at that time of
the day you might see the papás opening the church in order to go and sing the
vespers. In this way you can both admire the treasures of the church and enjoy
the singing of the priest! On the left of the church you can walk into the small
street to have look at the large tower of the Pýrgos Grazía: also here you can
notice the coat of arms of the famous Venetian family Barozzi above the
entrance.]
You can find the bus stop opposite the church.