Estimated time: The actual walking time from Dolphin Apartments, at the beach of Agios Geórgios , to the summit of the Profítis Ilías is almost 1h20; it will then take you about 40 minutes to the cave. This means that the actual walking time is about 1h55. The total walking time can be a lot more – we walked from 9.45am to 12.30pm, with a long break on the Profítis Ilías.

Route description: (0h00) From Dolphin Apartments and the crossing with a signpost to Antíparos you follow the large sandy road for about 10 minutes. This road runs parallel to the coast, about 20-30 metres away from the sea.  

View on the straits between Antíparos and Despotikó.

(0h11) At the end of the road you take a right and you follow the asphalt road going inland. Just before you would get to a side-road, an asphalt road, you go left on a gravel road, for about 2-3 minutes. In this way you avoid the asphalt road, but eventually you still have to take a right, to this asphalt road.

(0h20) You go left here, but already after 10 metres you go straight ahead on the gravel road. You cross the bed of a river and then you go up on the right resolutely. You first walk in an area with many heaps of rubbish and three times you pass roads off the left. You keep going straight ahead, in the direction of a large goat farm, where you pass a wide, iron gate. 

The road to the farm...

... with the typical Greek ingredients of abandoned cars and goats!

(0h30) You now follow a quite pleasant gravel road, running above the valley. You could already see a few rust-coloured remains of former mine exploitation, but after 6-7 minutes you arrive in a landscape with even more remains of mine exploitation.
You keep following the main road, which meanders towards a pass. The final stretch is fairly steep and the surroundings are really green. You thus reach the pass, where you have a great view behind you, on the straits of Despotikó.

The road to Monastíria and the Profítis Ilías.

Have a look at the supports made of stone on the left and the right: these used to be the supports for the little train that descended from the mines to the coast – it was used about 50-60 years ago.  

The supports of the little train that descended from the mines to the coast.

(0h56) At this point, the road splits up: the road on the left descends further to the beach of Monastíria ; you take a right, on a road that meanders further up. The following climb is really strenuous, always in a very green environment. The panoramic view gets more and more beautiful, though. When you almost reach the summit, you pass a smaller road off the left, because you first want to go to the top.

[If you would follow the little road on the left, you pass underneath the summit and you would get to point (1h21) below.]

(1h17) In this way you reach the 301-m high summit of the Profítis Ilías, the highest top on the island of Antíparos . There is a chapel and the inescapable aerial.

The chapel of Profítis Ilías.

The view is wonderful on all sides: below you notice Agios Geórgios, with Despotikó, and with Poliégos, Kímolos and even Mílos behind it. More to the right you see Sífnos, and Folégandros is situated more to the left. Santoríni is very far away and the islands of Síkinos, Ios, Irakliá, Schinoússa, Koufoníssi are closer. You can also spot a small tip of Donoússa and then also Náxos and Páros. On the other side you have a nice view on the entire island of Antíparos , with the harbour of Poúnta at Páros, and then, to the left of Páros and Náxos, also the islands of Mýkonos, Dílos, Tínos, Sýros, Sérifos, and Sífnos again.
On Antíparos itself you notice the town of Antíparos in the north, then the plain of Kámbos and the beautiful beach of Livádi on the left. Towards the south you notice the peninsula of Faneroméni on the left, with Sorós on its left and Agios Geórgios and Despotikó on its right.
You can also see the trail that continues in the direction of Páros, a long line in the landscape, which arrives at the curve of the asphalt road – that is where the cave is situated.

(1h17) You leave on the side of the aerial and you descend on a barely visible little path, on a green slope in the direction of the bay of Livádi, or a little to the left of it.  

[If you would like to avoid these difficult minutes, you can return via the gravel road and then take the road off the right that runs around the top.]

(1h33) You curve somewhat to the left and then you notice a road coming from the left – you keep going towards the right. The road narrows gradually, until it becomes a real stony trail.

Looking behind you...

After yet another 4 minutes you notice a path on the right, which descends by describing a curve, until it reaches a hole of a mine, just in front of you. You continue straight ahead and slightly upwards. A couple of minutes later, the path becomes rust-coloured – at certain places you can still see the holes of former mine exploitation.

Holes of the former mine exploitation...

A little later you arrive at a kind of wall, made of mine waste; the path is caved in and you have to continue carefully, on the right of a bush.

(1h40) You walk amongst the debris, more or less without a trail; thereafter the path becomes visible again and you go down among the frýgana (thorny bushes), in the direction of the curve and the junction of the asphalt road. You descend a little more to the right, and then you keep more to the left again, on a barely visible track – for a short while you can see the other side of Antíparos, with the tip of Páros and Náxos. You descend carefully on a stony slope, without path, going towards the road. Make sure to arrive at a distance of about 100 m on the left of the junction, right at the end of the crashbarrier.

(1h48) At the road you take a right and when you get to the junction you go up on the left. You will soon reach the large parking lot and then the paved entrance road to the cave of Agios Ioánnis . (1h55)

From 1^st May to 15^th October the cave is open from 11am to 2pm. In the year 2008 this site was redesigned and opened to the public.
You first go down 209 steps, leading you past a beautiful ‘waterfall’ of rocks and also past a very impressive gorge.
You can then go down another 125 steps on the right; you will notice the inscription commemorating the visit of the first Greek king Othoon, on 27^th September 1840 – unfortunately, though, there are also some recent inscriptions and even some graffiti….

The inscription commemorating the visit of the Greek king Othoon.

Behind a rock you can see names such as Devernon (1784), Brossay, Dumas and Vernizet.  

You can climb back up until you get to the junction and then you go down gradually towards the right. Very interesting here is the stalactite of 8 metres high, which is called the Agia Trápeza (Holy Table).

The Agia Trápeza - Raymond shows the location of the famous Latin inscription. 

The inscription of 1683.

It is called the ‘Holy Table’, because on the 24^th of December 1673 a midnight mass was celebrated here, attended by the French ambassador in Constantinople, marquis de Nointel – this is indicated by a Latin sign. The ambassador, and a retinue of 500 people (!), was brought to this place by the ship of a famous pirate, called Daniel. He stayed in the cave for three days.
The Latin sign commemorating the midnight mass reads: "Hic ipse Christus / adfuit Eius natali / die media nocte  / celebrato / MDCLXXIII" or "Christ himself was present here, when his birthday was celebrated at midnight, in the year 1673".

All around you notice inscriptions of Cabuchet "père et fils" (3 June 1776), and of names like Chanazeilles, La Canorgue, Courtivron, Essarts (is this the same "gladiateur" who left his inscription in 1876, on the large stalactite on the right of the Agia Trápeza?) and Valère Mabille (1889) – all of which are French names, but there is also a certain H. Cadisch (1888).
Behind a narrow passage you can see even more names, such as Diego Murray (1818), Hilaire Foucherot (1776), the same Valère Mabille (1889) and the famous inscription of the proud nobleman, marquis de Chambert, when talking about his wife. This amusing inscription reads: "Hélène Täscher, incomparable femme, trésor du marquis de Chambert, à Paris 1776" - "Hélène Täscher, unequalled wife, treasure of the marquis of Chambert, Paris 1776".

The inscription of the marquis de Chambert.

[If you made an appointment with Dolphin Apartments, some one will be happy to come and pick you up from this point. If not, you have to call a taxi, you have to wait for the bus to Antíparos (only in summer) or ... you have to walk back...