A large windfarm and the Panagia Soumela Monastery, were the two main sights of today. 33.8 kilometres walked with a total ascent of 860 metres.
After a circuitous walk across grassland and down a wooded valley I arrived at the village of Xirolivado. Two gentleman were drinking coffee on a bench at the entrance of the town and I asked if there was a café nearby. By miming the turning of a key they indicated it was closed, a disappointment as I was looking forward to a morning cuppa.
I had to retrace my steps a hundred metres or so to where the next stretch of the E4 started. This was another of the gaps in the GPS tracks I had downloaded for the E4, it extended from Xirolivado to the next village of Kastania. I had created a route based on Google Earth and two tracks on Wikiloc.com (from Xerolivafo and to Kastania). There were some E4 signs nailed to telegraph poles on the start of the route I picked, which showed I was at least starting on the correct route. Around the valley there were distant sounds of excited dogs and the occasional boom of a shotgun. People out on a Saturday hunting expedition. Climbing steeply my route took me through trees to the top of the ridge. At the crest I entered a windfarm covering a large area of open hills. My route followed the brilliant white, gravel roads created by the owners of the wind turbines. I had seen the first of the turbines from near my campsite last night, then they were still but now they were turning slowly in an imperceptible breeze. The tracks I had picked went up and down across the grassland with side roads going off to individual turbines. My right ankle was giving me some pain on all the "up" sections. I stopped to look into the church of Agia Paraskeya Polymyloy; another highly decorated church, every surface elaborately painted, including the ceiling.
After many more turbines it was time to descend. The path I had picked was a rocky animal track that dropped steeply to a dirt track, below that another track led through trees, passing a few makeshift shacks to reach a tarmac road. I debated at this point whether to divert an extra half kilometre to visit the Panagia Soumela monastery. I am glad I did as in addition to a church full of frescos and icons, candles and golden finishes there was a selection of restaurants. I thought a late lunch was much deserved and it was certainly much enjoyed. The monastery replaces one in Pontus in Turkey from where the monks were forced to flee in 1923 and is associated with the Pontic Greeks who came from that area.
After walking through the adjacent village of Kastania looking in vain for a shop I continued on my walk. With my ankle giving intermittent pain I decided to stop early and after a few kilometres found a pleasant camping spot, hidden from the nearby track but with a good view of the villages and mountains the other side of the deep valley, which I would visit tomorrow.
A gpx file of my route for your GPS can be found on wikiloc.com, or you can access it on your smartphone at ViewRanger, shortcode johnpon0036.
After a circuitous walk across grassland and down a wooded valley I arrived at the village of Xirolivado. Two gentleman were drinking coffee on a bench at the entrance of the town and I asked if there was a café nearby. By miming the turning of a key they indicated it was closed, a disappointment as I was looking forward to a morning cuppa.
I had to retrace my steps a hundred metres or so to where the next stretch of the E4 started. This was another of the gaps in the GPS tracks I had downloaded for the E4, it extended from Xirolivado to the next village of Kastania. I had created a route based on Google Earth and two tracks on Wikiloc.com (from Xerolivafo and to Kastania). There were some E4 signs nailed to telegraph poles on the start of the route I picked, which showed I was at least starting on the correct route. Around the valley there were distant sounds of excited dogs and the occasional boom of a shotgun. People out on a Saturday hunting expedition. Climbing steeply my route took me through trees to the top of the ridge. At the crest I entered a windfarm covering a large area of open hills. My route followed the brilliant white, gravel roads created by the owners of the wind turbines. I had seen the first of the turbines from near my campsite last night, then they were still but now they were turning slowly in an imperceptible breeze. The tracks I had picked went up and down across the grassland with side roads going off to individual turbines. My right ankle was giving me some pain on all the "up" sections. I stopped to look into the church of Agia Paraskeya Polymyloy; another highly decorated church, every surface elaborately painted, including the ceiling.
After many more turbines it was time to descend. The path I had picked was a rocky animal track that dropped steeply to a dirt track, below that another track led through trees, passing a few makeshift shacks to reach a tarmac road. I debated at this point whether to divert an extra half kilometre to visit the Panagia Soumela monastery. I am glad I did as in addition to a church full of frescos and icons, candles and golden finishes there was a selection of restaurants. I thought a late lunch was much deserved and it was certainly much enjoyed. The monastery replaces one in Pontus in Turkey from where the monks were forced to flee in 1923 and is associated with the Pontic Greeks who came from that area.
After walking through the adjacent village of Kastania looking in vain for a shop I continued on my walk. With my ankle giving intermittent pain I decided to stop early and after a few kilometres found a pleasant camping spot, hidden from the nearby track but with a good view of the villages and mountains the other side of the deep valley, which I would visit tomorrow.
A gpx file of my route for your GPS can be found on wikiloc.com, or you can access it on your smartphone at ViewRanger, shortcode johnpon0036.
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| Early morning walk through the trees |
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| A small part of a large windfarm |
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| Mosaic on side of Panagia Soumela church |
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| A cow waiting at a disused petrol station, unlikely to get served |
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