The State and its trails

“The location here does something to you. You’re walking in a place where many important people have walked for 10,000 years. It’s a place that will haunt you in your life, it won’t leave you alone”, confesses Gerasimos Defteraios, ‘Masos’ for friends, who knows all the paths of Ithaca from the good and the bad.

We chat with Masos in his office in Vathi. There we found him performing his architectural duties, in the mood one has when it’s May, the day is beautiful, passers-by are sending their good mornings and the sea is only a few meters away. So while he is giving us directions to one of the trails we plan to traverse in the coming days, these words of his get stuck in my mind. Just like that, without any such intention, Masos has summed up the whole experience of Ithaca. Wherever one encounters it.

Just yesterday, 7 May at 12.15 noon, we boarded the ship of the Astakos – Kefalonia – Ithaca line. Familiar route. Like a year ago, the passengers crouched on the reefs, gazing blankly at the approaching Ithaca. A year heavier, accompanied by other thoughts and with the emotion caused by the unknown more restrained, we descended the ship’s metal steps to the small port of Back Aetos (Eagle) and stepped again on the beloved lands of Ithaca.

Our destination this time is the south side, Chora, Vathi, and its paths, which will reveal its hidden beauties. After all, it is only by walking that you have the freedom to choose where to go, where to stop and look, listen and smell.

“Well, there are two things we should be proud of here in Ithaca, our librarian and the Archaeological Museum of Stavros“, says Masos with his characteristic humor, after answering all our impatient questions.

We visited the remarkable Archaeological Museum in Stavros last year. We were to meet Othon the Librarian the next day, on our way to Panagia in the Cave.

“We should definitely tell the teacher to come along too, he’s been a fanatic about the playbook since it started. So are we ready for tomorrow?”

In recent years I have become increasingly sure that where the roads end, the true identity of a place begins to reveal itself. The one that existed long before man and his creations. Otherwise you only get a formal and short-term relationship with the place.

Vathi

Making a morning appointment the next day, to avoid the sun, we greeted Masos and wandered around the beautiful Vathi. This musky late spring day reminds me of a graveyard. Its double houses stretch from end to end around the deep bay that gives it its name. Some look as if they have been blown by the wind and perched on the low hillsides behind. Higher up, about 300 metres up the Petalian mountain, the white houses of the mountain settlement of southern Ithaca, Perachorio, are clustered like a flock of sheep.

Vathi is full in view but simple, never tires you out. Its houses, ochre-coloured or white with colourful windows, look neat, simple and yet so rich. They are not crowded, except to make a few touching alleys with uphill walkways. In their gardens around the tables and chairs, lemon trees, fig trees, rose bushes and smelling honeysuckles bloom. And who wouldn’t want to drink their coffee in a courtyard like this?

As I walk up random streets, I look around and pass the same places again. At some point I leave the houses of the small state behind and the tile roofs meet my feet as if thrown into the sea. The Mountain of Anogi just across from Vathi closes the entrance to the impregnable bay, forming what you might call an enclosed lake, surrounded by green mountain ranges. In the middle, near the southwestern beach of the harbour, is the small islet of Lazaretto with the church of The Transfiguration of the Saviour and the pine trees leaning in synchrony with the slope of the wind.

Lazaretto, as Giannis Vlassopoulos, who has an old sailor’s family, writes in his book “Anemokarava”, was one of the most serious services of the port, the Sanitary Department. The Sanitary Stations, were established at every port or place of landing where there was commercial traffic, and later took the Italian name Lazaretto. Every traveller coming from another place had to report there, where, before being allowed free communication, he was subjected to a strict examination. When deemed necessary the traveller was confined to the Purgatory or Lazaretto, where he was obliged to remain from 7 to 40 days, until the disease he might have contracted had manifested itself. Hence this confinement is still called quarantine (santara), from the Italian word quaranta = forty.

The plague purgatory operated until 1836 and then it became a prison for barons. The buildings were demolished by the 1953 earthquakes and today in Lazaretto the small Temple of the Saviour, built partly from the stones of the ruins and first built in 1668, survives.

In the central square of the harbour, locals enjoy seafood and ouzo with a view of the waves, while sheltering from the sun, which has begun to beat down on their heads. On the contrary, foreign tourists have already gotten sunburned and are flaunting themselves. The visitors at this time are as many as they should be, not exceeding the number of residents. It occurs to me that most of us shame the islands almost simultaneously, when everything is spoiled by the crowds and it is difficult to enjoy even the simplest things. But if we want to experience the real life of the island and get to know its people we should avoid it.

A large anchor, placed on a marble pedestal at a central point of the seaside road catches my attention. The inscription underneath reads “dedicated to the Thecian sailors who forever embraced the wave“. There isn’t a family here in Thyaki that didn’t have a sailor. In fact, Vathi had a Commercial and Naval School (1906-1913 or 1907-1914), which was the best in the Balkans and one of the best in Europe. It was founded by Othon Stathatos and during its seven years of operation, it graduated highly qualified merchant mariners and merchant bankers, who immediately after graduation occupied important positions.

The anchor is opposite the Drakoulis’s anchor, a representative example of a neoclassical mansion of the early 20th century. It is a stone-built building with Ionic columns at the entrance, now used as a café. The façade is dominated by the correspondence of the openings and symmetry, while the front yard of the building is dominated by palm trees on the sides and encloses a technical pond.

In Vathi there are other remarkable buildings of various eras and rhythms, such as the house of G. Karavia with obvious Renaissance elements, mansions and simple Heptanese buildings. In 1953 strong frequent earthquakes struck Ithaca, along with Kefalonia and Zakynthos, and caused tragic disasters. The oldest inhabitants who lived through them remember how the earth was shaking and the air smelled of sulphur. They even say that the waters had receded at Fricks and Kion and then fell with a rush and carried away everything in front of them. In Ithaca, only the houses on the eastern side and the bell tower of the Metropolis, built by Epirus craftsmen, remained standing. The new buildings of Vathi, designated a conservation settlement in 1978, are simple and retain the rectangular shape, balconies and tiled roofs.

I keep walking towards the eastern end of the harbour and my gaze alternates between the beautiful little houses on one side and the sea with the boats and the yellow nets of the fishermen on the other. At one point tall willows and pine trees hug the road and the smell of sage beats the others. At the edge is Loutsa beach and its small castle, built in 1807 during the second French occupation of the Ionian Islands, to repel the expected English siege. His two enetic cannons are aimed towards the entrance to the port of Vathi.

I return to Vathi to visit the Naval – Folklore and the Archaeological Museum of the Municipality of Ithaca, before they close. The Naval Folklore Museum is located near the central square. It is housed in the building of the former Power Station, constructed in November 1923, donated by the Ithacan shipowner Georgios Drakoulis. The Museum includes a number of exhibits, documents from the rich maritime history of Ithaca. In its two spacious floors, the social, family and professional life of the inhabitants of the past centuries comes alive through the showcases.

I left the Folklore Museum with the best impressions and headed to the Archaeological Museum of Vathi. The museum includes findings from Geometric to Roman times from the excavations at Aetos and other archaeological sites of Ithaca. Of particular interest is a category of vases of the Geometric period which come from a local workshop and are therefore called Ithakisia. The collection of small objects is also impressive. These are miniatures of objects deposited by the faithful in the temenos of Apollo located in P. Aetos. Many figurines were also found in the same place. Among the finds included a small bronze bust of Ulysses.

From the beach in Loutsa, a beautiful path starts, passing over the rocks of the sea and leading to the white chapel of Agios Andreas. Theodoros Tsitsaronis, a retired captain, volunteers to take us for a ride into the bay in his water taxi to see the chapel and Vathi from the sea. He is always steaming there on the pier, as he has medical cases to attend to in addition to visitors.

“Here was the last prayer of the sailor leaving and the first when he comes,” he tells me, looking at St. Andrew, full of memories. For 40 years he remembers it here under the lighthouse, sometimes bringing him nostalgia and sometimes filling him with anticipation. “When I graduated from the Naval Gymnasium,” he recalls, “thirty-two of us were kids, and 32 of us went to Piraeus the next day to go to the bar.” But although he didn’t want his children to be sailors, he has no regrets. Now he’s offshore whenever he wants to be, but also close to the island. As he left, he wished us to keep Ithaca in mind and added, “cour destination“.

In the afternoon he catches poonies in the harbour and disturbs boats and passers-by. They’re common, these winds. They come as soon as the sun sets and the cold air over the sea passes ashore. So it can be calm outside the harbour and the Lord’s pleasure inside. The boats pull the fishing boats on one side and the sea on the other, and the clapboards stretch, like the game of tug-of-war we used to play when we were young. The temperature drops and people button up, but by the time the moon comes out the universe has calmed down again.

1st Path: Vathi – Virgin Mary in the cave

The next day at dawn, faithful to our appointment, we meet our companions: Masos, Kostas the teacher, Othon the librarian and Chrysanthi. We are all in a good mood and ready with our walking wraps.

The harbour again, still sleeping quietly and the boats are barely sailing. The houses are painted in the colours of the sunrise and lazily the small town comes to life.

The path we will cross will take us to the Panagia Spileotissa in Nerovoulos. Tradition says that many years ago in this cave the icon of Panagia Vlaherna was found. The inhabitants of Perachori used to carry it to the village church, but the icon kept returning to the cave until the people of Perachori decided to build a house for it inside the rock. Today the icon is in Perachori for protection and every July 2, before the first light of day, the faithful make a procession to the cave, carrying the old icon, wrapped in embroidery, on their heads. There they dawn in a solemn mass.

We drive up the road next to the Drakoulis mansion and near the old OTE building we find the path. From this point the view is simple, of course the day is not so clear today but still the Lefkada, Meganisi, Kastos, Kalamos and Echinades.

The signs lead us to the right and at the house with cypress trees we turn right again. Soon we come across a rusty gateway, enclosing a field, and we move to the left of it parallel to the pond. A few signs assure us that we are making good progress so far. On our left we meet large olive trees and on our right a hut and further down another portico tied with rope. We pass them and go straight on along the clearly marked path. At some point we come across a red sign marking an old path, we pass this too.

A few meters before the barbed wire fence, which is placed in a pothole, we leave the alley and turn right. There is no marked path at this point but we are not deterred. We pass the valley, the olive grove, the wire gate and continue straight on. When we reach the foot of the Nerovoulos we follow a southerly direction, proceeding around the rough eastern part of the Nerovoulos in low vegetation.

At the end of this adventurous route is Spileotissa, simple, without unnecessary things. Just a few pictures and a table with oil and wicks for the candles.

“The Perachorites are very attached to this church“, Kostas tells me. “In fact, here in Ithaca we say “spilonoi” which means “we find shelter in a cave“. Once we had lit the candles and a candle for a blessing to the Virgin Mary, we sat outside on the terrace  to catch our breath for the return journey.

Cave of ‘Roots’

On the main road we meet the sign for the Cave of Roots. Since it is still early, we decide to visit it. From there we start climbing uphill.

We walk almost blindly through the lush vegetation on a steep slope. The sun soaks our foreheads and well-fed thorns scratch our feet. Othon aptly called the cave barrier “cave barber”.

We have finally arrived! The cave cuts a cool diagonal cut in the mountain, about 35 meters. At the top it has a 10 meter wide opening, which when aligned with the sun receives its rays into the humid interior. Now that we are 2 hours away from noon we can clearly see the light shadows created inside the cave. The faint rays play with the ferns, ivy and other hydrophilic plants and a swarm of bees have found the best resonator for their buzzing

“It looks like a miniature of Melissani, but without the lake”, Kostas says on the way back and informs me that in Rizes there was until the end of the 15th century, one of the first settlements of Ithaca, along with the settlement of Anogi in North Ithaca.

After a creative day we had satisfied our sight, hearing, smell and touch. Now it was time for taste. The tavern of Venos in Perachori, made us an authentic ‘tserepa’, pure sweetness, just like the Thian housewives used to make it.

Note: For Spileotissa, we recommend the following alternative, longer route, than the one we took.

Waypoints: From the end of the village of Perachori, sign towards the Monastery of Taxiarches, first turn left, Agios Athanasios, a few meters further down on the right at the fork, walking on the successive hillsides.

Distance: 4.100m

Slope: no steep inclines

Path width: 0,40- 1,00m

Markings: moderate

Sights: Virgin Mary in the Cave

Views: Atokos, Kalamos, Kastos, Echinades, Central Greece, Andri bay, Kefalonia

2^nd Path: Alalkomenes

“The route is difficult and uphill, so we have to wake up early if we don’t want the sun to hit us”, Kostas the teacher tells us, seeing that time is passing and the tavern in Perachori has dangerously charmed us with its nice atmosphere. “Unfortunately, the path is not visibly marked and this season it will be choked by vegetation. You see this year it rained a lot“.

Next morning we are ready to meet Alalkomenes, where the “Homeric Asty” is believed to have been located. So we take the main highway to Piso Aetos and 1.8 km after the junction we come across the brown sign for the archaeological site of Alalkomenes. This area is called Paleokastro and we walk west past excavation cuts. We leave them behind along with the newly built chapel of Agios Georgios and continue straight on until we spot the red trail markers. Moving on, we encounter three vertical levels of large stones with no binding material, a typical example of cyclopean construction, dated to the Mycenaean period. Successive stone steps lead us to a plateau. We turn right and cross it until we reach a rusty doorway. We pass through it and close it again behind us.

The steep inclines have tired us out and our breaths have lost their rhythm, so we save our breath and take a few short stops to cool off. “Nice gateway to the archaeological site, eh? The gateway to the unexplained,” the teacher says sarcastically at one point.

Soon the uphill becomes smoother and the vegetation around us becomes more and more luxuriant. At some point the trail forks, the instructor leads us to the left fork going uphill. Unfortunately the red signs are not there when you need them. A short time later we come across a fallen sign on our left, which reads in rusty letters, “Cyclopean Walls“. We detour to see a fairly well-preserved example of cyclopean construction.

“How did they carry those stones, my child?” the teacher exclaims, as if in our minds. It’s really curious when you think about it. “Sure enough, they certainly carried them in the morning,” he continues, glancing at the sun that was already beginning to catch up with us.

We return to the trail, fix the fallen sign, unfortunately in the short term, and follow the uphill that becomes more and more intense. On the way down it will definitely need attention, I think to myself. But what’s important now is to find our rhythm to get to the top. Meanwhile, now and then the view opens up beside us, with Petaliatiko to the right and Nirito to the left and the bay of Aetos ahead.

“I inform you that we have arrived!“, the teacher said to our great relief. It took us an hour or so to get up but the walk was quite tiring. At the top we found a long flat space surrounded by Cyclopean Walls built in three different eras. We notice that in some places this unheard of construction has not escaped time but mainly earthquakes, since Ithaca has been tested from time to time by devastating hailstones. On the back side no wall had to be built everywhere, the steep cliff creates a physical citadel.

Walking to the right now in a northerly direction, we find two cisterns dug into the rock and a Mycenaean tomb. The smaller tank is thought to have been a fryktory. A few more steps and we reach the highest point of the citadel at 378 metres. The pillar at this point was placed by the Army Geographical Survey. I guess someone mistook it for an archaeological monument and left it a bunch of laurels.

Our pupils dilate and we are amazed at the view: the whole of Northern Ithaca sitting on a blue sheet. A thin strip of land keeps it tied to us. It is impressive, as if we are looking at it from the ether. To the west is Kefalonia and all of its eastern coastline.

The teacher informs me that the archaeologists have not concluded what exactly this area was. The excavations so far are open to different explanations. The locals, however, call it “Ulysses’ Castle”. “All mystery is Ithaca! No one tells you anything specific,” he exclaimed as we made our way back.

Starting point: motorway to Piso Aetos, sign “Alalkomenes”

Route length: 1 km approx.

Slope: steep uphill

Path width: 0,40-1,00 m

Engraving: visible

Markings: moderate

Sights: the Cyclopean walls, Fryktoria, Mycenaean tomb

Views: Nirito, the bay of Aetos, North Ithaca, the eastern coast of Kefalonia

3^rd Path: Skoinos-Gidaki

After the necessary rest, a beautiful route awaited us. I think it is one of the most enjoyable on the island and my favorite.

So in the afternoon, together with the teacher, our tireless driver, we take the coastal road from Vathi to the east. Near the beach Mnimata, at the bay of Skoinos, we leave the car and walk with the sea on our left hand. The beach “Mnimata”, named after the word “messages”, as there is a Minoan fryktoria on the opposite peak.

Walking along the beach on a dirt road we descend to a small path, which starts in front of a privately owned building. We are located at a small beach with a small beach house. Gratsos’s Ktima (Estate), where we meet a small pine tree, which casts its shadow on the opposite beach of Skoinos. Behind the manicured pine tree, vines and fruit trees are cultivated.

In the afternoon the colours seem more intense than at any other time and all the scents are released clearly. As if the long sun hides them. The soil is dark brown, the sea is deep blue in the deeps, illuminating the shallows, and the trees are lush green, bringing out every last trace of color they have.

We pass the Ktima and the gate we meet at the edge of it and go up the path. One attractive beach follows another in the beautiful creeks of Skoinos. In their waters  is replaced by dark green vegetation, which almost touches them.

A bushy trebuchet adds a few more notes to the colourful symphony of the landscape. As we walk through the woodland, I pick small branches from the plants, smell them and stuff them into my pockets, which are warm from walking and exude the potpourri of Ithaca.

The path has slight slopes, is obvious and not tiring at all. As you approach Gidaki the fragrant myrtle trees become thicker and, along with the kumarias, skinnies and other plants, make beautiful galleries. At the edge of the latter, the beach of Gidaki is revealed with the beige rocks that surround it. The last 150 metres, which take us down to the beach, are the most difficult and require caution, as they descend steeply. Victims of the beautiful Siren, our feet slip on the rocks and dirt.

From there we rest and enjoy the bright beach that ends at the cape Pounda of Gidaki. It is probably named after the wild goats that graze in the area. Its pebbles are light-coloured, the water is blue and a vertically grooved rock rises above them. The teacher picks up whatever rubbish he finds on his way, keeping his ecological conscience and the beach clean, George lies down on the pebbles and I try to wet my feet, which finally, still unlearned on the stones, are back in my shoes.

When we were leaving we did not understand when two young visitors had left their things on the beach and were diving into the cold waters of Gidaki. One of the two, more hesitant, was waiting for the water temperature, or rather the courage, while the other swam deeper and deeper.

Starting point: Mnimata beach

Route length: 1.650m.

Slope: smooth uphill

Path width: 0,40-1,00m.

Signalling: incomplete

Engraving: visible

View: the wide bay of Skoinos and the beach of Gidaki

4^th Path: The Arethousa Fountain

The next morning, the Homeric spring calls us to greet the beloved Vathi again. We thus set off from the middle of the harbour towards the Anemodouri area, where we come across a small plateau, suitable for leaving our car.

A few meters further down we meet a sign that indicates in capital letters our destination “Arethousa Fountain”. The path is there on the left. It is narrow but distinct.

Three reeds left by some good travellers as if they were waiting for us at the beginning. They served us as a psychological retreat on the walk but mostly to sober up the route. Of course, when we returned these wondrous animals had not been loitering and had woven new silks.

Bumps and crannies pass by us. Linden trees, balsamroot and other healing herbs of nature, which my teacher points out to me all along the way, smell fragrant. Where we walk over gray rocks with a slight downhill slope, the trail seems to disappear but eventually continues on, turning sharply to the right.

As we pass one ridge after the other, the entire eastern outline of the island is outlined on our left, from the cape Skotargia and the bay of Sarakinikos to the small island of Pera Pigadi and the cape of St Giannis in Pounta. The beaches of Kaminia, Steni Valoula, Talaros, Pera Pigadi and Chalasmata follow each other, lonely, as if they have never been trodden on by man. Talaros, according to the teacher, is one of the most beautiful, while “Pera Pigadi has icy waters, for there the waters of the spring are poured out”. Anyone who can afford to hire a boat from Vathi will surely see beaches of touching beauty.

In the distance, the “Petra of Korakas” (Stone of the Raven), a vertical, severe cliff, began to appear. The red lines on it said it was the blood of the Raven killed in the hunt. At its root is the Arethousa Fountain. As we approach the cliff and the spring, the guide shows us a sharply downhill path that leads to Pera Pigadi beach. “Do you know how nice it is to swim at the beach and then come here to drink water?“, Kostas says happily.

A few steps later, the rocks look like a carved cobbled path and next to them opens up a bed with scotch, myrtle, wicker and holly.

The Arethousa fountain is a small circular natural basin in the rock. A thick green layer of moss has covered the stones. Kostas pours his pre-made yoghurt bucket, tied with a rope for this purpose, into the spring and draws some cool water. “If Odysseus had seen this, he would have gone back to Troy,” Kostas says, as he does every time he sees one of the evils on his island and promises himself to replace it.

We quenched our thirst and sat for a while at the roots of this imposing geological phenomenon. Before we left I remembered Masos’ words about Arethousa. Keeping in mind Odysseus, Eumaeus, Telemachus and Athena, he told me: “You are walking in a place where many important people have walked for 10,000 years. It’s a place that will haunt you in your life, it won’t leave you alone.” Who knows. Maybe he’s right.

Starting point: sign “Arethoussa”

Route length: 2.350m.

Slope: smooth uphill

Path width: 0,50- 1,00m.

Signalling: incomplete

Engraving: visible

Sights: Korakas Petra, Arethousa spring

Views: the southwest coast of the island, Pera Pigadi

5^th Path: Perachori-Paleochora-Cave of the Nymphs

We have a pleasant new group of friends who wanted to join us as far as the Cave of the Nymphs. There, according to Homer, Odysseus guarded the treasures of the Feakes. Spyros Arsenis, prefect of Ithaca, his wife Daisy and their friend Tonia helped us find the path to the Cave or Marmarospilia. Without them, we’d probably be looking for a needle in a haystack.

We start from Perachori, one of the three oldest mountain villages of Ithaca and the only one in the southern part of the island. Perachori is three kilometers from Vathi and is built on the Petaliatiko mountain at an altitude of 300 meters. From there, it overlooks the entire bay of Vathi. The Thians refer to Perachori as “The neatest village!”. Indeed, we hardly saw an unkempt house, garden or farm.

The southern part of Ithaca is generally fertile but we would not have seen the products thrive without the tireless efforts of the Perachorites. Wine and olive oil have always been the mainstay. Particularly at the end of the last century and the beginning of our century, viticulture and the cultivation of grape vines had brought the production to a sharp increase.

North of it and not far away is the old Peraochorio or Paleochora, which flourished in medieval times and supplied Vathi and Perachori with inhabitants. Today, Paleochora retains traces of a thriving society with the ruins of old houses, churches and Venetian bell towers overlooking the sunrise. At the same time, they tell the modern architecture that without concrete without iron, tall and proudly erected, they resisted centuries of decay and constant destructive earthquakes.

The people who inhabited this village seem to have been religious, hard-working, with the main occupations being agriculture and animal husbandry, qualities that were inherited by the inhabitants of today’s Perachorio and have not disappeared until today.

First we meet I. N. of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, which is one of the five churches of the settlement and belongs to the so-called Park of Post-Byzantine Churches of Paleochora. Its frescoes are damaged, however the fallen roof has been restored. Like all the churches of Paleochora, the Church of the Assumption has two parts: the nave and the porch. Only those who had been initiated into Orthodox Christianity entered the nave. While in the pronaos all Christians entered.

The post-Byzantine churches of Paleochora have repeatedly attracted the attention of Byzantinologists, archaeologists and scholars alike, where they attract attention for their location, their frescoes, their construction and generally the elegance and good taste of those who built them, but also for their resistance to time, to the weather and to destructive earthquakes.

From the church of the Assumption of Theotokos we follow the uphill path to the right. “We used to do these trails 20-30 people behind each other,” Spyros recalls. Soon we find another church in the park, the Panagia Maroulatiki, built in the 16^th century. The actual name of the church is “The Entrance of the Virgin Mary”. However, because other churches bore this name to distinguish it, people gave it the name “Maroulatiki”, which comes from “Maroulis“, an adjective of the family that was in charge of it at the time. Today, Maroulatiki is celebrated every year on 21 November, when a mystagogical mass is held, attended by a large number of people.

From above we can see the ruins of the church of the Taxiarches and at the other end of the road two public buildings under British rule. Perachori behind us climbs the hillside and our eyes catch a few neighbourhoods of Vathi and the cliff of Sarakinikos.

Next we meet the church of Agios Ioannis the Baptist with its majestic Venetian bell tower. We find its door open. Unfortunately, it seems that a farmer had probably kept his animals there and the interior resembles a stable. Everyone’s faces are painted with disappointment and anger at this irresponsibility.

We continue straight ahead and leave the church behind us on our left hand. The path is narrow but “whatever we do will be consulted“, as Daisy says. A little further down we come out into a clearing with old deserted houses of the settlement. Generally in Paleochora the houses seem to have had a comfortable living space. They were one or two-storey, tile-roofed, with several utility rooms. They also had rainwater tanks (cisterns).

We reach a stone threshing floor and descend from its left side in a NW direction, until we reach the tile-roofed chapel of Agios Andreas, inside of which there is an ancient colonnade. To its left the path continues to a second chapel dedicated to Agios Nikolas Spartias (1968), patron saint of sailors. We stop briefly at St Nicholas and Daisy buys us a handful of nuts. “They’re cardiotonic and give you energy for walking,” she adds. Tall oaks, carob trees, holly and wisteria create a green ring around us.

The route is nearing its end when we lose the path to the cave.

“Is this where it’s from?” asks Daisy.

“There was a red mark“, Spyros says and we all follow him. “Well, it’s not this way,” he says again, and we turn around until he shouts, “here it is! This way, this way!”

We turn back a little, about 30 m. and between two cypress trees we follow the path on our right.

Unfortunately, the Cave of Nymphs has been destroyed by the excavations and is left abandoned. Cut stalactites and stalagmites are lying around and entry to it is forbidden. We are all particularly bitter but especially Spyros, because when he was mayor he took care of the cave. In fact, he tells us, it was then one of the most visited attractions in Ithaca and nice events were held in its atmospheric interior.

Starting point: Perachori, sign “Paleochora”

Route length: 2.035m.

Slope: smooth uphill and downhill.

Path width: 0,30- 0,80m.

Engraving: non-existent in places

Markings: incomplete

Sights:the post-Byzantine churches

View: the bay of Vathi, the bay of Skoinos, Sarakiniko

Epilogue: At the seaside tavern

Last night came with a full, contented moon. On the beach we have a table with all the friends of Ithaca and lots of stories. The clown Pericles, the first TV in the village, the cinema films that fell into the sea, the festivals…

Before we said goodbye, Masos took the guitar and we started singing:

“don’t cry and don’t be sorry it’s getting dark….”

Bibliography

• Gerasimos D. Deuteraios – Vassilia Tsatsomaridou, Tours in Ithaca, Paths of Southern Ithaca, 1996, Typorama, Patras.
• Αndreas L. Anagnostatos, Historical and Folklore Analects of Ithaca, 2004, Femios
• Rita Tsintili-Vlisma, Boss Logos, Perachorio yesterday and today, Perachorio Community Edition, Athens 1998.
• Giannis Vlassopoulos, Anemokarava, Femios, Municipal Cultural Events of Ithaca, 2006