The identity of Ilia is ambiguous: the lowland part of the prefecture with the famous Ancient Olympia is world famous and the mountainous part with its rudimentary tourist facilities is little known. However, this place, which to a large extent remains pure and authentic, and sees the caravans of tourists passing by without touching it, is endowed by nature with rare beauty and the most beautiful oak forest in Greece: the Forest of Foloi.

THE FARM “KAMPOS NERAIDA” 

It could be the title of a poem or a romantic novel. It is neither. ‘Kampos Neraida’ is a farm in the lowland area of the settlement of ‘Neraida’, in the municipality of Foloi in Ilia. This farm, however, has some characteristics that are reminiscent of a fairyland, which justify its name conceptually. It is the unmistakable sound of the waters of the Enipeas, the rustling of the wind on the leaves of the poplars, the birds’ voices all day, the crickets and crickets at night, the distant crowing of a rooster at dawn. It could be the abode of a fairy. In its four little stone houses, however, those lucky enough to discover it can stay.

We are, in early October, one of those lucky ones. A time of calm, sweet, without the violent outbursts of nature. A season, with its daytime sunshine reminiscent of summer, while at night and at dawn, with its damp and chill, not much different from winter.

We arrive late in the afternoon, in the light of the evening. The well-known long route from Lamia, Brallo, Galaxidi, Nafpaktos has preceded. In Antirrio we are breathless. We are standing in front of the most important and most beautiful technological achievement in the history of modern Greece: the bridge that connects Antirrio with Rio, this magical curve that rises with unparalleled grace and solidity above the waters of the narrowest point of the Corinthian Gulf and brings together as never before Sterea and Peloponnese. Awe and admiration! These are the emotions that possess us during the almost two minutes of our “low flight”, a few tens of meters above the sea surface. Then everything becomes ordinary and common again, the exhilaration lasts only a short time. Before reaching the Tower we detour to Ancient Olympia and at the height of Varvasaena we turn left towards the interior, to the small town of Latzoi. In two kilometres the bridge of Enipeas appears, we head left towards Neraida. The crowded roads with their various bumps are already a thing of the past. Alongside the peaceful flow of the transparent waters of the Enipeas we have the impression that we are the only ones moving.

The landscape is gradually changing. The valley takes on a charming appearance, with cypresses and pine trees, vineyards, olive groves and riverside vegetation, huge and solid rocks on the tops of hills. Carved by the mighty hand of Nature over the centuries, their vertical surfaces bear intricate carvings, reminiscent of elaborate ancient reliefs. At the foot of such a giant ‘Meteor’, the 38 hectares of the ‘Kampos Neraidas’ farm are spread lazily, parallel to the flow of the Enipeas, and are the result of the complex of intricate carvings that are the result of a series of intricate sculptures that have been carved into the rocky outcrops. We are welcomed by Mrs. Eleni Vourloumi, with the warmth and diffusion of a friend from the old days.

Born in Neraida and satiated by life in the big cities, Eleni has found in the last two years a windless arable land in her beloved lands of the native land. Around the small and old-fashioned farmhouse she has added four more independent cottages, each with its own household and fireplace, so that the visitor has the feeling of living in his own farmhouse.

Eleni has found a valuable assistant and supporter in her work in the presence of Dimitris, a sympathetic man who, after a long career as a musician in the cosmopolitan crowds of Athens, has made the decision to become a retiree and relax. Caressed by his highly experienced fingers, the guitar strings compose songs old and beloved, romantic and unforgettable serenades, which we all sing late into the night, with all the power of our voices, without fear of disturbing the neighbour.

THE FASCINATING SURROUNDINGS

Despite the previous day’s long journey and late-night wine drinking, I wake up at 5am. Perhaps my subconscious desire to get to know the area is stronger than my physical fatigue. In a few minutes I’m outside the cottage and, with a cup of steaming coffee in hand, I notice the constellations, both familiar and unfamiliar, literally hanging over my head. In this strange hour, swinging hesitantly between day and night, I am not alone. Approaching beside me, wagging her tail, is Leda, a giant Caucasian shepherdess. Leda’s graceful muzzle combined with her discreet and friendly demeanor make her extremely endearing from the first moment. Unfortunately at this time I have nothing to give her as a reward for her company.

The stars gradually lose their brilliancy and fade away, the colours of the sky open up, the crickets are silent, the orchestra is taken over by the birds. In the company of Leda, who follows in my footsteps, I begin a short tour of the estate. First to the bed of the crystal-clear Enipeas, 60-70 meters to the south, then to the beautiful stand of poplars, to the young olive grove, to the old olives scattered throughout the estate and laden with fruit, to the small vegetable garden, which still retains a few tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers.

– The orchard will be enriched with many more species, says Dimitris, so that we will be self-sufficient in some of them.

Everywhere, all over the lush green surface of the estate, grow innumerable fresh chicory, so beloved and so hard to find by the city man. I can’t resist picking a few, for a healthy and delicious salad.

At 8 o’clock sharp a bright light to the north gets my attention. It is the first rays of the sun, which has just appeared from the hills opposite and illuminates the spectacular cliffs of “Meteor”, high above the farm. It is the best time to start our tour. We take the paved road to Neraida and, 350 m from the entrance of the estate, we meet a dirt road, which, with very steep gradients, climbs up towards Meteoros. It is rough and suitable only for cars with four-wheel drive. However, it is still a wonderful hiking route. As long as we go uphill, we have no idea of the landscape we will see. A kilometre later we reach a plateau. A stunning natural funnel opens up before us with small olive groves, ravines and gullies, interspersed with scattered hills, creating a fascinating and varied relief. At the end of the funnel rises an impenetrable natural wall with spectacular cliffs, similar to those of Metecro. The whole area is lush green, covered with bushes, heather, shrubs and countless young pine trees. This type of vegetation is not accidental. It emerged after the huge fire which, in the summer of 1998, burnt down most of the mountainous part of the prefecture of Elias and part of the neighbouring mountainous Arcadia. It was one of the most destructive fires ever to occur in the Greek territory, since it wiped out a total of 186,000 acres (!) of mostly pine forest. 6 years later the traces of the fire are still preserved in some blackened logs, standing or fallen. Few of those majestic pine trees survived and they rise strangely among the overall low vegetation either singly or in small scattered clumps. Fortunately, the dynamic nature of Ilia, with its extraordinary regenerative capacity, quickly began to heal its wounds. However, despite the optimistic sight of young green areas, it is very doubtful whether the majestic forest of century-old pine trees, which once cast a rich shadow over the lands of Ilia, will ever be revived.

We descend towards the basin and after a while we cross a stream with plane trees. 3,3 km after the asphalt road the road ends in a small beautiful plateau. We thus conclude this wonderful tour over the estate, which we highly recommend as a route, either by 4×4 or on foot.

An omelette with fresh eggs and excellent cheese from the nearby farm await us on our return. This is followed by peach jam made by Eleni and pure local honey. With agronomist Fanis Tsapikounis, who a few days before had spoken warmly about the farm, we set off to get to know the wider area. At 3 kilometers we first meet the semi-mountainous settlement of Neraida, which, if the architecture of the new houses had been a little more careful, would have been picturesque. We cross the narrow village road and head towards Milies. We are already moving parallel to the bed of the Enipeas river, which at this point forms a gully, almost invisible in the dense plane trees. A kilometre and a half later, a massive building can be seen on the opposite bank. It is the old water mill of Psaros, which has been restored and preserves its large millstones and heavy stone masonry. Perhaps with the right modifications it could house an original guesthouse in a natural paradise setting, with the constant sound of the river flow.

After a while we come across the Enipeas riverbed, which crosses the road vertically. At this time of year with the scarce water, crossing the narrow bed is easy, but obviously the same will not be true during the winter or early spring months. A small engineering project at this point is considered urgent and necessary. As is the need to pave the uphill dirt road of about 800 metres that runs between the village and the asphalt road outside Milies. At one point along the route there is a small church, which was used by Kolokotronis as an overnight stop, according to the relevant inscription. At one time the architecture of the stone-built chapel must have been interesting, but later interventions have obliterated its traditional identity.

7 km after the farm we come to Milies. It is quite a large and lively village with about 100 permanent residents, most of whom are elderly. The houses are mostly modern, but there are also quite a few old ones preserved, some of which are very picturesque but uninhabited. In and around the village there are many cherry, walnut, apple, fig, vine and olive trees. After the fire of 1998, large areas have been covered by pine trees.

Two kilometres from the centre of the village we find a basketball court on our right and immediately afterwards a good dirt road (but without signposting), which after two kilometres leads to “Doukas”. It is a very picturesque village with many large traditional houses, nice flower gardens and many fruit trees, among which fir trees are interspersed. Unfortunately, this mansion village is now left with less than 20 inhabitants. Mrs. Eugenia remembers with nostalgia the years of prosperity, when, until the mid-1980s, the village had a functioning high school, a town hall, a police station and a medical clinic, 8 shops and a monopoly for the sale of coarse salt and oil.

– The young people got educated and emigrated, there was nothing left to keep them in the village, concludes Mrs. Eugenia and offers us coffee and dessert made from local pears.

We cross the once thriving but now silent Douca and in a few minutes we reach Lala, the capital of the municipality of Foloi, Lala. The traffic here, compared to many other settlements, is brisk with plenty of shops, services, people and cars. The Mayor, Yannis Marountas, and the Deputy Mayor, Theodoros Triantaopoulos, welcome us with great cordiality and put at our disposal any information about the place.

The name “Foloi” in the territory of the Municipality, in the famous druidasos and in the small settlement of the same name is not accidental. It owes its name to Folo, the king of the Centaurs. According to the legend, the Centaurs of Thessaly fought hard with the Lapiths and defeated them. Relative reliefs of the centaur battles are preserved in the western pediment of the famous temple of Olympian Zeus, which is on display in the museum of Ancient Olympia. After their victory, some centaurs became arrogant, roaming the forests of mountainous Ilia on their horses and committing violence against the inhabitants. Their king Pholos asked for the help of his friend Heracles, who was there sent by King Eurystheus, to eliminate the Erymanthian Kappos. In the terrible battle that ensued, Hercules overpowered the Centaurs, but accidentally struck Pholus with his club and killed him. The hero wept bitterly for the loss of his friend and buried him with honour. And so that everyone would remember his name, he gave the forest and the area the name Foloi.

IN THE FOREST OF FOLOI

Apart from its etymological connection with the King of the Centaurs, the Foloi Forest, because of its natural beauty and its undeniable density, inspired the ancients to create many myths and legends. Thus, (2) in mythical times, it was there that Phigeas, king of Figia, which was a region of Erymanthus, used to graze his flocks. The abundant fruit of the oak trees was used to feed the ‘oak-eaters’ of Foya in case of need. Ancient poets and prose writers refer to Pholoe as the favourite residence of the god Pan and Artemis, who enjoyed living with the deer and boars that abounded in the area at that time. Nefeli, goddess of rain and clouds and mother of the Centaurs, also lived in Folei, while the mythical nymphs Dryades and Amadriades were the patrons of the forest.

However, the original name of the plateau where the forest extends was not Folei but ‘Akrorias’ and it was an area belonging to ancient Elis. Akroria meant the boundary, the edge, where Elis ended and Arcadia began, with the natural boundary between them being the bed of the river Erymanthos, which still separates the two prefectures today.

The Forest of Foloi is among the oldest sub-Mediterranean oak forests that survive to this day. (3)

Its existence is already known from mythology, where it is described as a dense and dark forest inhabited by centaurs.

The first historical record of the forest is the battle between the Gothic leader Alaric and the Byzantine general Stylichon in 397 AD.

The dominant species is the Flat-leaved Oak (Qinercus frainetto), a tree with a height of 20 metres or more. Locally, there are also the Quercus ilex (Quercus ilex) and the Quercus pubescens (Quercus pubescens).

If we were to mention some summary characteristics of the forest, we would say that the total area of the forest is 52 427 hectares, of which 33 000 belong to the administrative boundaries of the Municipality of Foloi, while the rest belong to the Municipalities of Pineia, Oleni, Lambeia and Lasios.

The climate in the area is Mediterranean type, with mild wet winters and hot summers. According to unpublished data from the Andritsaina weather station, the annual rainfall exceeds 1000 mm (4 ), while according to data from the Pyrgos weather station for the period 1960-1992, the average annual rainfall is 860 mm (5). The wettest months are November and December and the driest months are June and July.

The boundaries of the oak forest are very characteristic of the municipality of Foloi, since the forest occupies the northern part of the municipality. One has the impression that in the distant past nature drew a huge line from west to east, dividing the wider area into two perfectly distinct plateaus. In the southern part of the municipality extends the Laliotiko plateau with the settlements of Lala, Milies, Doukas, Achladini and Nemouta. It is an almost flat area with an average altitude of 600 metres, a variety of crops, pastures and many fruit trees. In the northern part, the plateau of Foloi dominates with its solid deep green expanse. Here the average altitude is 750 metres and there are only small areas of crops and pasture amidst the vast oak forest.

Starting from Lala we cross the plateau in a northeastern direction. About 7 kilometres later the landscape changes completely. As we ascend the first bends the cultivated areas end, the oak forest of Foloi begins. Here is the area of “Poussi”, where on June 27, 1821 a deadly battle of the Greeks against the Turcovans of Lala, the notorious for their savagery “Lalaians”, took place. According to Ap. Vakalopoulos: “The outcome of the battle of Pusi was a Pyrrhic victory for both opponents, Greeks and Turks. The Greeks had about 280 dead and the Turks twice as many because they were attacking and uncovered”.

Today Poussi is a peaceful and idyllic location, a serene place with recreational facilities in the oak forest. Only the Hero of the Fallen reminds us of the war events of the past, a marble obelisk, which on its four sides indicates the areas of Greece that took part in the battle. On the opposite side of the road stands another monument, majestic and marble, which reminds of a more recent war event: the victorious battle of ELLAS against the Germans on December 9, 1943, which cost the death of 29 Germans, while only one of ELLAS was killed.

The oak forest of Foloi already stretches all around us and covers our field of vision with its natural beauty. It is certainly not the dense and dark forest of antiquity, in whose sanctuaries lived centaurs, deer and boars. It does not exude the mystical atmosphere that was necessary to give birth to the myths of Pan and Artemis, of the nymphs and of Nephews. But it is an incredibly beautiful woodland, with excellent thinning of the trees by the Forestry Department of Pyrgos, which allows the unobstructed penetration of light and air between the tall and straight trunks of the beautiful oaks.

Many – and particularly passable – forest roads cross the forest in every direction and are ideally suited either for slow and enjoyable driving or, even better, for hiking and cycling. In some clearings in the forest we can observe small flocks of sheep grazing. According to P. Dimopoulos and E. Bergneir: ‘Grazing and its effects on the forest of Foloi have been studied with the help of fenced plots over the last 35 years. Thus forest stands on permanently fenced surfaces, where grazing and other anthropogenic effects have been excluded, have denser crowns, more abundant regeneration and the latter are taller and more vital, compared to the grazed surface in the immediate vicinity. Also the herbaceous and shrub layer on ungrazed surfaces is better developed. In contrast, in grazed stands the leaf layer and organic matter are less abundant, resulting in a low water-holding capacity and soils that are more compact and depleted.”

According to the two scientists, “these results lead to two possible options for the conservation of the forest ecosystem in the region: either as a sustainable wild forest-grassland system or as a forest characterised by optimal regeneration conditions”. For information, we report (Pyrgos Forestry) that a significant part of the forest has already been included in the NATURA 2000 network, while a special Environmental Study for the forest is being prepared by the Heliakia Development Company.

We wandered for a long time on the internal dirt paths admiring the magnificence and the universal dominance of the broad-leaved oak. Then we continue our trek further north. Our first stop is “Koumani”, 15 km from Lala. During the years of Papadopoulos’ dictatorship, the name “Koumani” was imposed as the more Greek name, but since then it has been kept only on some signs, since none of the locals use this name.

Koumani is a large settlement with many cultivated areas, pastures, fruit trees and vineyards. Already some people are already tending the wine barrels in the courtyards, preparing them to receive the new grape juices. Koumani is a beautiful village with spacious streets, squares, taverns and cafes, shops and traffic livelier than any other settlement. This is also justified by the permanent population, which exceeds 700 inhabitants. The houses are mainly modern and generally tasteful, but there are also several old stone-built houses, some of which are of impressive architecture. Some, but very few, are brick-built and recall the settlement’s distant residential past.

Three kilometres west of Koumani is the northernmost settlement of the municipality, Foloi. A small square with small cafes and people, courtyards with flowers and small gardens, narrow streets that do not remind of the comfort of Koumani. Foloi, however, is a small and picturesque settlement, with plenty of vegetation and many old stone buildings. Around a small square in the north-western part of the village, the houses have wooden loggias, but some are uninhabited, such as an impressively sized one built from the middle upwards with bricks.

The afternoon finds us in the west of the municipality of Foloi, in the settlement of Nea Persaina. Along the way, the dominance of the oak forest is interrupted by the intervention of a large 85-acre stand of Black Pine, used for the production of seeds of this beautiful conifer. Also, approaching Persia, we find that the broad-leaved oak forest loses in some places its strictly pure character, since some individuals of fir and pine are interspersed sporadically.

The settlement of Nea Persaina differs aesthetically from the rest of the municipality of Foloi, since the absence of old houses and any indication of architectural tradition is evident. This image is not accidental, since N. Persaina, as its name suggests, is a newer settlement, created after the mid-1970s. It was then that the old village was abandoned by its inhabitants due to extensive landslides.

New Persia therefore has a layout that resembles the symmetry of a military parade. In essence, the settlement is elongated, developed between two long parallel roads of great length, connected at frequent intervals by narrow, vertical alleys. Thus the whole village seems to consist of many successive blocks. The houses are of indifferent architecture, but all of them have courtyards with beautiful flowers, while fruit trees abound in and around the village. There is no sign for the old settlement, but it is obvious from the map that it is located to the southwest, in the direction of Neraida.

-How do we get to the old village?, I ask two women on the road.

-Once you come out, you will turn down to the left, but the road does not go, you will be inconvenienced unnecessarily.

-But the map shows that the road goes through the village and ends in Neraida.

-Whatever they want they say, my child, the road is broken, it’s cut off.

In the face of such categorical statements we decide to give up our desire to get to know an old abandoned village and also to dramatically shorten our return route.

-I wish, however, that we could reach even the outskirts of this unseen village, says Anna, who, like all of us, is particularly interested in everything old and dilapidated. Besides, if we see that it goes no further, we return, she adds.

Of course, she doesn’t have to make a special effort to convince me, and Fanis has no objections either. So we set off and, just outside the village, we easily find on the left the downhill road to Old Persia. It is definitely rough but for a 4×4 it is not impassable. About two and a half kilometres later we come across the first houses of the village. They are all dilapidated, some more and some less.

Only the church of the Assumption is still in good condition. Some of the houses must have been large and beautiful, as evidenced by their aged gables and their bulk.  Facing mainly east-southwest, the village is sunny at this time of the afternoon and, as it is built amphitheatrically, it retains beauty and picturesqueness even in its desolation. I don’t know how urgent or irreversible the circumstances were that led the population to decide to abandon it, but it is unfair that such a beautiful village should remain silent and without a trace of life.

A narrow and rough road crosses the ruins, but at no point is it cut off. We quickly emerge into a furrow and face the steep hill above our heads with the chapel of the Prophet’s Chapel at its summit. The view from the 700m altitude is panoramic to every point on the horizon. In the evening light the ruins look beautiful, almost idyllic. From the height of the ridge, various dirt roads start downhill. By carefully observing some characteristic points of the area, such as the direction of a large gorge and the, opposite, settlements of Kryoneri and Chelidoni, we try to guess the location of the unseen Fairy. We finally choose the widest and best paved dirt road. It does not disappoint us. It is passable and reliable and on its route it reveals to us wonderful landscapes of the region. At some point we reach a point where the Fairy literally looms beneath our feet, giving us an incredibly panoramic view. Already the little houses of the farm can be seen a few kilometres further down in the valley of the Enipeas. As we approach the entrance to the farm, we catch a last-minute glimpse of a huge purple disc disappearing behind the mountain.

In the open-air dining area, under the large mulberry and mustard trees and the long-standing oleander, the tables are already set, Eleni and Dimitris are waiting impatiently for us after our day-long absence. The lights are lit between the trees, the charcoal is glowing under the grills and Dimitris is arranging the local meats in an orderly manner. The sweet and long October night begins, full of promises of good wine, small talk and nostalgic notes from Dimitris’s guitar.

A SHORT TRIP TO ERYMANTHOS

It seems, my biological alarm clock is tuned to that of the roosters on the farm opposite. There’s no other explanation for our simultaneous awakening at dawn. Leda, who sleeps next door, as soon as she notices me, interrupts her sleep and rushes to express her sympathy with a vigorous wagging of her tail. But today I am prepared, I have some crackers with me, a little gift for her companionship. I offer her a piece. She opens her huge mouth a little and takes it from my hand gently, with the tip of her teeth. It’s a gesture full of grace and finesse, revealing a gentle nature and good breeding.

The day begins with a visit to the farm of John the “Patriot”. It is a large area on the opposite bank of the Enipeas, which in a straight line on foot, is a few hundred meters away. However, crossing the Enipeas by car, especially in the winter months, is problematic. This means that in order to get to the farm or the village of Chelidoni a little further up, one has to circle for several kilometres. Should not the Municipality of Foloi provide an immediate and definitive solution?

At John’s farm, time seems to have stopped several decades ago. The family lives in a large farmhouse, isolated from the world and the goodies of ‘civilisation’. It is a closed micro-society, liberated from addictions, with admirable self-sufficiency, mocking and mocking the overloaded shelves of consumerism and opulence. The flock of sheep produces milk, cheese, meat and butter, chickens and geese provide meat and eggs, the hundreds of olive trees ensure top-quality oil and olives, while the land provides abundant wine and chippuraki, potatoes and bread, plenty of wood for the fireplace and the oven, vegetables and fruit of every kind, in every season of the year. Simple and unassuming, endowed with the accumulated experience of people who have learned to live side by side with nature and make the most of the skill of their hands. I don’t know if they are happy, I avoided getting there too. As we leave, we take with us superb oil, fresh eggs and a memory of supreme peace.

We ascend again towards the plateau of Foloi, we go to get to know – with a first short visit – another legendary place of the region, the gorge of the river Erymanthos.

It is there, where in mythical times the Erymanthian Capros, that terrible wild beast with the spiky mane and large teeth, which had become the fear of people, animals and crops throughout the region, roamed. The myth of Capros, of course, symbolizes – with the unsurpassed fictional skill of the ancient Greeks – the untamed rush of the river Erymanthus, which was from ancient times one of the most raging rivers in Greece. Originating from the southern extremities of the mountain of the same name, it gathers along its 60 km long route a lot of water and – not infrequently – overflows, causing many disasters along the way. With his ingenuity Hercules managed to tame it by constructing a sluice, which made the river harmless and useful for irrigation.

Our first approach to Erymanthos is from Achladini, the birthplace of Mayor Yannis Maroundas, who offers to guide us. The settlement is located at an altitude of about 700 meters at the edge of a fertile plateau, from the eastern slopes of which the steep and high slopes of the Erymanthio gorge begin. A sign from the centre of the village shows the direction and the distance of 5 km to the Erymanthos bridge. The road is generally passable and descends with successive bends among mostly holm and kuma trees, covering the slopes with a jungle that is literally impenetrable.

As the descent ends we find ourselves in front of the iron bridge and the Erymanthos riverbed. The river flows swiftly, crystal clear and with a rich flow, even in this anodyne season. We cross the bridge and move north, into the lands of Arcadian Gortynia. After a few hundred metres we stop in front of a three-arched, heavily constructed stone bridge. Here the landscape changes. The riverbed narrows incredibly, no more than 2 metres. The water is deep, flowing between smooth, vertical rocks.

– Here, when we were children, we used to come and dive from the bridge into the water, which is still a wonderful place for swimming, says the mayor.

We return to the iron bridge and move south, always in Arcadia. The gorge gradually changes, becoming more and more imposing. I would not dare to describe the wildness of the landscape nor the unparalleled magnificence of the rocky masses, which, like other Thessalian Meteora, rise vertically on the slopes of the gorge. I very much doubt that any photographic lens could capture even part of the visual experience that captivates us. What is certain is that this first encounter with Erymanthus is a precursor to our future return. A little further up the road climbs to the church of “Panagia on the Rock”, built in a huge cave, an outcropping with a top view of the gorge. The chapel is celebrated on August 31 and attracts countless worshippers.

The second approach to Erymanthos is from Nemouta, a large and lively settlement on the eastern flanks of the Laliotiko plateau, a few kilometres south of Achladiki. The devastating consequences of the 1998 fire are evident in the area.

– It was a great destruction in your place, I say to someone.

– You can’t imagine how big, he replies. Not only did it wipe out the most beautiful pine forest, but it permanently deprived us of at least 200 tons of resin, which we extracted from the pine trees every year.

The dirt road from Nemouta is in better condition than its Achladi counterpart, so much the milder, the slopes strewn with large trunks of burnt pine trees, with a few salvaged ones among them. The regeneration of the forest by young pine trees is nevertheless significant.

At a distance of 6.3 km from the village we reach the iron bridge of Erymanthos, built in 1961 by Lieutenant General Petros Sakellariou from Nemouta. The bed at this point is wide, the valley peaceful and flat, not reminiscent of the grandeur of the previous gorge.

In the afternoon we decide to move more mundanely. We set off for ancient Olympia, but not from the flat route of Pyrgos, but from the spectacular route through the settlements of Chelidoni, Kayconia and Pelopio. Our choice compensates us. As we are still in the mountains, a spectacular sun rises up against us and dips red-hot into the depths of the Ionian Sea.

EPILOGUE

– Now we are waiting for winter, says Helen. It is a fine season, mild, the valley is warm, the snow is falling in the mountains. The fireplace, however, will be lit every night.

– And the guitar will keep us company, adds Dimitris.

I watch these beautiful people for the last time as they bid us farewell with their hands raised. I feel that I will miss their calmness, the so much love and hospitality they showed us.

Thanks to:

-The Mayor of Foloi, John Marounta and the Deputy Mayor Theodoros Triantaopoulos for their help in our work.

-The Forestry Department of Pyrgos for its information.

-Nikos and Angelos Karkoulia for the supply of the book about “Koumani Ilia”.

-George Kosmopoulos from Ancient Olympia for his participation in our project.

-Our friend agronomist Fanis Tsapikounis for his valuable participation in our tours.

F-inally, Eleni and Dimitris at “Kampos Neraida”, who did everything to make us feel as if we were at home.

Distances:

-From Athens: 320 km.

-From Patras: 115 km.

-From Thessaloniki: 600 km (via the bridge)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

– Χ. S. Papagianni, “TO KUMANI ILEIA”, ed. Kumanioton Ilia Union, Athens 2004.

– P. Demopoulou, E. Bergmeir, “Temporal changes and conservation strategy of sub-oak forest”, Journal “Foloi”, issue 29, 2003.

– A.G. Makri, “The battle of the salmon”, ed. G.G. G.L., author of the book “The Lakes of Kefallinia and Ithaca”. Argostoli 2004.

– “THE FOREST OF FOLOI”, Perib. Lala Gymnasium, 1997-98

– “THE COUNTRIES SOUTH OF ERYMANTHOS”, ed. Anadrasis, Athens 2002