With Nikos Magitsis as a guide and inspirer, Triantafyllos Adamakopoulos as a technical supporter and the supervision and conception of the project on behalf of the MAGNITON KIVOTOS of the Metropolis of Demetrias and Almiros, THE GREAT TRAIL OF PILION was marked. The hikers who participated in this marking walked Pelion both on a natural and mythical scale, crossing the Country of Centaurs from Keramidi to Tisaio and Trikeri, writing the historical length of 168 kilometres.

Without them and Nikos Tsoukas of MAGNITON KIVOTOU there would not be the wonderful gift of the Pelion crossing.

Foreword: by Kyriakos Papageorgiou

Nikos Magitsis has a unique privilege among all Greeks. He is the example of the man who achieved with the least expenditure and the greatest endurance the most things that are considered importan in the life of the alpinists and travellers of the world.

Nikos was born in Agria, Volos, in 1968 and he is a climber and alpinist. He has distinguished himself in international mountaineering expeditions abroad and has conquered important peaks of the world.  He holds a degree in Physical Education and Sport from the Technical University of Komotini and has written a postgraduate thesis on “Reaction time at high altitude”. He is the only Greek alpinist to have completed the 7 summits, the conquest of the seven highest peaks of the planet, on each of the seven continents, having climbed Everest, Aconcagua, McKinley, Kilimanjaro, El Bruce, Vinson and Carstenz. He served as an Olympic Volunteer Ambassador for Athens in 2004 and has organized 44 sport survival expeditions around the globe. He is the first Greek to have hiked to the North Pole in 2000 and to the South Pole in 2003. His actions include the crossing of the Sahara, the mountainous Bolivia and the winter crossing of the Aegean Sea by solo kayak from Alexandroupolis to Volos in 2002.

But apart from all this, Nikos Mangitsis is also a bearer of some other qualities that are not visible at first glance. He is first of all a carrier of a lyrical consciousness, and a practitioner of the natural way of life. A poet, in other words, of the body, born of nature itself. And because the natural life is produced by the lyricism of nature, Nikos is a great child of Asceticism who unleashes a multitude of hidden secrets of life that others cannot see.

But what is his great life’s work? The rendering to the world of the Great Trail in Pelion. The engraving and recording that is due to him and to the digital engraver and mapping expert Triantafillos Adamakopoulos. It is fortunate for the Great Trail of Pelion that these two men met, so that the route they mapped out could be put to common use, and it numbers 167 kilometres, from Veneto to the edge of Tisaion, with forks and deviations of the main trunk, wisely structured and suitable with a clear and proportional corridor of the mountain circuit. It is an unprecedented project for Greek standards. Well done to Nikos and Triantafillos and cheers to higher… mountains. May they live always keeping in mind the quote from Walt Whitman’s poem:

“I went willingly to the mountains.

To suck the marrow of life.

And to drive out what is not life.

So that I might not discover, dying

that I have not lived…”

The Vision: by Nikos Magitsis

The Great Trail of Pelion (GTP) is a vision that has finally resulted in a complete proposal, enhancing hiking tourism in the wider Pelion region. It may have taken us almost 3 years of planning, scouting and wandering but finally the complete, continuous and innovative hiking crossing of Pelion is a fact.

The GTP moves along traditional cobbled streets, in 24 villages and settlements, on the highest peaks and the most beautiful beaches of the Aegean and Pagasitikos.  The hiker will experience and get to know cultural and religious monuments of the region, enjoy the wonderful combination of mountain and sea and taste the authentic Pilioritiki cuisine.

The best months to walk the Great Trail of Pelion are May and June, with long days and relatively cool weather, as well as September and October, with shorter days, more pleasant temperatures but with the possibility of local sporadic rain. Hikers should do proper route planning, especially with regard to food, water and overnight stops. A semi-autonomous crossing may be the best in Pelion, as the area has many villages with hotels, rooms to let, restaurants and taverns.

Supporting organization: Magniton Kivotos, NIKOS TSOUKAS

This beautiful idea, with many implications for culture, tourism and the protection of the Natural Environment, but above all for the development of the people of Pelion and the promotion of the region around the world, was adopted, embraced and made a priority by the cultural institution of the Holy Metropolis of Demetrias & Almyros, “Magniton Kivotos”.

At the suggestion and initiative of the Metropolitan of Demetrias & Almyros and President of the ” Magniton Kivotos”, Mr. Ignatius, the whole action was included in the National Programme of Anniversary Actions and Events under the auspices of the Commission “Greece 2021” and bears its logo. We started with the drafting of the study, mapping, marking and maintenance work of “The Great Trail of Pelion”, with the specifications and experience of the project designer Triantafyllos Adamakopoulos (Civil Engineer) and his associate Ekaterini Zagaretou (Forester – Environmental Scientist).  Today the construction of the signage has been completed and will be installed, while the new website is being completed.

The paths were formed with hard work and elegance by our ancestors, through the centuries throughout Pelion. Thus, with its promotion, the “Great Trail of Pelion” invests in culture. It strengthens and develops even more thematic tourism, enriching the choices of its visitors.  A trail that starts from the seaside Kamari Keramidiou of the Municipality of Rigas Feraios, crosses parts of the Municipalities of Volos and Zagora-Mouresi and reaches Agia Kiriaki of Trikeri in the Municipality of South Pelion.

The value of the path: by Katerina Zagaretou

From the first steps in the small holiday settlement of Kamari towards the Mediterranean foothills and the riparian forests of Keramidi to the rocky ridges and the hidden beaches of Mount Tissaion, the endless potential for sustainable development of the place and the dynamics of the people are revealed to the hiker.

They say that trails are best maintained if we walk them. If that’s the case then surely a place comes alive again when you visit it. For small family-run businesses, a small contribution from us has a big impact, motivating small producers and traders to continue to provide high quality and authentic products and services. In this way, farmers and ranchers can continue to ply their trade in the face of adversity. Traditional practices and professions that tend to disappear are strengthened when we as visitors take a practical interest in the efforts and skills of these people. By walking along the Great Trail of Pelion we support, to a greater or lesser extent, small hotel establishments, local crafts, associations and alternative tourism companies, thus participating in a unifying process in which everyone benefits. Visitors, entrepreneurs and institutional stakeholders and collectives coexist, and the background of all, the natural environment, ceases to be abandoned and is protected through constant monitoring. This creates the right conditions for a viable and sustainable development of the wider area.

In short, the Great Trail of Pelion is an extensive mosaic of colours and textures, which in 167 km. shows the identity of the people of Pelion from antiquity to the present day. And by hiking these eleven sections of different character, one can feel all the facets of Pelion and the need to preserve its tradition and history. Above all, it offers aesthetic excitement and healthy relaxation, thus promoting meekness and “fair play”, qualities that are so rare nowadays. For “in travel, the destination is not a place, but a new way of seeing things”*.

*A quote from Henry Miller.

The Impressions of the Mountaineering Groups

The first organized crossing (First Stride) of part of the G.T.P. (from Makrinitsa, via Chania, to Afissos), took place on three days 19-20-21 November 2021, and participated many individuals responsible for trails all over Greece, like Athens, Mani, Corfu, Xanthi, Thessaloniki, Trikala. Led by Nikos Mangitsis and three major organizations of Magnesia: the “Greek Mountaineering Association of Volos”, headed by Kyriakos Stathakis, “Friends of the Calderimia of South Pelion” headed by its president, Yannis Iatrou, and the Volos Naturalist Club “The Pan”.

The rise of the internet and blogs makes it possible to create online books, accessible free of charge to everyone and easy to fill in or correct routes. At the same time, the spread of satellite GPS technology, which is now available on every mobile phone, makes it possible to record paths and print them on the map with an accuracy of a few metres. However, the value of on-the-spot marking with red paint will always remain invaluable. The most difficult piece of the puzzle is the constant need to clear the many closed paths, as the association “Friends of the Calderimia of South Pelion ” has been doing for 15 years on a single 58 km long route (Kato Gatzea – Platanias. We hope that the same will be done on the much longer (three times longer) Great Trail of Pelion that connects Kamari of Keramidiou with Trikeri, a great and wonderful project that the Volos Mountaineering Club welcomes and offers its full support.

The ride was wonderful. A combination of many things. Routes through beech forests and also by the sea. Through villages but also on the peaks of Pelion.  This up and down makes the route magical and touches every hiker, Greek and foreign. In this way, the cobbled streets, the stone bridges, the history of Pelion are preserved. How we would like to have something similar in our hometown Xanthi.

Your love for the place and the battle you are fighting to develop this type of tourism that will only benefit you overall is touching. That is why we would first like to express our thoughts as a “third eye” contributing to your work and volunteer ourselves to any help you may need in the future. Our suggestion is that from time to time and in the main villages, information points (e.g. Signs or a notebook) with historical information and a summary of the route should be set up. We remain in contact and consider the Great Trail of Pelion to be a “brother” to the trail network of our island in Corfu.

Acknowledgements:

As the initiators and implementers of the trail we want to thank the Hercules Club that is behind every action we implement and supports us as well as the Association of Hoteliers of Magnesia for their overall contribution.

We support “One more feat” by giving life to the “Great Trail of Pelion” and we prove in practice that we stand next to the local communities that have been hosting us for over a century, creating new prospects for development and being a constant factor of progress. And so, together we are building the path for a better and sustainable future for all, based on the balanced relationship between man and nature.  At Herakli Group, we are particularly proud to have undertaken the exclusive sponsorship and full financing of a major environmental and development project in the region of Magnesia, “The Great Trail of Pelion”.

As a Hotel Association we make every effort to make the trails accessible and attractive, thus stimulating the local economy. To offer the visitor the opportunity to discover local products, gastronomy, historical monuments and the natural wealth of Pelion and to enjoy the hospitality of Pelion.