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| Metochi |
Distance: 6,4 km
Total time: 2 hours
Altitude: from 0 m.
(Chorto) to 279 m. (Stavros)
Marked with: round yellow
signs
Drinking water on walk:
yes (Metochi fountain)
Download GPS track: from Wikiloc from Everytrail
An easy, 2-hour walk climbing from the seaside village of Chorto to Metochi mostly on earth road and coming back through a connection to the route Argalasti-Chorto that passes just west of Metochi.
Starting
from the asphalt road bridge of Chorto`s stream, we walk at the left
side of the stream on a flat stone paved road, which soon passes on to
the other side, next to a small wooden bridge. At the corner of the
cemetery housing a shrine, we turn right uphill on a concrete
road. Reaching an uphill junction we head left, following the round
signs put up by the Friends of the Kalderimi of South Pelion
Association. The whole route is meticulously signed by these. Further up, we notice a 200 m. stretch of path on the left hand side
of the earth road we walk into, but it is blocked by vegetation, so
we continue on the road in expectation for its being cleaned.
Soon we get
a view of Metochi and, just after a junction going to Milina on the
right, we leave the earth road at the point where it takes a right
turn and continue straight ahead, to find the kalderimi (stone paved path) into an olive
grove. Passing next to a shrine and the church of Panagia on the
right, we then cross the stream over a bridge that lies on stone
built bases. Here also lies an old fountain dating from 1929, devoid of water. The beautiful kalderimi continues to climb and, as it
enters Metochi, gets covered by cement.
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| A house`s yard at Metochi |
Getting
just below the village square in somewhat less than an hour from the start, and in order to avoid walking on the main
asphalt, we follow a concrete paved path a few meters below the asphalt
heading left (west). Both options take us to the fountain at the
entrance of Metochi. By now we must be thirsty enough, so it is a
good thing to drink from the fountain`s plentiful cool water. A few
meters further on the asphalt road, we find the path on the right, crossing a small
stream and then climbing the slope in a northwesterly direction. This
stretch was completely blocked by wild vegetation until 2012, when members of FoK and Orivatikos Alpine club managed to open it
again, a difficult task demanding hundreds of hours of hard
volunteer work.
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| Climbing from Metochi fountain to Stavros |
Reaching an
underground water tank at the top of the hill, called Stavros, we
meet the Argalasti-Chorto route. Going right, we can get to Argalasti
square in half an hour. For Chorto, we turn left and, passing over
soil left from the tank`s construction, we find ourselves walking
down a wide kalderimi, between two pezoules (low stone walls). This part
was also completely blocked by vegetation before.
Further
down, we cross the asphalt and continue to the other side on
impressive kalderimi for a few meters, which then becomes a wide
path. Crossing obliquely the asphalt, the path continues as earth
road with stretches of kalderimi. Reaching an olive grove, the road
becomes a path at the grove`s right side, parallel to an old telephone line. We walk into
forest for a little while and then cross the asphalt. The kalderimi descends on a
straight line between two olive groves and crosses the asphalt again.
At the other side there is a narrow earth road-kalderimi. The road
turns left, but the kalderimi continues straight ahead into an olive
grove, only to disappear immediately. Walking straight into the grove on the path parallel to the asphalt on our right side, we soon reach a small
concrete building of the water system. There we turn left downhill,
following an earth road that incorporates stretches of kalderimi.
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| On the way to Chorto |
Further
down, the road is covered by concrete for a short distance and then
becomes a kalderimi. We pass by the old fountain of Dialetaras next
to a small water tank as we walk into Chorto and the kalderimi stops as we cross a concrete
road. We continue straight ahead and soon reach the stream, where we
turn right to return to our starting point.