Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Mount Óhi
Mount
Óhi
(1399m), inland from Kárystos, is Évvia's third-highest peak and the focus
of trails of sufficient quality to attract overseas trekkers.
MÝLI
, a fair-sized village around
a spring-fed oasis with a few tavernas, is a natural first stop. Medieval
Castello Rosso
(Kokkinókastro)
lies a twenty-minute climb above the village; inside, the castle is
ruinous, except for an Orthodox
chapel
built over the water cistern, but sweeping views
make the trip worthwhile.
From Mýli, it's a three-hour-plus
hike
up the bare slopes of Óhi, mostly by a good
path short-cutting the road; about forty minutes along are various finished and
half-finished cipollino marble
columns
, abandoned almost two thousand years ago.
The Romans loved the stuff and extensively quarried southern Évvia, shipping the
marble back to Italy. The path reaches an alpine club shelter just below the summit
(springwater outside;
T
22240 24414 to get the keys), and a
dhrakóspito
, more
impressive than the Stýra trio (see p.697), seemingly sprouting from the
mountainside.
10
The Dhimosári Gorge
The one unmissable excursion in southern Évvia is the three-hour hike down the
Dhimosári Gorge
. The descent northeast, mostly in deep shade past various springs and
watermills, follows a path (often
kalderími
) as far as the farming hamlet of Lenoséi, then
a track to
Kallianós
village, with another path just before the latter down to a beach.
South Evia Tours (see opposite) organize a weekly guided trek here in summer as well as
other walking trips; otherwise you'll have to arrange a taxi transfer back, or hitch.
Northern Évvia
Leaving Halkídha to the north, the main road snakes steeply over a forested ridge, with
spectacular views back over the city and the narrow strait, and then down through the
Dhervéni Gorge, gateway to Évvia's northwest.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
NORTHERN ÉVVIA
By ferry
Ten or more ferries a day shuttle between Loutrá
Edhipsoú and Arkítsa (45min;
T
22260 23330 or 22395,
W
ferriesedipsos.gr), and between Ayiókambos and Glýfa
(25min;
T
22260 31680,
W
ferriesglyfa.gr). Tickets are sold
on the quayside, and buses from Athens' Liossíon 260
terminal serve both mainland ports.
By bus
Buses run from Halkídha to most points; there
are three or four daily to Límni and Roviés, to Loutrá
Edhipsoú and to Istiéa, the hub for north- and west-
coast beaches.
Prokópi
PROKÓPI
, in a broad wooded upland where the road emerges from the gorge, is famous for
its hideous 1960s pilgrimage
church of St John the Russian
, actually a Ukrainian soldier
captured by the Ottomans early in the eighteenth century and taken to central Anatolia,
where he died. His mummified body began to work miracles, leading to canonization; the
saint's relics were brought here in the 1923 population exchange. A vast pilgrimage in late
May sees people walking from Halkídha (and beyond) and camping all around the church.
The large manor house overlooking the village is home to Philip Noel-Baker, a
descendant of English Philhellene nobleman Edward Noel, a relative of Lady Byron,
who bought the estate from the Turks in 1832 in order to support the new Greek state.
he house (
W
candili.gr) now operates as a tranquil centre for conferences and courses
(yoga, art, etc).
Límni and around
LÍMNI
, a well-preserved Neoclassical town and sheltered port, with magnificent views
west to the mainland, rivals Kárystos as the most characterful resort on Évvia. The main
