There are 360 churches on the island of Sifnos. We have admired them as we explored the island. You never have to look far before you spot the iconic blue dome of a chapel, often on a lonely hillside miles from anywhere. They play an important part in the community with festivals and 'name day' celebrations - each chapel/monastary has a specific saint/ name day.
From a distance we had been admiring the dear little blue and white chapel, Church of St Catherine, at the Kamares Port entrance so yesterday when it was cooler in the evening we put on our hiking shoes and set off.
The ground around the chapel is flinty/shale with some very interesting plants that manage to survive in the harsh environment.
Spectacular views back down to our little house in Kamares Port. It was pretty windy up the top but the views across to Naxos and Paros were stunning.
As we slogged our way up hill, goats bells were tinkling as they hippepty hopped with ease across the rocks and scree. I think we came across one of the ancient stone signal towers.
Not satisfied with our evening hike we got up at 5.30 am this morning, before sun up (at 6.40am) and hiked to the highest point on the island and Monastary Agios Symeon, built in 1667.
We wanted to avoid melting in the heat of the day as it's a long slog up and up and up!
Funny thing was we saw one man in the distance on the trail about 20 mins ahead of us but when we got to the top he was no where to be seen. He didn't pass us coming down and you can see for miles up there.....it's a mystery. We made up all sorts of theories on our walk back down.
We were ravenous by the time we got back to Kamares so we stopped at the first spot serving coffee and had a bite to eat. We were joined by this cheeky chappie - he jumped up beside me and made himself at home.
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