Stemnista to Demitsana

 (Usual waiver applies to grammar, typos, spelling as I'm posting via  a small phone screen on the hoof 🤭, click on the pics to zoom in)

28 April 2026

We had a huge breakfast at our little Gartagani Guest House in Stemnista, little did I know how important that huge brekky was until later in the day. The sun was shining, we filled our water bottles up and bought some Spanakopita pastry to have on the trail for lunch.

We were walking with a lovely lady, Thalia, who is taking pretty much the same trail stages as us. Let's go!

The hike is down a steep, beautiful gorge and back up again. It has more than 3000 feet of climbing across the 12.5ks. We started at the top of the gorge and the path was lined with spring wild flowers, so pretty 

It was tough going on your knees on the way down but slowly does it and careful foot placement. 🏃 The first monastery we came to, pictured above, was closed but it had a fantastic view point to look up the gorge all the way to Demitsana village perched on a hilltop. It looked a very long way!

From here we could see our next stop, the Old Philosopher monastery carved into the cliff face. Zoom into the pic below and you can see it hugging the side of the gorge. 

The mind boggles at how they built these beautiful places in such a challenging environment. As we made our way down to the Monastery of Aghios Ioannis Prodomos we came across mules with neck bells , so I imagine the monks use the mules to pack in and out supplies. 

The Prodomus monastery is incredible. It is tucked right into the cliff face.

We were able to fill up our water bottles here and also go inside, no pictures allowed. The monks had fresh Greek coffee and Turkish delight they had made for visitors. One older monk all clad in black with a big silver beard gave me a blessing as I left. I thought of him about four hours later on the gruelling ascent up to Dimitsana. What a place, very spiritual, quiet and so isolated. 

We kept going down, down,down to the river at the bottom of the gorge. It was roaring with the spring snow melt. Very beautiful. 

A small section of the track was washed out by a landslide so you had to use ropes to pull yourself up. Yikes! 

The next stop was the final monastery of the day and it was beautiful, the monastery of the New Philosopher.

 We'd been climbing back up the gorge and our legs were getting tired so we were thankful of this haven of rest.

The monk made us Greek coffee that was so strong you could stand a duck on it, it was greatly appreciated 😄also a small sweet pudding that looked to be made of sago and cardamon. He then gave us some home made Turkish delight as we left. He lives alone there with his cat. 

The sign markers leaving here were terrible, we actually did a small circuit of the monastery to start again on the correct path. With already tired legs I was trying to think positive 😬.There was only one way to Dimitsana and that was just keep putting one foot in front of the other ..uphill. We crossed the river again and then up we went.

I have to say it was tough going. One part was through rushing spring melt streams with very slippery rocks so you really had to watch your footing.

A few hazards along the track just to keep you on your toes and add a spot of climbing challenge to the trail😁.

After a long day of walking the last stretch always feels tough and it seems to take forever.  We couldn't find the sign marker for the final 30 mins into the actual village of Demitsana so we walked the road. The road took us straight to our accommodation for the night and with tired legs it felt safer and not slippery 😁.

Shower and rest and then early dinner and bed. Amazing day, huge uphill effort, incredible scenery, beautiful wild butterflies and spring beauty everywhere  in this special part of the Peloponesse.

Ortansia Rooms -Demitsana