North Pelion
Fytoko-Makrinitsa

The Fytoko – Makrinitsa trail follows mostly the old pathway between the two villages. Moreover, this old road connected the villages of Central Pelion to the region of Lake Karla, an area of high economic importance.

The trail adopts the bridges and other infrastructure works of the old pathway, resulting in a very elegant mixture of traditional and modern elements. Despite the fact that the trail is crossed in many locations by rural roads, it is still interesting, as it offers a spectacular view to the landscape of the region.

The trail begins at the gates of Fytoko village. After walking on the asphalt road we reach a parking lot, beside the church of Nativity of the Virgin. Continue on a dirt road until an old two-arch stone bridge. Pass over it, leave the dirt road and start following the somewhat steep trail. Soon, go through a beautiful olive grove and find again the dirt road.

After we gain some elevation, we leave this dirt road and we follow a long and aesthetically appealing part of the trail. This part goes across a large slope covered by Mediterranean bushes. We can spot the remains of the older cobblestone path. When reaching the highest point of this part, find the well-preserved cobbled path leading towards the Vathyrema gorge. Pass through the dry stream bed and start going uphill through the high bushes. After we get out of the ravine, we reach a large dirt road. Leave the large dirt road and take a narrower, short alley, leading to the manhole of the aqueduct of Makrinitsa. There, we find again the old trail. A rocky yet mildly steep slope covered with low vegetation lead us to the Stavros location, where we can enjoy α beautiful view to Portaria and the surroundings settlements. A downhill cobbled path leads us to the stone-built bridge of Makrinitsa, which perfectly blends in the landscape, looking almost like a natural element. The trail now goes uphill ; we can secure our course by using the banister. The well-preseved cobbled path zig-zags down to the village square.

The route is well waymarked over its entire length with red marks and metal poles with yellow labels. There are direction signposts on most of the junction points. The overall length is 7 km. As a conclusion we could claim that the first part of our route, from Fytoko to Stavros, is strongly uphill while the second section down to Makrinitsa is mainly downhill.

Text and photos: T. Adamakopoulos