From the village to Vigla and Vardia

An uphill route that opens the view bit by bit, like balconies one above the other: first the village with its harbour and channel, then the bays of Vatika and Laconia, and at the top the whole island.

Along the way

You start at the big harbour and climb the ring road. About one and a half kilometres from the west coast you will see a cave with a low vaulted roof, and a little further a heap of large square stones. Local tradition says a sanctuary of Athena stood here, and that Paris and fair Helen took refuge here.

About two kilometres from the village you reach Vigla, a plateau looking over the bay of Vatika, the Laconian gulf and the Elafonisos channel.

Vardia

The path continues south to Vardia, the island’s highest peak at about 276 metres. The name is Venetian for guard: lookouts here warned the village of pirates and enemy ships. In the Second World War it was an observation post, and at its signal the islanders ran to hide in the caves of Mavroudi.

It is said that the island’s Byzantine castle stood on the top, and that a deep hole there comes out at the Kournospila caves by Sarakiniko: an old man once dropped his flute into it, and it was found days later in the sea.

From the top you see all of Elafonisos, Kythira, Cape Maleas and, far off, Tainaro.

Another way up

You can also climb from Agios Giannis, through Kapsalianika, Spyrianika and Fountianika, where Bronze Age potsherds have been found, and through Kalyvia, an old settlement with ruined 19th-century farmhouses.