Santorini Trail 09 - The Ledge of the Caldera

Starting the route from Fira, the capital of the island, the resident of any big city will encounter a very familiar urban landscape until he enters the trail by the Caldera. This route runs along a pedestrian street in the beginning that overlooks the sea, with shops sometimes surrounding the visitor from both sides. Right from the beginning the hiker has the possibility to descend towards the old port of Santorini - the bay of Fira described in route GY. Returning to the central route, the hiker now moves towards Oia through the most commercial and touristic pedestrian street of the island - perhaps even of the whole of Greece. Many visitors choose to follow this route, so the hiker had better familiarize himself with the idea that he will not be walking alone. As the route continues with impressive views towards the interior of the Caldera and the Palia Kammeni and Nea Kammeni islands which are now at the shortest possible distance, the hiker crosses Fira, Firostefani and soon finds himself in Imerovigli. In this part the hiker is surrounded by buildings including churches, hotels with impressive architecture, preserved old buildings, generally a multitude of attractions. As the route crosses Imerovigli, the view of the Venetian Castle of Skaros, on top of the cape with the same name - a steep volcanic rock mass - catches the eye. The trail that takes to the Caste of Skaros is described in route SK. Leaving Imerovigli, the route turns into a dirt road, with scattered hotels along it. Now an uphill part leads to the next fork, the one leading to the chapel of Agios Antonios which is described in route AN. The main route now successively approaches the chapel of Agios Markos and that of Prophitis Ilias, next to a beautiful peak with a panoramic view. At this point the hiker has a view towards the eastern coastline of the island as well. A small ridge here can give magnificent views to whomever feels like following it. The descent that starts here through a cobblestone trail with lots of fallen debris leads to a tarmac section and then uphill on a dirt road. Beautiful slopes of volcanic black and brown rock come up next, and another peak where the Koimisi tis Theotokou Chappel is located. Descending towards Oia one now finds the chapel of Prophitis Ilias, where route 10 starts. The end of the route within the cosmopolitan pedestrian streets of Oia offers two beautiful secondary routes, one towards the old port in Armenio (route AR) and another one towards the bay of Ammoudi (route AM), from where even today small boats travel. Both descents give the hiker excellent views of the interior of the Caldera, while also allowing for a swim, as well as an insight into how goods and people once came and went to and from this island. The end of the main route at the castle of Oia closes with an interesting historical approach the most travelled route of this island. The trail has minimal signposting, and taking a photo of the map at its beginning will be helpful to the hiker who wants to follow its branches and keep in mind the trail ahead. Passability issues are not raised as the route moves within urban landscape for the most part.