Ithaca Trail 03 - Walking through History

This exciting hike takes you from today's capital of Ithaca  to the Venetian capital, covering a period of five centuries. You are in the central square of Vathi. You cross the narrow streets of the beautiful island settlement, pass in front of the church of Agios Nikolaos ton Xenon and reach the beginning of a masterfully constructed stone staircase that leads up to the church of Koimisi tis Theotokou, an emblematic building of the Anglo-colonial era. You continue, exit the city and walk along a wonderful path that crosses horizontally the olive tree-covered slope above the harbor and leads to the Cave of the Nymphs. You climb the hill with the two small churches and then walk over the ridge of the hill, with the imposing Petaliatiko mountain in front of you. You come across a paved threshing floor on your left and in the distance you begin to see the stone ruins of the abandoned citadel. On the first ridge you meet, you see towards Vathi a second very old stone threshing floor, behind it a large ruined building and high up among the trees the ruins of houses.

You have reached Paleοchora! This steep slope, above the uniquely sheltered port of Vathi, with an unobstructed view to the sea east of Ithaca, was chosen by the Venetians as the location of the capital of the island. You walk along the dirt road, while to the left and right you can see ruins of the sparsely built settlement. At the third ridge you will meet, the alley widens and next to it you see a large two-storey building. Perhaps this was the center of the old capital. At another bend in the road, you will see the bell tower of Agios Ioannis Theologos rising proudly next to the church. You continue, leaving the ruined settlement behind you and after walking for about 10 minutes you come to a fork. The path to the left leads to Panagia Maroulatiki. The main route ends above the old church of Panagia, at the highest point of Perahori.