Text: Katerina Pantazi
Photos: Katerina Pantazi, Sofia Stalmboudzi, Valentini Desculidou, Antonis Sassalos
Translation to English: Violandi Vratsanou

On Sunday 29 October we undertook a maintenance hike on the circular route of Menites. The starting point of the hike was the trademark of Menites, the famous lion springs. Our guide Lia Zerva from the Menites Cultural Association welcomed us to her village and before we could even start walking, she introduced us to the history of Menites … or Mainites? As much as opinions differ, we believe that both spellings and the respective origins of the names equally praise the beauties of the village.

So, we took to walking through the beauties of the village, along the waterfalls, up the stone stairs and huge stone walls. And if the whole Andros is tormented by drought, here in this place you forget a little bit the problem, as you hear the water flowing endlessly in the ditches and the river!

For a while we left the path in order to visit the church of Panagia Vergi. It is a very old, from the time of the Latin occupation of Andros, stone-masonry church with two sanctuaries, one is the Orthodox and the other one is the Catholic, the temple of which was preserved and restored by the Association of Menites in cooperation with the Department of Antiquities of Cyclades a few years ago.

The path needed no special care as the Association takes great care of it and as it is a living path: it is walked by residents and visitors on a daily basis throughout the year!

The end of the hike found us eating and drinking at the always hospitable Association who once again organized the Traditional “Choirosfagia”. And if there were a lot of people who came to taste the pork sausages, bacon and other delicacies, the attention of the ladies of the Association and especially the President and Route Angel Despina Hatzoglou-Petta was no less than in other times … because they have a fondness for us!

In anticipation of the next maintenance hike on Saturday 11 November, the volunteers of Andros Routes thank all those who participated in the hike, and especially Lia Zerva, Despina Hatzoglou-Petta and all the people of the Cultural Association of Menites.