Vrouchas-Aforesmenos Lighthouse

From the village of Vrouchas we drive downhill on a narrow cement road at the beginning between cultivated fields, enjoying the impressive view of the sea. As we approach the northern coastline the landscape changes and the olive groves thin out, giving way to barren, uncultivated areas, with low bushes battered by the constant meltemi winds. Halfway through the route we pass by the chapel of Agios Artemios and 2 km further we meet the coastal dirt road to the sea and we pass over the rocky shores of Agios Dionysios, another chapel, deserted and abandoned shores in the fury of the waves.

We turn east (right) and continue on the passable dirt road for another 1 km until the road stops and from this point it continues as a clearly visible and easy path since we are invited to walk parallel to the coast and without any changes in altitude. The wild beauty of the landscape is impressive, as we have on our right gray bare rocks that the salt and the wind have sculpted into strange shapes and on our left the immense blue of the Aegean.

We continue always along the coast and from afar we can see the old lighthouse, built on the cape of Agios Ioannis, and very soon we are there since the distances are short and covered quickly. A little further on, about 1 km before the lighthouse, we can see on the top of the rock a ruined tower, a remnant of the Venetian rule.

After the lighthouse we continue on the spectacular, narrow and steep path that crosses the cape of Agios Ioannis which unfolds several meters above the calm sea where immediately after we pass over the small sheltered bay of “Chomatistra”, a refuge for the fishermen of the area. On the hillside, above the path, there are large rocks, quite high above sea level, covered with fossilized shells, testifying to a unique geological phenomenon and a completely different relief of the area.

From afar we see the towering wind turbines emerging incongruously on the ridge. The uphill course now makes our steps difficult, covering an altitude difference of 240m in a distance of approximately 1.5 km and we always walk on the path that runs parallel to the dirt road towards the small plateau that is located at the highest point of the area. We pass near the German machine gun and the open tunnels that one can explore and are sad remnants of the last great war, and we arrive at the Agios Ioannis wind farm.