We are interested in the timeless cultural landscape – threshing floors and wells, paths, windmills, fountains, drystone walls….
Paths interest us because:
• They contribute to the preservation, protection and promotion of the countryside, cultural heritage and tradition.
• They are a means of developing environmental and cultural sensitivity, ecological awareness and contact/reconciliation with nature.
• They enhance the creation of alternative forms of tourism and the extension of the tourist season, by highlighting natural wealth and promoting the production of local products.
• They highlight natural, historical, cultural and other monuments and sights.
The paths of Patmos
From the website of the ΕΛΛΕΤ project “Greek Paths of Culture”
Patmos possesses a rich network of old footpaths, which join the various settlements with one another and with the Monastery, as well as with the island’s many monastic establishments and hermitages.
ELLINIKI ETAIRIA – Society for the Environment and Cultural Heritage, in collaboration with the Municipality of Patmos and with the active involvement of the island’s schools, is implementing the project “Paths of Culture”, by carefully selecting and signposting a series of walks, thus giving visitors the opportunity to discover the island’s natural beauty and monuments in a healthy and eco-friendly way.
After considerable research and contacts with historians and folklorists, local and foreign, we chose the first 7 trails. We have signposted them – with due respect for the landscape and selecting durable natural materials – and we invite you to walk them:
3. Archeological Site of Kastelli
5. Chora – Kipoi – Holy Monastery of Annunciation
6. Stavros – Prasovouno – Psili Ammos
Δείτε περισσότερα στην επίσημη ιστοσελίδα των Μονοπατιών Πολιτισμού.
Construction of a Paths Network – Cultural Trails of Patmos
Patmos, like most places in Greece, has a rich network of footpaths that covers the entire island.
These paths not only served the needs of farmers and herders and the settlements between them, but also provided access to the numerous country churches, monasteries and hermitages.
Through the paths, we want to present the special religious – and not just – character of the place. Given that Patmos is a small island (34 km), mostly flat and smooth, it can be easily covered by a walker. Its network does not exceed 40 km. Furthermore, due to its easy, safe and passable relief, it is suitable for hiking by all ages and regardless of physical condition. We note that Patmos has been characterized by the legislator as a landscape of special natural beauty, protected and fortunately, to date, largely unaltered.
13 years ago, the ELLINIKI ETAIRIA – Society for the Environment and Cultural Heritage (EΛΛET) undertook and carried out the creation of 8 routes on Patmos, which it called “Paths of Culture”. Unfortunately, since then, because the paths were not maintained, they have largely been destroyed.
Our Association has decided to proceed with the maintenance of these 8 trails and with the upgrading and creation of new routes.
We wish, in addition to reviving and making the trails accessible to nature lovers, to enrich the routes by introducing visitors to the local cultural tradition.
We intend to include in the routes and highlight the elements of cultural heritage associated with the points of interest along them. That is: folk traditions, fairy tales, traditional songs, legends, monuments of recent tradition (mills, threshing floors, chapels, hermitages, springs, traditional shipyards, …), endemic plants and animals, food traditions, local products.
The center of the island and an emblematic landmark for Patmos is the Holy Monastery, which dominates by being visible from every point of the island and from the sea. We intend to highlight the architectural and historical uniqueness of the Chora of Patmos by planning a historical route in the settlement. Some of the planned paths pass through Chora, therefore making it a stop for hikers, although it can also serve as an exclusive destination.
We believe in and address travelers who wish to get to know the place they are visiting, to come into contact with the present and past of Patmos and its inhabitants. The traveler who will visit a sheepfold, who will see up close the revival of terraces in agriculture, the construction of a traditional boat, the religious and social event that vespers present in the chapels… will have come into contact with the essence of the place.
We wish to address and strengthen this type of tourism.
The alternative one in contrast to the consumerist one, the naturalist one that will provide allies in the protection of the environment, the religious one that will highlight the particularity of Hellenism in terms of religious experience.
Proposed new routes in the northern part of Patmos
Proposed new route in the southern part of Patmos
We believe that our project is also beneficial for the island’s residents engaged in tourism, because it will attract visitors throughout the year and extend the tourist season. We foresee that it will also create the necessary conditions for the development of forms of agrotourism.
Patmos has a mild climate, suitable for activities in the countryside in all seasons.
In the process of implementing the network of cultural trails, we intend to secure the participation of the following local bodies that we have already contacted or plan to contact: the Holy Monastery of Patmos, the Municipality, the ELLINIKI ETAIRIA – Society for the Environment and Cultural Heritage, the schools of the local community and the teachers’ associations, the parents’ and guardians’ associations, the social bodies (associations) and the business community.
To date, the Mayor of Patmos, the Holy Monastery of Saint John the Theologian and EΛΛET have responded positively and embraced the effort, with the intention of collaborating.
Our goal is also to rely on the body of work and knowledge of the local authors of local history and tradition and on the contribution of the rich library of the Holy Monastery and the Patmiada Ecclesiastical School.
In parallel, and to strengthen our goal, we plan to form an oral history group and collect all the elements of cultural memory that elderly people can transmit.
On top of this, our Association has members (philologists, lawyers, musicians, artists, economists, architects, artisans, computer engineers, mountain guides) who, with their scientific knowledge, can offer guarantees of professionalism, both in the cultural sector as well as in the required know-how for the establishment of the trails and the implementation of the project’s digital infrastructure.
Where necessary, we will turn to specialist scientists, either for the particular geomorphology of the place (geologists) or for the dissemination of information (graphic and web designers) or for the mapping of the trails, all according to the highest standards.
In general, we intend to use all the capabilities offered by the new technologies to help in providing access to everyone interested, regardless of their physical abilities or obstacles (age, disabled people, foreign speakers).
As part of our effort to establish the network of trails in the best possible way, we organized – in collaboration with ERA (European Ramblers Association) – a training seminar for 12 of our members and other interested parties, the expenses of which were covered by our Association.
The seminar aimed to transmit how to properly manage the project of the creation of a trails network, in a professional manner, so that the trails may acquire certification and join the European certified network of trails. This will offer to the project the necessary recognition of its quality and will ensure the standards and safety desired by the hiker to visit it.
The costs that should be taken into account for the implementation of the network concern among others: the “construction” of the trails: tools, signs, maps (printed and on boards at the beginning of the routes), the digitization of the information that the walker will receive as he walks, the promotion of the project to future visitors, the publication of printed material along with all the accompanying materials, the compensation of the experts involved and, above all, the necessary studies.
The network, as planned, will extend over a total length of 40 km of routes.
Relevant publications
(You may get more results by visiting the Greek version of this webpage)
Presentation of the first three trails of the ‘Patmos Trails – Paths of Culture’ project
This project was made possible with the support of the Cyclades Preservation Fund (CPF)
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