Menalon Trail
Stemnitsa-Dimitsana

The first section is the Stemnitsa-Dimitsana trail, running along the Lousios valley. The trail starts form Stemnitsa, the village of traditional goldsmiths, point of convergence of many other routes and trails. From the main square of Stemnitsa, follow the densely waymarked red_romvos_menalo cobbled path that heads out of the village toward Prodromos Monastery.

Just before St. Nikolaos, a sign post directs you to the first earth path, the old mule track to the Prodromos Monastery. The path crosses an old farmland area that used to be an important winemaking region and its centre was the Kamari fountain. On your left there are great panoramic views of Megalopoli.

Upon intersecting the asphalt road, follow it for a while, until reaching the church of the Transfiguration of Christ where you can take water from the fountain and rest while admiring the view of the Lousios gorge before going into the paved path that leads to the Prodromos Monastery. After visiting the monastery, nested under an impressive boulder and cross the Lousios river using the concrete Philosophou Bridge, at the place where the riverbed forms an impressive narrowing.

Go up for a while and reach the Old Philosophou Monastery dating back to 963. Then reach the New Philosophou Monastery who was founded in 1691. After a short break, take the old mule track starting from the parking lot heading to Dimitsana. Traverse the western bank of the ravine, above land lots and old farmhouses and reach the impressive one-arched Monopori stone bridge. By the bridge, the trail changes bank, passes the small Tzani stone bridge and gains height bringing you close to Paleochori, bypass it heading towards the Open Air Water Power Museum. You can go across the museum and visit it, or go round and head towards the big headwaters at Agios Ioanis, the sources that make the array of watermills, gun mills and fulling mill turn, the very mills that made the fame and wealth of Dimitsana. From here the path follows a combination of minor roads and cobbled paths to reach Dimitsana and emerge right in the heart of the settlement, the saddle between its two big neighbourhoods, nowadays the commercial core of the small town.

Text and photos by T. Adamakopoulos