North Pelion

Makrinitsa-Kapsales-Pouri

The Makrinitsa-Pouri route from Kapsale is the middle of the four known connections between Makrinitsa and Pouri. Plotted on the map, it seems shorter, however it has exactly the same length as the route from Lagonika, with the only difference that it passes 200 m higher.

We start at the parking area of Brani, ate the eastern entrance of Makrinitsa. Soon, the road takes us to the nice cobbled street, which goes uphill and exits the village. After we pass in front of two fountains, we meet a dirt road. This road runs towards the old monastery of Agia Paraskevi, where we will see another beautiful stone fountain and the remains of the auxiliary buildings.

We continue, for a litle while, to walk on the dirt road, when we pass a bend of the road leading us to another trail section. Very soon, another dirt road shows us the cobbled path which we should follow. We now go uphill, under the canopy of a nice chestnut forest towards the area called Kapsales. The road passes through the deep ravine of Kaliakouda (or Xirias stream) and we cross it over the stone bridge of Karya (built in 1934).

When we arrive at the area of Kapsales we take the road to the right until its ending. There, we find the trail which goes around the northern slopes of Pourianos Stavros settlement. We now ascend from 1100m to 1410m. After a while, we start seeing the remains of old path sections and we go downhill to the elevation of 1200m. Another earthy alley will lead us lower, to the area of Xeforti.

Then, we follow the trail and walk along a mild ridge until we find the chapel of Agia Marina. We go closer and take the dirt road ahead of us. Soon, we pass next to the chapel of Profitis Ilias. Finally, we meet the main road which leads to Pouri and we walk towards the village.

Text and photos: T. Adamakopoulos