The hike from Amfikleia to the church of Agia Ierousalim, tucked into a cave at the northern foot of Mount Parnassus, had been on my wishlist for years.
Ever since we’ve first visited the neighboring Tithorea and the impressive Velitsa Gorge, I’ve been in love with this quieter yet eqally beautiful part of this popular Greek mountain. And this hike was no exception!
Over the 12 kilometers long hike we enjoyed sweeping mountain views, shaded forests, challenging (yet fun) scree fields and one picturesque, little church built into a large cave.
How to get there
The drive from Athens to the trailhead in Amfikleia took us a little over two hours and was fairly straightforward. For the first 100 kilometers, we followed the Lamia highway.
We exited at Kastro and continued along the regional roads Livadias-Kastrou and later Livadias-Lamias until reaching Amfikleia. From there, we drove through the village toward the mountains and parked near a playground at the upper edge of the town (see driving directions on Google Maps HERE).
When I first started planning this hike years ago, we didn’t have a car, so I looked into reaching Amfikleia by train.
Although I never tested it myself, it seems possible to reach the trailhead by taking a train to Stathmos Amfikleia, which is about 3 km from the village, and then continuing by taxi. We did something similar in neighboring
Tithorea and had no trouble finding a taxi at either the train station or the village (see this post).
Maps, signposting & difficulty
The area is covered in the Anavasi Map of Mount Parnassus, and having a map was useful when planning our hike. Once on the trail, we didn’t need our map at all.
The trail is very well-marked thanks to the trail running race taking place here annually, and the path is well-defined. We had no issue following the signs at any time (but you can find our Wikiloc recording here just in case).
At 12 kilometers in length and 850 meters of elevation gain, this hike seemed only moderately difficult on paper. It had its challenges, though. The initial climb to the Agia Ierousalim Church was steeper than I expected, and the same goes for the section before the Agios Ioannis church.
However, the biggest challenge was a large scree field (or sara in Greek) that we had to descend shortly after leaving the Agia Ierousalim church.
The trail was very steep here and extremely slippery due to the loose rock, and required a lot of caution and steady footing.
On the plus side, there was a lot of shade along the way and a spring with running water at the Agios Ioannis church halfway through the hike. This was really helpful on a hot, sunny day like ours.
From Amfikleia to Agia Ierousalim
We started our hike near the playground at the upper edge of Amfiklei, right behind a bridge crossing a dry river.
At first, we followed a dirt road winding among olive trees and meadows, bursting with colorful wildflowers during the spring. After about 500 meters we encountered a trail branching off to the left with a sign for Agia Ierousalim.
We followed the sign and started our ascent towards the church. I didn’t expect too much incline at this first section of the hike, who would build a church so high up on the cliffs, right.
I was wrong, though! The church sits at an altitude 850 meters high above the valley floor, and to get there we had to overcome about 400 meters of elevation gain!
That being said, the path to the church was clear and easy to follow. On our way up, we took uncountable breaks along the way to enjoy the beautiful views of the canyon and the many flowers and herbs popping up from the grass all around.
After about 2 kilometers, we arrived at a crossroads of trails. We turn left, crossed a couple of screes and after another 500 meters reached the Agia Ierousalim church.
The church, nested in a large cave high above the valley, is a picturesque sight! It is said to be built by the Templar Knights in the 12the century and during the ottoman occupation served as a refuge of the local inhabitants (and possible lookout of the Odysseus Androutsos, the hero of the Greek War of Independence).
We spent quite some time relaxing on the balcony of the church, enjoying the stunning views across the canyon and the coolness of the cave.
From Agia Ierousalim to Agios Ioannis and the infamous “Sara” (scree)
Even just hiking to the Agia Ierousalim church and back would make for an amazing outing, but we didn’t want to return to Amfikleia the same way. Instead, we continued toward another picturesque church of the area, the stone-built Agios Ioannis.
From Agia Ierousalim, we returned to the crossroad of the trails and continued straight, ignoring the path back to Amfikleia branching off to the right.
The trail was running horizontally at first, but after about 500 meters we arrived at the most challenging section of this hike, a large scree field descending steeply to the valley.
Ascending the scree would be hard enough but descending through the loose, slippery rocks seemed almost impossible at first. However, after some careful observation we discovered a steep trail running along the right side of the scree, making the descent slightly easier.
We still needed a lot of caution to descend safely, and I don’t even want to imagine what would happen here when the ground is wet and muddy. Towards the lower edge of the scree we crossed it horizontally and soon after we finally stepped on a solid ground.
From here towards the bottom of the valley we followed a clear path with a few rockier sections secured by a rope. At the bottom of the valley we crossed a slightly unstable wooden bridge and soon after we arrived to another crossroad of trails.
The right one returns to Amfikleia through the bottom of the canyon, the left one ascending to the Agios Ioannis church. We took the left branch and embarked on another steep climb!
For the next kilometer or so, we climbed uphill through the forest, passing one small rocky section secured by a rope. At the midday of a hot spring day, this section of the hike was quite exhausting.
However, once we arrived to the charming stone build church of Agios Ioannis we were treated to plenty of shade and a spring with cool, refreshing water. We took another long, break here, enjoying the calmness of the place before returning to Amfikleia.
Return to Amfikleia
There are multiple trails starting at the church and no information signs, so pay attention here! The trail to Amfiklea follows a wide dirt road at first before branching off to the right. From here, a comfortable path run slightly downhill along a small stream towards Fterolakka.
At Fterolakka, we joined an asphalt road for a bit before turning on to another trail branching off to the left. We crossed the road one more time later on, this time turning back and then to the left again.
At this point, the forest disappeared, and our path winded downhill through meadows and shrubs, offering beautiful views of the canyon we just crossed and the tiny church of Agia Ierousalim in the distance.
Once we come on another dirt road, we had a decision to make. According to the Wikiloc recording we followed, we should turn left here, but the signs were pointing to the right. Hoping for a shortcut, we turned right and walked towards the Agioi Pantes church nearby.
We passed the church and followed the signs until the end of the road where we realized that this is not a shortcut, the opposite, actually. From the end of the road, a narrow trail ascended to the top of a low hill decorated by the forth pretty church of the day, Profitis Ilias.
And even though this detour made our hike slightly longer, it was worth it. The location of the church offers beautiful views in all directions, and the surrounding meadows burst with wildflowers at the time of our visit.
From the Profitis Ilias we descended back to our dirt road, turned right and followed it for about 150 meters until we spotted a trail running down from the right side of the road. It took us all the way back to Amfikleia.
Once we stepped on the asphalt road at the upper edge of the village, we turned right and continued along the road all the way to our car.
To finish off the day, we made a stop for a beer in the neighboring Tithorea, one of my favorite villages on Mount Parnassus and the starting point to many other beautiful hikes (check out this post)!
