Route “Ano tholos – Church of the Dormition of the Virgin”

Ano Tholos is the first stop on this first route. Our sign, so as not to confuse the intersection that leads us there, the former “Porcell” factory, five kilometers from Paranesti. We turn right and after a short climb we reach the settlement located at an altitude of 320 meters. It is built on a smooth slope facing the West. Apart from a few herders, other residents no longer live in the village. Cows roam free everywhere. Only the precincts of their church are off-limits…

The traditional architecture of the stone-built houses impresses us. Some of them, as well as the simplicity of the inhabitants, still bear witness to ancestral nobility! We return to the main road. After about a kilometer we cross the iron bridge of Arkudoremos and pass the left intersection that leads to Platanovrisi Dam and Thermia.
The Arkudorema, that primordial vein of history, now flows to our right. We are moving in a North-East direction and in a direction opposite to that of the flow of the Arkudoremos. The asphalted road of the provincial road network leads to the settlements of Silli and Prasinada.

Prasinada, our second stop, is a settlement at an altitude of 680 meters. It is nineteen kilometers from Paranesti. The last six of these, perhaps the most uphill, are after the point where the road forks and the left asphalted fork goes up towards Prasinada, while the right, dirt one, continues in an easterly direction. From the height of the settlement we gaze upon a landscape of wild beauty. The vegetation in the spring rages. The view becomes even more impressive from the surroundings of the newly built Holy Monastery of the Transfiguration of Sotiros, which was built, as it is said, on the site of an older Byzantine monastery. In Prasinada, the asphalted provincial network ends. Drivers of conventional cars should be aware that the network of dirt forest roads heading north from here (towards the Stamna forestry site) is preferably for four-wheel drive vehicles.

We return to the intersection of the paved road and the dirt road. We take the dirt road again driving parallel to Arkudorema, which meanders between ravines a few meters lower accompanying us with the sound of its flow. We are now heading towards the settlement of Dipotami. The route is enchanting: imposing rock complexes sculpted by the eternal flows of water follow us naked or clothed in the changing colors of an orgiastic vegetation, which is made up of mesedes (Oaks), maples, anchovies, meliaria and skullcaps.

After a few kilometers, at a point where the relief of the valley becomes normal, we come across a sign of the Forest Service, which informs us that the first waterfall in the area is six hundred meters away. We leave the car and hike to the stream bed, where the Drama Forestry Department has installed a wooden gazebo.

A small iron bridge connects the two banks of the stream here. We cross it and continue our way for another three hundred meters following an easy-to-walk path that is lined along its entire length by various trees (mesedas, wild cherries, oysters, walnuts). Ruins, dry stones and other remnants of human constructions follow our every step drowned in green. As we approach our destination, the path becomes downhill until, at the end, we are in front of the beautiful waterfall of Agia Varvara. It is not particularly high, but it is truly impressive, as it forms in front of it a small lake surrounded by alder and willow trees. A real oasis!

For our return to Paranesti we can follow the same route in reverse. But if we love adventure and have a four-wheel drive vehicle, we have an alternative, more exciting option. Continue for two more kilometers in the direction of Dipotami and turn right at the intersection that will be indicated by a handwritten sign. Our direction is now southeast. We pass Arkudorema and climb towards the ruined settlement of Potamakia. Our route is parallel to the stream of Dalia (alternatively known as the stream of Agia Varvara) whose waters form the waterfall of the same name just before they exit to Arkudorema. We continue our course in the same direction and after five kilometers we reach the chapel of the Dormition of the Virgin. Here every year, on the 15th of August, a three-covert feast is held by the old residents of the area and their descendants, who have been celebrating there since the eve.

From there we continue our way and after an adventurous route of nineteen kilometers (unmarked) we reach the eastern exit of Ano tholos.
We pass the settlement and after four more kilometers we enter Paranesti.