Agios Ioannis Prodromos and Gortynia

Agios Prodromos
stemnitsaThe monastery of Agios Prodromos is a place you’ll never visit by chance!
To get there you have to walk for about an hour starting from Stemnitsa, descending into the gorge of the river Lousios, or, as we did, drive 8km on an atrocious road to get to a parking lot just half a kilometer from the monastery and from there continue on foot .

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Agios ProdromosThe church on the side is the landmark to find the parking [37.54648,22.05295]. Once you leave the RV, take the path, quite steep at the beginning, which brings in about ten minutes to the monastery. Beware that if you do not look up, you will probably pass under the monastery without realizing it, losing a good part the entertainment! 😉
Agios Prodromos
Agios ProdromosAgios ProdromosAgios Prodromos
Agios Prodromos

At the entrance a sign informs us that the monastery is closed from 13 to 17, the entry of women is permitted only with ‘​​appropriate’ clothes for this in the yard there are long skirts with elastic band for those who need it.
Agios ProdromosAgios Prodromos
Agios Prodromos
Agios ProdromosAgios Prodromos
Agios Prodromos
Agios ProdromosAgios ProdromosAgios Prodromos
Agios Prodromos

We are invited to drink coffee and eat a piece of cake, and the person responsible, which is not a monk, tells us that at the time the monastery is inhabited by only three monks and makes us realize that life there is not easy, especially in winter. Going out on the balcony you have a spectacular view.
Agios ProdromosAgios Prodromos
Agios ProdromosAgios ProdromosAgios Prodromos
Agios ProdromosAgios Prodromos

GortyniaGortyniaWe go back on the road and continue towards the archaeological site of ancient Gortynia, which is located just 4 kilometers downstream. In fact we get to the level of the river, where we leave the RV and take a tour of the archaeological site, not fenced. Cute, but nothing special.
From here we continue to Elliniko and I must say that the road is in much better condition than the one coming down from Stemnitsa, especially for those who have a long vehicle this is the way to go.
Gortynia
GortyniaGortynia
Gortynia
GortyniaGortynia


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