Thessaloniki to Chortiatis – August 7th
Distance: 19.9 km – Elevation +210 m -720 m
Weather: Sunny. Temperature: High 33 degrees
Back on the trail again after a very restful and enjoyable break with visits to Krinides mud baths and the wonder that is Philippi, the Island of Thasos and Thessaloniki. Today’s walk was more tricky than expected. I am using the GPS tracks provided by the Via Egnatia Foundation. There was only one place to stay in Choriatis, an Airbnb, but that was not available so I took a taxi out to Choriatis and walked back to Thessaloniki ( tomorrow I will take a taxi again to Choriatis and continue onwards from there).
I left the hotel just after 6.00 am and as I walked past the reception area and walked to the door the night receptionist called me back. He was a different receptionist to the one that checked me in yesterday and he thought I was walking out without paying my bill! I explained that I had checked in yesterday and was staying in the hotel for another night and that I had already paid. He was quite officious and would not let me leave until he had checked everything.
Not far from the hotel I found a waiting taxi. The driver spoke English so we were able to have a good conversation on the way to Chortiatis. He dropped me off at a cafe in the middle of the village which had just opened and I was able to enjoy a coffee and croissant before setting off for my return walk to Thessaloniki. It was still early in the morning and the streets were deserted, the quiet being disturbed by the bark of dogs as I walked through the outskirts of the village.
About a kilometre outside of the village I came to my first surprise of the day, the remains of a Roman Aqueduct, the Aqueduct of Hortiatis. The aqueduct had been built in the first century A.D to carry the water pipes through which water collected by a qanat from mount Chortiatis flowed and supplied Thessaloniki. The aqueduct’s current condition shows the varying stages of construction and repair completed during the occupation periods of Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman.
From the aqueduct the twisting off road path followed a ridge for about 10 kilometres through a mixture of landscapes, farmland, rocky terrain and bush clad hillsides. There were magnificent views of Thessaloniki and the Aegean below and also of the Transfiguration of Our Savior, Orthodox Monastery sitting on the hillside high above Thessaloniki. It was a beautiful walk with a few ups and downs.
After the 10 kilometre mark the path started to descend and at times I encountered chunks of narrow rocky mountain paths needing a great deal of care. I passed by small stone dwellings which may or may not have been habited, and ruined dwellings too. There were beehives on the mountainside as the path continued to descend through the beautiful Seih Sou forest which runs to the outskirts of Thessaloniki which left me a walk of just two kilometres to reach the city centre and the Arch of Galerius. There was a cafe close to the Arch of Galerius and I sat enjoying a snack and a glass of refreshing cold beer watching and comparing the extraordinary contrast between the busy city life and the peace, beauty and stillness of the foothills of Mount Chortiatis which I had so much enjoyed on my walk today. It was good to be back on the path to Jerusalem.
