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Volissos - Malaghioti Valley - Panagia of Neromylos - Volissos

We start our journey from the central church of the Metamorphosis Sotiros in Volissos. We head towards the village's periphery, leading to the villages on the eastern side of Amani. Within a short distance we see the wooden sign that defines the direction of the path. From there it begins a downhill trail with a fence on its left. The path goes down until it meets a rural road that we follow until we meet right, a short path to the churches of the Metamorphosis Sotiros and the Agioi Apostoli. We return to the dirt road where we continue to the right, until we cross the asphalt road. We turn left to the asphalt and at a distance of fifty meters we meet our right dirt road. We follow the dirt road, pass through the dry road that crosses it and walk between old fields of olives. Through the burning trunks of the olive trees, the new olives (aggres) have been refined and developed. Several of the estates look abandoned, but there are some still groomed. The dirt road continues to reach a trichet, where we follow the right to the area of ​​the Basilica, where is the old church of St. George. The church is closed as there is ongoing restoration work.

We continue on a path leading to the watermills of the area. Our course is on a clean path that follows in many places the irrigation groove, which moves on the line of the watermills. Walking along 1800 meters from Agios Georgios, we will meet four watermills. In the fourth there is also a modulated resting point with wooden seats. The first mill is ruined, but despite all this, we can see the well-preserved swamp and its zigzag. In this area there was an old settlement, called "the Red Village".

Returning to the path, we continue our journey parallel to the groove, which brought Malagiotis' water to the watermill cisterns.

Just a short distance from the first watermill we will meet the second, the best preserved mill in the area, as it is the only one that keeps the roof and all its spaces. Inside there are the mill stands and in a corner a well-built fireplace. The impeller is absent, the bull is in very good condition and the stern space distinct. The third watermill is in a rustic condition, except for its sturgeon that is well maintained. In its demolished interior, under the debris we see the millstones and the swallow. At the end of the path, there is the fourth watermill of the Cagianda family with a millstone in its interior, dated back to 1906. Inside the mill, we see ruins of old buildings, which obviously used as a storehouse of wheat. At this point, we can now meet again the riparian dirt road leading to Panagia of Loutra or Neromylon and to the fifth watermill. The route follows the dirt road for about 200 meters, where a small sign on the right shows us the riverside path for the Virgin Mary of  Neromillas.

Continuing to walk alongside the bed, we reach the small church of Panagia of Loutra or Neromylon, where there is a place for attitude and rest. At the end of the route there is a meadow where there is the fifth ruined watermill, an old mango and many other buildings, which were probably storage use.

Our return follows the route back to the fourth watermill. From there we continue towards the third watermill, where we will meet the Volissos footpath on our right. The path moves uphill until we meet a dirt road, which we follow to the left. On the left side of the route, on the hillside, there is a well-kept threshing floor. Our route continues on a dirt road for about 1600 meters, until we meet an asphalt road. We have now reached the peripheral provincial road of Volissos - Chios, where we turn right to Volissos. We will continue for about 500 meters on the provincial road until we meet our right on the uphill path. The path ascends to the provincial road of Volissos - N. Potamia. As soon as we ascend the last steps of the path, we reach the asphalt road, which we cross the road to the Volissos Castle. Our route ends with our entrance to the village and descending towards the square, where we started. During our descent we find traditional architectural stone buildings and many of the churches of Volissos.

Alternative route: If we follow from the beginning the dirt road from Volissos to Agios Georgios, which moves to the right of the path, we can first reach the churches of the Metamorphosis Sotiros and Agii Apostoli, continue on our way to Agios Georgios and reach the riverside dirt road that leads up to the Virgin of Neromillas. From there we can continue on a dirt road that will lead us to the point where we meet and the path that returns between the third and fourth watermill. We continue our journey to the provincial road. Now we do not go back to the path, but we follow the road to Volissos.

 

Source: www.chios.gr