D10: VELANIDIA – CAPE MALEAS LIGHTHOUSE (NATIONAL PATH 33)

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This route comprises the final section of national path 33, ending at the lighthouse on Cape Maleas and is the most famous trekking path in the region.  Set out from the beautiful village of Velanidia, with its atmosphere evocative of the Aegean islands. In the small square just before to the second cafe, go south up a lane to the water reservoir at the edge of the village. The path then turns southeast, passing an iconostasis to eventually arrive, some 400 m from the beginning of the route, at the crossroads with the D11 path that leads over the peninsula to Aghia Marina.  Take the left hand path that eventually passes a goatfold, then crosses a stream bed before turning northeast. After passing another iconostasis, the path becomes a narrow unsurfaced road.

After about 1,600m is the chapel of Panayia Dekapentistrias; Some approximately 500 m further on is another crossroads with a wider unsurfaced road leading from Velanidia, opposite an abandoned windmill. The road continues to the south, reaching the little church of Aghios Thomas, after  another 1,940m, opposite a spring, where the path to the lighthouse begins.  There are actually two marked paths but these merge a short distance later, to continue parallel to the coast, passing a shipwreck on the way. The path reaches the stone lighthouse some 3,500 m further on. From here there are splendid views of the rocky coastline and of ships rounding the cape.