Hidden beauties of Greece
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The Kalavryta train and the
Mega Spileo monastery.
From
the small sea level town of Diakofto we
board the unique "odontotos" train for the ride
to Kalavryta in one of the most beautiful natural spots
of Peloponissos.
In the late 1800 there were
mining works in the hills surrounding the Vouraikos gorge
and an Italian company started a narrow gauge train to
bring ore down to the coast to be processed and
transported away. The
train, built in 1885 travels the 22 km., of which three sections totaling 3.4km.
feature a double Abt rack centered between the rails,
at a very low speed
(12.5km/h) rising 750 m. above the sea level. The mining operation is long gone, but the
train tracks are still there and since 1962 a diesel
train brings people up and down the gorge. Even today,
the track includes rails marked with the date of its
construction.
It is quite a spectacle and
worth the visit.
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| On the
grounds of the old railway station at Diakofto you see in
exhibition locomotive number 8003 which served this route
for 72 years and has now been preserved after traveling
over two million km., sometimes pushing, sometimes
pulling, proceeding partly by adhesion and partly by rack
and pinion, up the steep rail path (biggest 145%) with
frequent halts for water. |
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The new diesel train
replaced the old steam rolling stock in 1960-62, is a bit
more modern but still takes a little more than an hour to
get from Diakofto to Kalavryta. This little cog train
known in the past as the 'odontotos' (= tooth train), is
well known to train lovers all over the world, because
its journey along the gorge, is one of the most
spectacular railway rides. It consists of?two Decauville passenger wagons
with the small diesel unit engine in between. Normally
there are 4 scheduled train runs daily but it is
difficult to find a vacant seat especially during
weekends. Odontotos
train schedules: (Tel: 0030 - 26920 22245)
DIAKOFTO - KALAVRYTA :
08.00, 10.30, 13.15, 15.45
Saturdays, Sundays : 09.00, 11.35, 14.10, 16.48
KALAVRYTA - DIAKOFTO: 09.15, 11.45,
14.30, 17.00
Saturdays, Sundays: 10.12, 12.47, 15.22, 18.00
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| The narrow gauge tracks
follow the stream bed of the Vouriakos river and the
little train travels through streams climbing the
fantastic narrow gorge up into the mountains, through
tunnels, over waterfalls, along cliffs and through
forests of pine and oleander. When the incline gets
really steep it switches from regular track to a cog
system. Ocassionally you meet people hiking down the
gorge and the train has to slow down to a crawl while the
pedestrians hug on the walls of the cliffs. |
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Zachlorou is the train stop
before Kalavryta where many people get off the train to
hike downwards the gorge. About 2km. from the small
village the monastery of Mega Spileon
(seen in the photo) has been built at the height of 294
m. against a vertical and almost smooth cliff. The
miraculous icon of Mother Mary ( one of the four icons
painted by Apostole Loukas ) made of wax and mastic gum
is kept here. ( An old tradition explains us how
the icon of the Holly Mary was found in Mega Spileo. The
place was very wild and a girl from a village was taking
there her sheeps. This girl had a deep faith in God.
Once she was seating in a place where today a Church has
been built. Suddenly she saw one of her sheeps walking
towards a precipice, where there was a whole of a cave.
It went inside, and it came out wet and stood in front of
her. The next day it happened again. And the day after too. At the end she
became curious and she followed it. She went inside the
cave that was hidden because of the plants. There she
found a fountain and on the top the icon of Virgin Mary.
She then heard a voice saying that two monks were about
to come and that she should show the icon to them,
and tell them to built a convent. The girl went out
and saw the two men coming. She told them what she
had seen and she showed them the icon. They thought to
light a fire in order to clean the whole place and the
cave. Deep inside the cave there was a horrible
dragon that tried to attack them and escape, when they
lighted the fire but a light came out from the icon and
burned the dragon).
The end of the line,
Kalavryta is a beautiful little town known
for its contribution to the Greek revolution against the
Turks as well as for the resistance during World War II,
when the Germans burnt down the town and on 13-12-1943
executed all 1,200 men aged 13 and over. A little further
from the village of kalavryta the monastery of Agia
Lavra where the first flag of freedom was raised
by Bishop Germanos of Patras when the Greeks rebelled
against the Turks on March, 21 of 1821 still exists in
good condition. The monastery of Agia Lavra and the
Kalavryta town are shrines to the Greek people.
14km. from Kalavryta the Ski Centre is well organised at an altitude
of 1650m. and considered to be one of the best in Greece
with a lift capacity up to 2440m. It's open from 08:00 -
16:00 operating seven lifts. The total length of the
course is 20km. suited to all categories. You will find
rental and sales of ski equipment, restaurant, bar and
cafeteria.
Places
like the Vouraikos gorge deserves your visit as well as
your protection since this sort of natural beauty is
rarely found anywhere in the world.
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A 2 day excursion
to Kalavryta is organised, departing daily and
including transportation, the cog train ticket
plus one night hotel accommodation with
breakfast. |
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Visit our "Special
tours" to Monemvasia, Methoni and
koroni, Olympia, Mani etc., or the
"unique" tours "following
the Greek traditions". |
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Sister sites:
www.tours2greece.com
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