An unexpected surprise at Kokinnokastro... OR Alonissos Travelogue Part 16

Pulling out of Patitiri on the back of my little goyroyna, I had a plan. My travels to date had seen me take in a substantial swathe of the island's terrain; but I had yet to explore those worthy attractions in the more northern part of the island. From both my pre-holiday research and my occasional meetings with Dave and Gerry, I knew that no visit to Alonissos would be complete without a trip to the beaches of Kokkinokastro and Agios Dimitrios. I was also intrigued by the archaeological site of Garbitses and furthermore by the Kastanorema gorge... it was to be another full day.

My first stop was Kokkinokastro. A short drive north on the main road, it was an opportunity to ease myself into the saddle of my little pig. Arriving without event, I de-saddled, parked my little friend under a tree out of the fierce sunlight and headed down to the beach.

Consisting of a high triangular outcrop separating two picturesque and sheltered beaches, Kokkinokastro was bound to be busy on this, one of the last days of July. And sure enough, as I reached the bottom of the lane, the beach was crowded with holiday-making families, umbrellas and the like. However, it wasn't the opportunity to bathe that brought me here, but an interest in the arachaeology of this site. From the few resources I could find about it, it seemed to be a site with a long history and one which some claim to have been the Ikos or ancient capital of Alonissos. Certainly from the topography of the area one can imagine that such a high outcrop would have attracted the attention of ancient peoples. However, it is worthwhile noting that the present day coastline bares little comparison to that of the past. Looking at Kokinnokastro today the sea licks its shores; but it is arguably the case that centuries of earthquakes and subsidence have served to raise the sea level in the area to its present position and that there is good reason to believe that the site would not have appeared so impressively well-defended in earlier times.

However the fact remains that it is extremely well defended today... so much so that I was unable to access the triangular outcrop no matter from which direction I approached! My apologies for using such a low quality image of the site, but it really only is with an aerial view (as is provided by this postcard) that one can appreciate just how impenetrable this site is today.

The beach I have described is the one that you can see here... even with such low resolution I am taken aback at how nice it looks! But to get back to the point, as you can see, it is impossible to gain access to the raised triangular outcrop from the beach itself. You either have to swim out and look for a way to clamber up the rocks on the seaward facing side, which is equally steep, or somehow get up to that little spine of earth that connects the outcrop to the island proper and walk across it. This was my plan, so I found a way through the trees you can see here (actually someone's garden!) to the edge of the spine. But when I arrived and took a good look at it, I knew that it would be impossible to cross: it was just to sheer.

Undaunted, I carried on through the trees to the other side of the outcrop to assess the situation here. Perhaps here I could find a way to access the site?.. no dice... it was the same story on this side: steep rocky slopes. However, I was compensated for my trouble with this:

With a picture like this, you don't really need words but me being me I have to say something and that is this: thank God that Greeks, on the whole, value sun-umbrellas, company and the proximity of a cantina over such isolation... for people like me (and, I suspect if you are still reading this, you) it is a perfect trade off.