Saturday 23rd April 2022 – Aginara Beach

 

I was keen to have a bike ride in this area, something that I didn’t manage last time. I rode to Arkoudi where we had walked to on our last visit and then to the neighbouring Loutra Kallini. Loutra is the Greek for spa and I wanted to find the spa itself. The resort had a number of very large and very posh hotels and I followed a sign to the spa without finding anything. As I headed north out of Loutra, there was a brown tourist sign - ‘Roman Baths’. I hadn’t realised that there were Roman remains there. Much to my surprise, there was a Greek tourist coach there but it was a very small site and they soon disappeared.
We have passed many springs in the mountains on this trip and they are often used by locals to collect spring water and by travellers to fill their water bottles. This spring, however, was obviously much better for your health as demonstrated by the strong smell of sulphur often associated with spas. Why is it that the water has to smell of sulphur before it is good for you? Is it a case of ‘no gain without pain’?
The most obvious remains here were quite modern, relatively intact but obviously abandoned. The small pool in front of the building was white and channels through the earth took small trickles of spa water that looked quite evil with green slime much in evidence. Just around the corner there was better evidence of the spring with clear water gushing from a modern construction of pipes and valves. I am guessing that some of the water is taken off to the smart spa hotels while the rest is allowed to flow across the site. The water was tepid rather than hot.
The Roman bath remains were sparse and the gate was locked so access wasn’t possible. However, there was clear evidence of hypocausts (underfloor heating).
I cycled on to Kastro where a mediaeval castle sits proudly on the top of the hill. Clamoutsi Castle was built in the 1220s and is in excellent condition. It is open to the public but it is quite likely that we will go there later, so I decided not visit today. It was lunch time and I went back to the centre of the village and found a kafenion (café) with lots of locals in it. I ordered a beer and was presented with a small plate of meze (nibbles) to accompany it. There was octopus, beans, potato, taramasalata and tomatoes – an excellent snack.
I then cycled down quiet lanes seeing farmers in their fields of cloches. It appears that most of them must have down their job of bringing on the plants and now that the weather is warmer, they are removing them. The main crop appears to be water melons but we have also seen courgettes and other plants that we didn’t recognise.

Photos: Loutra Kallini – the old spa and the ancient Roman baths; Some of the spring water is piped to an accessible area – difficult to bath in but perhaps it cures sore feet?; The meze at lunchtime with the castle visible in the background; A larger than normal roadside shrine with its well-tended contents.