Erasmus+ 2019-2022

The path “Anagennisis”, concerns destinations of environmental and religious interest in North Evia. Specifically, we explore the areas of Edipsos Baths, Limni and Lichadonissia.
The area of North Evia was known for its forests and in general the rich vegetation that reached the sea. In August 2021, the catastrophic fires that hit North Evia left behind thousands of acres of burned forests. Many people lost their property and their jobs, especially those who worked in the agricultural sector. That’s why we symbolically named the path, ” Anagennisis”
We have defined the Baths of Edipsos, as the center of the path “Anagennisis”. The Baths of Edipsos are about three hours away from Athens.
The city of Chalkida is only 80km away from Athens. Because of its geographic position the city has a great history and remained a crossroad of ideas and culture, over the centuries. Today, Chalkida is the commercial center of the island, built on both sides of Evripos bridge. It is an ideal destination for short breaks, especially for the people who live in Athens, and everyone could have easy and quick access to the city thanks to its modern cable bridge.
Half an hour away from Chalkida-following the route of Artaki village you reach the beautiful village of Steni. Steni village is in the outskirts of Dirfis mountain the highest mountain of the Evia Island. The village it is known for its rich nature, its springs and delicious food. Although Steni is famous for its dense snow fall during the winter season, it is an interesting destination for all seasons of the year.

Why do we suggest North Evia as a travel destination?
There are many places that one can visit in North Evia. Let’s start our tour from the city of Edipsos.
Edipsos is the oldest Spa in the world and has over 80 thermal springs. During the Roman and Byzantine eras many emperors and generals, visited Edipsos for healing purposes. Today it is a tourist destination that is connected, not only with spa tourism but also with body and face treatments. The last few years, hot springs of the area are used not only for therapeutic purposes but also for wellness. If you want a refreshing and stressful destination Edipsos is the ideal choice as it has many Spa hotels and hydrotherapy centers. It is no coincidence that Winston Churchill, Greta Garbo, Aristotle Onassis and Maria Callas chose Edipsos for relaxation.
In Edipsos, you can admire the old hotels of Belle Époque architecture, as well as the cave of the Roman general Silla, who visited the Baths for therapeutic purposes.
If you want to learn about the forests of the area you can visit the forest museum in the village of Prokopi. But if you want to travel back in time, you must visit the museum of fossil mammals in the village of Kerasia.
If you are looking for moments of calm and peace, the monasteries of Saint David, St. Georgios and the temple of Saint Ioannis the Russian, are the ideal places with mystical atmosphere.
You should not miss a one-day trip to Lichadonissia, a cluster of seven small islands in the Northwest of Evia. The light blue waters of the sea and the beaches with golden sand will enchant you.
If you want to experience a lifestyle change, with the main purpose of love and respect for the environment, it is necessary to visit the autonomous eco-community Free And Real, the purpose of which is revealed by the initials of its name, (Freedom of Resources for Everyone, Everywhere & Respect , Equality, Awareness and Learning). This is a non-profit, non-governmental organization, a school of self-sufficiency, in the area of Agios of North Evia, where it implements the Telethrion Project, in the framework of which, through workshops and actions, shows us how to live with self-sufficiency and respect for the environment.
The Telaithrion project, is an eco-friendly world plan, built by multiple open minded people, with a dream to live in a self-sufficient sustainable society, which does little to no harm to our environment. The main goal they have in mind is to not only educate people on why our environment is crucial to us, but also, to show us that a world where selfless giving can truly exist if a lot of people put their body and soul to it. They want to build a healthy wavelength between environment, humans and technology by trying to prove to us that technology is nothing more than a tool to aid humans’ lives, and in order to achieve that, they came up with the “Telaithrion Project (pronounced ‘Te-le-thri-on’), which consists of ways to actively help our world.
Their dream, that has been put into action, develops around their ideas of building a ‘perfect’, small town, where no natural resources go to waste. By viewing the video on Telaithrion Project’s website, we can get an idea on what it’s all about. The plan consists of:
-Geodesic dome clusters
– Yurt modules
-Landscape bio-architectures
-Renewable energy sources
-Alternative research into plants and conservation
-A natural forest garden
-Microclimatic appliances
-Permaculture designs.
By following this plan, Telaithrion promises a healthy environment, and also hopes to convince everyone, that the perfect society can really exists.
If you want to have an experience of Aegean architecture, then you must visit the village of «Limni». if you visit the folklore museum of Limni ,you will be fascinated by the beauty and the rich history of the place. Moreover, is extremely interesting the collection of exhibits of Professor Christomanos. You can visit the Hydrobiology Museum in Limni and see his collection. He made this collection from his research voyages with Jacques Yves Kousto .
If you want to do some sports during the holidays, you can do water sports on the beaches of the area, horse riding and cycling.
For cinema lovers, from June 15th to 19th, the Evia film Project starts in Evia. For the needs of the Film festival, cinemas that were closed for many years have been renovated and reopened. In the context of the Festival are organised daily discussions and masterclasses, on the exclusive topic of the environment. Sustainability, and good practices related to this topic, are presented too in order to promote an environmentally friendly lifestyle. For few days, North Evia becomes an international center of Green cinema.
We continue our tour to the archaeological museum of Arethousa which is hosted in the old spirit factory of the early 20th century called Arethousa.
The exhibits of the museum reflects the religious, economical and cultural identity of Evia and Skyros island, from the prehistoric era until the establishment of the Greek modern state.
Our next stop is the fortress of Karababa Sultan, who gave his name to the castle, as he was buried in it. The Ottomans built this castle in 1684.Nowdays, Karababa castle become a museum into where Arabic funerary dedications and inscriptions, shows us its interesting history.
A walk by the Evripos bridge in Chalkida will relax you and give you the opportunity to admire the architecture of the buildings near the seaside. One of them is the famous «Red house». The «Red House» of the Mallios family is located on the north side of the beach in Chalkida. It was built in 1884 by the French architect Fleggis. It belongs to the Municipality of Chalkida. Nowadays, «The Red House» is used for cultural events.
We continue our cultural journey, through the Biomechanical Festival (organized every summer by the Theater team of Chalkida in Avlida, a town near Chalkida). Many theatrical performances are presented there, as well as musical events, with artists from all over the world. Of particular interest is the place where the festival takes place, the old quarry in the area «Vathi» of Avlida, which has been abandoned for years and nowdays has been transformed into a place of artistic expression and creation.
Chalkida offers many activities to its visitors, such as water sports, beach volley, mountain climbing, horse riding and hiking in the countryside. You can also swim in its crystal clear beaches such as Kourendi beach, St. Minas, Souvala and the famous beach of Alykes just 7 Km. away from Chalkida.
Chalkida is also Known as the city of «creasy waters», because of a unicque phenomenon, the swift change direction of sea waters, every six hours. During each change of direction, the water stops moving for about seven minutes. It is interesting to observe this phenomenon.
The famous Greek writer Giannis Skaribas wrote for the city of Chalkida, (his homeland) «The roads are broken, the south wind is blowing and me all alone saying: What a city»!
Half an hour away from Chalkida, following the route through Artaki village, you will reach the beautiful village of Steni. The springs of the gurgling water coming down from the mountain and the rich vegetation compose a beautiful scenery.
The chapel of Saint Kiriaki in Kambia village near Steni will impress you as the interior of the temple rests in a rock and the scenery creates a mysterious atmosphere.
Another sight you should visit, is the Aesthetic Forest of Steni, which is one of the nineteen aesthetics forest in Greece and it comes under the heading of the European ecological network “Natura”. The forest covers an area of 500 hectares and attracts nature are lovers from all over the world. It is ideal place for climbing , mountaineering, walking and hiking. Moreover, you can take part to the Dirfis Marathon road race that takes place in spring.
Do not miss to visit “Agali” gorge. The path is walkable even by small children.
If you are interested in exploring the varieties of mushrooms and herbs, you can attend masterclasses from experts, in the nature of the mountain Dirfis, which is full of herbs and mushrooms.

The region of North Evia is related to cultural and environmental sustainability. The hot springs located in the area have been used since antiquity for bath therapy and continue to be a core of the local economy until today.
Over the years and due to the increase in tourist traffic, spa tourism has evolved into wellness tourism resulting in the creation of new modern hotel units and the evolution of existing ones, offering wellness and rejuvenation services. This resulted in the emergence of new professional specialties in the area such as beauticians, dermatologists, physiotherapists, chiropractors, ecotherapists, etc.
Finally, the monasteries that exist in the area with their rich history, attract many visitors from around the world. The monasteries are strongly related to many traditions and customs of the area.
Finally, the Evia film festival organized in North Evia, gave the opportunity to reopen cinemas that did not operate for many years. The Evia film festival is included in the program “Fotodotes” of the NGO “Diazoma”, which has as its main goal the reconstruction of North Evia (after the deadly fire of August 2021). The “Fotodotes” program is based on the pillars of the European strategy (Green, Smart, place-based) and aims at energy autonomy, environmental regeneration in new forms of agriculture and gastronomy and new forms of entrepreneurship focusing on the green economy and innovation.

Traditional House, Limni village

Seaside walk in Limni village