LIXOURI



Lixouri is a very significant town, with traditional houses abounding with flowers, beautiful squares with picturesque cafes and interesting churches .

Unfortunately it is a cloudy day today, and nobody wants to take the small boat and go to Lixouri.

However, I have visited Lixouri a couple of times, so I am going to include it in my entry for members to read.



The inhabitants, are intelligent, sensitive, friendly, open-hearted and gifted with a sense of humour. The two libraries, Iakovatos and Petritsios, with collections of vestments and rare books, the Philharmonic School, the Vallianos Professional School, the copper statue of Stamos Petritsis and the Church of Agios Charalambos, the city's saint-protector, are the most important sites which are worth seeing.



On the way to Argostoli…the other option of going there besides a boat, we come across the Monastery of Kechrionas.

North of the Monastery there is the site of ancient Pali (Paliocastro), where the ruins of a medieval castle and very few faces of the ancient citadel have been preserved .

The mountainous village of Atheras, with the beach of Agios Spyridonas. Michalitsata, with the beautiful view to the vineyards and the opposite shores of Argostoli, are also worth visiting. The fascinating beaches of Lepeda, where the Monastery of Agia Paraskevi is situated, Mega Laccos,(Mia Lacco used to be its Venetian name), covered with fine red sand, are due South.



The barren islet of Vardiani, a small paradise for inveterate fishermen, is situated across the entrance of the large bay.

In Mandzavinata are situated the Churches of Agios Spyridonas, Panagia and of Santa Sophia, which contain valuable frescos.

A road crossing hills ends up at the beach of Xi, with fine sand and limpid shallow waters – somehow an extension of Mia Lacco beach.



The famous Kounopetra, a rock in the sea swinging rhythmically by palpitating movements and one of island’s most paradoxical geological phenomena, is situated near the Village of Mandzavinata and next to the beach of Xi . Akrotiri (Cape)is situated nearby in the site of Vatsa, where in the years of antiquity existed the Temple of Poseidon with excellent mosaics. (The floor mosaic is exhibited in the Archeological Museum of Argostoli).



Walking past Vouni, we come to Chavriata, "the balcony of the Ionian Sea", with stunning view. From Chavriata there is an earthen road leading to the Lighthouse of Gerogobos. Nearby the Chavdata, the largest village in Paliki, where the old Church of Agii (Saint Apostles) with its gold-plated, carved, wooden reredos and valuable icons is situated. Then the road leads to the Monastery of Kipouria, which also contains valuable heirlooms and post-Byzantine icons, and offers to the visisitors the most beautiful vantage point for sunset in the whole island. The Monastery was been built at the end of a vertical precipice which ends down to the sea.

 

  The Monastery of Agia Paraskevi Taphion and the Dracospilia Cave are also situated in the vicinity . The beach of Platia Ammos (Wide Sand) which is ideal for vessels’ anchoring, and the Village of Vilatoria are situated further North.

From Vilatoria the road winds down to a sublime beach, Petani, which is counted among the most beautiful beaches on the island and is covered with white sand and surrounded by crystal clear blue-green waters.