Discovering the Chapels of Lardos ~ Griffmonsters Great Rhodes Walks

A simple wander around Lardos village and the countryside beyond

This simple little stroll negotiates a route around Lardos visiting its numerous chapels. This includes following the track out to the chapel of Saint Seraphin which is located in the countryside to the north west of the village. Also included are the chapels of St Symeon, Saint Savvas and The holy Temple of the Brigadiers which, if nothing else, is the best dedication that one can ever come by. A great way to pass a couple of hours exploring

Discovering the Chapels of Lardos - Essential Information

Walk Statistics:

Start location: Lardos
Distance: km ( miles)
Total Gain: metre ( ft)
Total Descent: metre ( ft)
Min Height: metre ( ft)
Max Height: metre ( ft)
Walk Time:
Walk type: Circular
Walk Grade: Easy
Terrain: Village streets, tracks out of the village

Maps:

The following maps and services can assist in navigating this route. There are links to printed maps and links to downloadable GPX route data for importing into navigational software and apps.

GPX Route File

Accommodation:

Pefkos Blue Studios, PefkosapartmentView in Google Map

Website: http://www.pefkosbluehotel.com/
Description: Pefkos Blue formerly known as Dimitri Studios, offering self catering apartment studios overlooking Pefkos village with splendid views across the bay. This is probably the best place in Pefkos if you want to be away from the village. Above the hubbub it offers unrivalled views and a quiet location.

Transport:

Details of public transport that is required for the walk

Rhodes Public Transport - Bus Service

Service Details: Gennadi to Rhodes Town - KTEL Rhodes Public bus service serving the East Coast of Rhodes linking Gennadi, Kiotari, Lardos, Pefkos, Kalathos, Archangelos, Afandou, Faliraki and Rhodes Town
Timetable: Available here

Route Verification Details

Date of Walk: 2018-10-12
Walk Time: 10:30 to 12:30
Walkers: Griffmonster, Kat
Weather Conditions: Bright sunshine

Walk Notes

This is an easy walk. Nothing more than a local ramble that takes in a little countryside and a look around the village of Lardos. A walk that can be accomplished in a spare hour or two, or added on to another walk. This was the case in this instance where a morning walk from Pefkos along the main road to Lardos provided a pleasant amble that was completed with lunch at Lardos and the bus back in the afternoon.

The additional walk from Pefkos has the advantage of also visiting the Chapel of St George which is located as the road heads out from the Lardos Beach area known as Lothiarika. The small chapel can be found on the right hand side of the road, up a flight of steps and is well worth the visit if one includes this in ones itinerary.

This specific wander starts and ends at Lardos village square and takes in a meander through the streets of what is no more than a typical working Greek village. It is difficult to find any in depth information about the village itself and one has to resort to admiring the features, the buildings and the landscape and letting ones imagination fill in the blanks.

The beauty of Lardos is that it caters for visitors but is sufficiently far enough away from the hubbub of the resorts to provide a haven to envelop oneself in the Greek culture and watch the routine of daily life unfold around. Tree lined avenues lead into the village which is centred on the square, surrounded by tavernas and cafes. A decorated water fountain is a centre piece to the square and this is fed from a natural spring. Locals are still said to draw water from the fountain in preference to the mains water although I have to say I have yet to witness such habits. An octagonal plinth has four sides with bench seats alternating with steps onto the pebble floored plinth itself. The fountain is constructed with a large circular stone basin and a central decorated square pillar where the taps are placed. The pillar is topped with a blue sphere with a crowning cross. The fountain was reputedly constructed by the Italians during their occupation after WWII. These days it provides a good place to sit whilst waiting for the bus.

Wandering away from the village square, this route soon takes a narrow back street lined with whitewashed buildings and the sound of domestic life all about. One soon encounters an old derelict building, forlorn and neglected, flanked by an old knarled olive tree. It is worth looking at this building more closely as above the door is a stone that is marked with a year. 1906. Maybe 1908, but no, it looks like 1906. What this building was is unknown. Its grey lacklustre walls seem out of place with its bright white neighbours and one wonders whether the olive tree was planted when this building was erected. Maybe the tree is much older. It is said olive trees can grow to very old ages, with examples in Crete claiming to be between 2000 to 4000 years old. That is old. This tree is probably nowhere near such an age. It is true that as a village, Lardos is centuries old. There was certainly a village here before the Knights of St John invaded in the 14th century. It is difficult to date buildings on Rhodes by mere appearance. What seem like humble modern chapels can date back many centuries but their white washed appearance blend into the general landscape making them look as fresh and new as everything else. Who knows how old some of the buildings around Lardos are.

There are more narrow streets to traipse through taking it all in. At one point an electricity pole seems to be placed centrally in the road. It concerns no-one. That is the way around here. Trees grow mid pavement so one has to negotiate a way around them. If a pole is in the middle of the road one goes around it. Less energy is spent going around a pole than worrying about it or making complaint to those in authority. Go around it. Laugh at it. Accept it.

The route then follows the road out to the countryside, passing through the narrow streets where more whitewashed buildings contrast with the blue skies and vibrant arrays of flowering trees and bushes. These shrubs appear to be Bougainvillea, thorny ornamental vines, but I am no botanist so do not take my word for it. A Monkey pod bean tree drapes its legumes over a wall, ageing shuttered windows provide a timeless view of life, a call of kalimera comes from a woman on a balcony and a response is proffered. You have to be part of the landscape here, joining in is all part of the rich tapestry of Greek village life. You are not a spectator, you are a participator.

An asphalt road leads the way out through the olive groves and small holdings that surround the northern side of Lardos. This area is a wide flat valley through which the Fonias Stream meanders. During most of the year it is no more than a wide dry river bed but in winter so much water pours down here from the hills and mountains around Laerma that occasionally it floods Lardos. Unbelievable during the arid months of summer and early autumn. This route follows the course of the river for half a kilometer to where there is a junction of tracks and on the right is the Church of St Seraphin Άγιος Σεραφείμ. The entrance is via a flight of stone steps leading up to a double metal gate above which is an arch where the church bell rests. A rope dangles down from the bell and the end is used to secure the gates together with a simple knot, probably to keep the goats out, rather that the grockles such as ourselves. It takes little to unravel the loose knot and one enters the courtyard under the welcome shade of trees. In the centre of the courtyard is a simple church painted yellow with flower patterns arching around the door that is recessed into a porch area. The interior is plain with little in the way of frescos and a three panelled templon, the name given to the barrier separating the nave from the alter, that has two doorways through to the altar.

We return to the track, taking a dirt track down the side of the Lardos side of the church. A dog yaps at us as we pass a small holding, heading out into the olive groves. This is merely an excursion to provide a circular route back into Lardos. It is easy to follow and crosses a small dry stream bed before turning back and arriving at the village where we came out. The route then heads around the northern side of the village to the little chapel of Agios Symeon, Saint Symeon. Unfortunately this church is locked and one can only observe the stone built structure. A simple bell tower is affixed to the front of the building and the arched roof is clad with thick tiles.

Further along the road sits a smaller chapel, this is the Chapel of Agios Savvas (Αγίου Σάββα), Saint Savvas. Presumably this was the dedication of the modern day Saint, Savvas the New of Kalymnos who died in 1947. I can find no significant event in the life of Savvas that connected him with Rhodes let alone Lardos so why such a dedication was chosen is unknown. Maybe it is another Saint Savvas.

This Chapel is open. The interior is modern, bright, airy and welcoming. It is always good to stand, admire and pause for a few minutes of contemplation before continuing and this humble setting provides the apt place to do so.

We return to the village square via the last and most spectacular church. This large church is nestled right in the heart of the village hemmed in by domestic buildings on all sides. Even so, it affords a small courtyard shaded by trees which are thickly layered in their canopies and their trunks painted white. Quite why their trunks are white is unknown. If it is to make them visible then it probably fails as one is clattered by branches before one gets close to the trunk. It seems that I am not the only person to ask such a question. There is a myriad of answers available on the internet as to to the questions of why are tree trunks painted white in Greece?. The general answer is that the whitewash that is used is made from slaked lime and chalk and this acts as a natural insect repellent. It protects the tree. It protects the fruit. The practice dates from ancient Greek times and traditionally at Easter time anything and everything gets whitewashed. Houses. Steps. Fences. And of course trees. The general rule of thumb appears to be, if it doesn't move, whitewash it.

A five tiered square bell tower rises above all other buildings in the area. Bells occupy the three top tiers and steps rise up to the second tier where the bell ropes hang. At each corner of each tier are what look like lanterns which must provide a spectacular sight at night that would dominate the village - a mental note is made to pay a visit to the village one evening. The very top has an octagonal turret that is crowned with a cross. It is without a doubt impressive.

An ornate water fountain is placed at one end of the courtyard, fashioned in what looks like limestone and somewhat warn over the decades or centuries that it has sat here. The church is difficult to date although judging by its central location it would not surprise me if this is many centuries old. One website gives a date of 1755 although it is not explicit as to what Lardos church it refers to, one guesses the mention of the church at Lardos is a reference to this central edifice.

Even the church's dedication is difficult to determine. It appears to be known as Agios Taxiarchis. Agios is the Greek word for Saint. The word Taxiarchis is generally used to refer to the Archangels Michael or Gabriel. However, the Literal meaning of the root of Taxiarchis is taxis which is derived from an ordered military formation. Maybe that is why the Google translation of the Greek for this, ερός Ναός Ταξιαρχῶν, Λάρδου, results in the English Holy Temple of Brigadiers, Lardou, the Archangels being the leaders of the heavenly host and may reasonably be considered as Brigadiers I guess. The Holy Temple of Brigadiers is certainly a much grander name. I will stick with that!

And so we end the tour of Lardos.

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St Savvas chapel

Directions

A short walk in and around Lardos taking in the Churches and Chapels of the village

Leave the village square heading towards Kiotari, with Memories bar on the left and the supermarket on the right. Take the first turning on the right and follow the road through to the end passing the old derelict building. Turn right at the junction and follow the road around to the left. Keep to the road which soon bears round to the left passing the pole in the middle of the road. Take the first turn on the right. Follow the road out of the village ignoring all turns. The asphalt track leads through smallholdings and olive groves until it junctions with another track on the right, opposite a work unit on the left. The track on the left is the next direction, but first continue a few yards ahead where the steps to St Seraphin church are on the right.

Take the aforementioned track. After 300m the track bends sharply around to the right and another track emerges at the bend. Follow the track around. After a further 200m the track sharply turns to the right. Keep to this until it emerges back onto the asphalt road that led out of the village. Take the first left on the road back into the village and where it merges with another road, take the merged road almost turning back on oneself, up the hill.

Follow this road through to the junction. Part way along, just down a road on the right is the chapel, Agios Symeon. At the junction turn right and follow the road down towards the main Laerma road . Take the track on the right, away from the main road. At the bottom of the hill, turn right at the junction and follow the road around the walls of the village cemetery, turning right opposite the cemetery gate. Continue along this road and the villages main church, Agios Taxiarchis, stands out on the right. Continue on this road, keep bearing around to the left which leads out into the village square.

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Road to St Seraphim

Refreshments

Savvas Grill Restaurant View in Google Map

Address: Savvas Grill Restaurant

There is nothing better than finding a quiet typical Greek Taverna with Greek hosts and amazing food. This is an unassuming family run taverna on the junction of roads in Lardos, away from the square but still amid the hubbub of activity. The food is typical Greek cuisine and well worth every effort to seek out.

Review

Always good food can be enjoyed here. We had a mixed plate of Greek dishes with some local wine. Excellent

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Agios Taxiarchis, translated as Holy Temple of Brigadiers

Gallery

Below are a selection of images taken from from the photo album for this walk. Feel free to browse through these or click on an image to view a larger version in the Gallery.