Lahi

On the road from Neapoli to Cape Maleas, just 2.5 km up the hill is the village of Lahi. A single road winds through the village, with countless staircases between the houses, leading up and down, left and right of the road. This lovely village, home to about 500 people, has been the birthplace of several prominent Greeks such as the economist Kyriakos Varvaressos, baritone Nicola Zaccaria and a poet who has made his name abroad, Giorgos Papoulias. The view from Lahi is truly breathtaking, overlooking the major shipping route between the mainland and the island of Kythera. Ever since the mid-19th century, Lahiots have roamed the seas from Halkidiki to Astypalaia, their ships bearing Vatika’s products (onions and olive oil) to the farest reaches of the country.

If you visit Lahi, be sure to make a stop at Kallenia just before the village, where huge plane trees shade the church of the Virgin next to a spring that gushes forth out of the rock. From Lahi, continue eastwards towards the villages near Cape Maleas, or turn right down the hill after Lahi to Paliokastro (3 km). To the north the road leads to Paradisi, Ano Kastania and Kato Kastania and the cave of Aghios Andreas.