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Modern Description: The west of Samos is dominated by the mass of Mount Kerketéus (1,434m), one of the most beautiful and dramatic mountains in the Aegean, which, like Mt. Saos (1,611m) on Samothrace, and Mt. Ochi (1,389m) on Euboea, rises steadily from the sea to the clouds, and shares with them a numinous presence and a pleasing symmetry of form. The summit of Kerketéus is generally climbed from the south east in about three and a half hours each way: a rough, motorable track leads north from Votsalákia on the Gulf of Marathókambos, branches twice to the left and ends at the beginning of a footpath which climbs up to the convent of the Evangelístria (650m); from here a 90 minute climb brings you to Prophitis Elias (1,100m); the final ascent (45–60 minutes) reaches the summit of Vigla at 1,434m. From here, the meeting of Asia and Europe can be seen: in fact the peak you are standing on is an extinct volcano, which was brought into being by the slow collision of the Anatolian tectonic plate to the east, and the Eurasian plate to the north and west.
Wikidata ID: Q43007168

Info: McGilchrist's Greek Islands

(From McGilchrist’s Greek Islands, © Nigel McGilchrist 2010, excerpted with his gracious permission. Click for the books)

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