Route 12 Patras – Ovria – Kourlaba Stavrodromi – Karpeta

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The route we suggest ends in the area of Tritaia. There are many opportunities for sightseeing. You begin at Patras, in Othonos – Amalias street, at the square of the Three Allies, in front of the port’s main pier...

Go straight on Othonos Amalias street. After two traffic lights you come to Gounari Avenue. Turn left and drive through the city. After 2km on Gounari avenue you come to a fork. Hospital "Agios Andreas" is on your left. Take the road to your right which is now called Georgios Papandreou Avenue. After 3km from the hospital, you see river Glafkos.

The vegetable market of Patras is on your right. At this point, you reset your distance metre. After a while, you exit the Municipality of Patras and enter the Municipality of Messatida. At 1.8 km a sign informs you that the road to the right goes to Pyrgos and Midilogli. Go straight on and after 200 metres you go under the bridge of the Ring Road of Patras. Go up to Ovria, drive through this town and continue. Signs inform you that the road to your right takes you to villages Thea and Kallithea. You have left the city behind and enter the countryside. 

At 8.3km you come to a crossroads. The place is called Kourlabas and is at the boundary of the Municipality of Farres. 
 
 

You head to Tritaia and Kalentzi, so you take the road straight ahead. At 9.8km you will see another sign that informs you of the following:

At 14.4 km there is yet one more sign:


You should drive straight on. Signs show you the way to villages Elliniko, Kaloussi, Chryssopigi, Lakkomata. You drive through the settlements of Starohori and Daphnoula and you get to another sign:

 

If you go ahead you reach Skiada and Kalentzi

If you turn left, you go to Kiparissi, Agios Dimitrios and Alepohori. This is a very interesting detour. Go straight. Road you will see take you to Asteri and Toskes.

  At this point you exit the Municipality of Farres and enter the Municipality of Tritaia. When you see the sign to Chiona, you are already in Tritaiohoria. At 28km you reach a junction; the place is called Diasselo. Be careful here:

 

It is a by-pass you should do, that is why we describe it analytically further on. We keep on straight, and we leave on our left and right the settlements of Ag. Georgios, Mpantzeika, Manesi, Golemi, Mastrandoni. At the 33th km on the left, the path leads to Ancient Tritea a reference point to all visitors who love history. We carry on straight, at the so called route ‘111’. At the 35th km we enter Stayrodromi, where the seat of Tritea’s municipality is situated. Be careful to the labels:

They are all quiet villages, representative of Tritea with lots of farmers and cattle-breeders.
We keep on straight ahead, to reach in 41 km a crossroad which on the right goes to Skoura and if we keep on straight we arrive at Karpeta village, close to the borders with Ilia Region. Turning to the left, we reach Skiada, a beautiful village which leads to Skiadovouni. A path through Skiada leads to Monastery of Notenon and Doxapatri’s Castle.

Bypass to: Monastery of Ag. Pantes Alepohori - Spartia 
 
 

One of the most beautiful and interesting routes begins from this point. Our destination is Alepohori and Spartia, and the Agioi Pantes and Taxiarhes Monasteries. But even if you don’t get impressed by hiking, you should follow this route whatsoever.

 

Alepochori and Spartia are small and poorly villages, with an original beauty and style. Its residents are nice and hospitable. After entering bypass, the road gets narrower and we eventually pass through Kritharakia, its primary school and its church. The scenery turns to semi-mountainous. However, there is a great deal of cultivation (mainly cereal) and cattle-breeding.
At 3.2 km we abandon Municipality of Farres and we enter Municipality of Tritea. At 5 km, we meet Teytheas River, flowing slowly on our right, through plane trees. There is a label at 5.6 km informing us that on our left we meet Tsaourdeika, and straight Alepohori and Spartia. A second label at the same point shows us that straight there is Ag. Dimitrios and on our right there is Kyparissi and Mouzileika. 

At 7.8 km we enter Ag. Dimitrios Village, and at 9.1 km
you should pay attention to the label. You are close to Agion Panton Monastery, Velimahi and Erymanthia. At 12,9 km we cross the bridge and we finally enter Alepohori. From here a path leads to Taxiarhes Monastery, which has been abandoned for many years because of the intolerable weather conditions. Another path leads a bit before Spartia Village. If you want to go to Taxiarhes Monastery you will need to walk for about 30 minutes. Alepohori, is surrounded by Erymanthos Mountain peaks and is protected by a wonderful fir forest. 

Bypass to: Erymanthia – Kalentzi
 
We start from Diaselo, we enter the regional road of Erymathia – Kalenzti and we reach some really beautiful green fields, a charactgeristic sample of Greek countryside. At 3 km on our left we pass by Erymanthia Health Centre and then we enter the centre of the village, famous for its cattle-breeding and its other public services.
 
Soon, the scenery becomes mountainous and at 4.5 km there is a road on the left going to Velimahi, Alepohori, Kritharakia, Spartia and Agioi Pantes Monastery. Keeping straight, we reach heroic Kalentzi the origin place of Papandreou Family, which gave Greece 2 Prime Ministers. Amphitheatrically built on Erymanthos foothills, Kalentzi is a place for relaxation and rest, plus you are very close to nature.