This route is an easy and spectacular walk in the heart of the Sounion National Park. Amongst the sites, you will see the gulch of Chaos, the tunnels of the iron mines of the 20th century and the washing plants of the ancient mines of Lavrion. The trail starts not far from the Agios Constantinos village, where there is plenty of space for parking. At first, the walk surrounds the impressive gulch of Chaos, with steep cliffs that reach 70m in height. In ancient times the gulch did not exist It was an unknown cave which roof collapsed, most probably because of the ancient mining tunnels that destabilized it. Indeed, if you look carefully at the cliffs, you will certainly see some of these tunnels. The ancient mines of Lavrion offered to Classical Athens the richness that raised it to a superpower. In these mines thousands were the slaves that everyday would get inside the tunnels to dig out the precious material, very often never getting out themselves. The trail continues for a few meters on tarmac. From there the view opens, and you can see the city of Lavrion and its port, as well as the islands of Makronisos and on the background Kea (Tzia). A little further down, the trail continues on the old road of the 20th century mines. This part of the trail is very impressive as you can see all around the place the numerous extractions of the “modern” mines. Lavrion mines were in use between 1864 and the end of the 20th century. The path crosses the main road once more to arrive at some old houses of miners, now in ruins. Using the same old road, the path arrives at the church of Agia Triada, were you can have a stop and drink some water from the natural spring. From Agia Triada, a dirt road leads to the ancient mines washing plants. The area is protected by a fence, but the gate is open! In it you’ll see the impressive water tanks as well as the plants were the ancient workers (slaves) would separate the useful material from scrap. Have a nice walk!
Technical difficulty: Easy