High in Exogi: Exogi - Monastiri Panagias Eleousis - Mountain tour - Exogi The walker’s/tourist's orientation and safety is solely their responsibility. The present report, the relevant tracks (gpx) and the rest of the informational material are just supplementary. The proper equipment is necessary, depending on the weather conditions and the nature of the route.  Route’s type: circular Route’s duration: 2 hours and 30 minutes Route’s length: 6.300m Level of difficulty: difficult Suggested season: spring The route This route can be accomplished in two ways: a) from the beginning, the whole route to be accomplished on foot , b) from the beginning of the route up until the monastery of Panagia Eleousis (antennas) by car and then downhill on foot. In the second case, we have to pay attention in order to ensure that the car is at the end of the route (at the junction of the path with the asphalt road below the settlement). The route starts on medium quality asphalt, uphill, through dense vegetation. In case of driving a vehicle, it requires increased caution. In the village of Exogi there are old traditional houses, while the churches of Evangelismos and the Church of Isodia of Theotokos (the Presentation of the Virgin Mary) stand out. After the village, the quality of the road deteriorates and becomes more uphill. The view on the top rewards the visitor (although the necessary antennas are disturbing). The visitor can see in all directions from Kefalonia to the mountains of Central Greece and the islands of the Ionian Sea, while the whole of northern Ithaca unfolds in front of them. Duhera, Afales, Platrithias, Stavros, Frikes are just some of the places that he or she can see from above. From the monastery, the route goes downhill on a very rough path that can be characterized more as a mountaineering path than as a hiking path. The trail starts outside the monastery (behind the cistern) under the antennas. The signage is faded and needs attention. The walker must take care not to miss the dense markings that are located in the path. The view remains breathtaking. Increased caution on the trail is required. In the middle of the descent, the walker comes across the ruins of an old threshing floor while he or she has a spectacular view of Fiskardo and the rest of Kefalonia. The beach of Ammoudi at our feet is low and sparkling. There are no shady places on the route, so far. Then the path becomes smoother and slowly improves and from some point, onwards, the path leads through a beautiful forest. The trail needs attention here too, because the recent bad weather (Ιanos) has brought down several trees that disturbed the trail and it is easy for the hiker to become disoriented. After the forest, the hiker has a view of the Stavros and Polis bay. The trail now becomes smooth through shady vegetation. The duration of the hike from Pernarakia (including local difficulties), without counting any stops, is at least one and a half hour up until the central asphalt road. If the walker does the entire route on foot, he or she should expect to walk for about three hours (on average) because of the uphill nature of the route and the local difficulties. The recommended season is spring because a large part of the route is not shady and it is exposed to the wind. In Ithaca there are: A Medical Centre in Vathi and a Regional Medical officein Stavros, a Police Station in Vathi and a Citizen Service Centre (KEP) also in Vathi. Exogi Exogi is a mountainous settlement of Ithaca, built at an altitude of 340 meters from the sea, which is why its name means "Out of the Earth"! Its small houses are built on the hillside, one above the other. Exogi is one of the oldest settlements of Ithaca. It was founded by the Venetians at the beginning of the sixteenth century and it was the third most important settlement of Ithaca, because of its amazing view and the security it offered from the pirates. Today it has few inhabitants, but in the middle of the 18th century it had 1,400 inhabitants. Around the village, the land had been formed with berms and it used to produce raisins, olive oil, wine, flax, products which were exported from the port of Frikes. The village's patron saint is Agia Marina (Saint Marina) with the characteristic blue dome and the traditional festival on 17 July. On some house doorsteps in Exogi there is a strange mask, like a carnival mask. It is the "Moros", the mask that was placed there to guard the house from evil spirits. Monastery of Panagia Eleousa At a distance of 2 km from the settlement of Exogi, at the top of the mountain, at the location "Pernarakia", the old monastery of Panagia Eleousa is built. Next to the church there are a cell and a bell tower. The monastery is old and it was built at least in the 17th century. It is reported that it had been functioning until the First World War. Afterwards, the care and renovation of the monastery was undertaken by hieromonk Iakovos Mavrokefalos, abbot (1919-1944) of I. M. Romvos Aet/nia, as he intended to retire there. However, he was executed by the German conquerors in 1944 and today his grave is in the monastery's precinct. The Virgin Mary in Pernarakia is celebrated on Easter Tuesday.  Polis beach (Archaeological site-cave) Polis beach with its green waters and pebbles is located below Stavros, the main village of northern Ithaca. The slopes that surround the bay are covered with cypresses and holly trees. The name of the beach of Polis comes from the ancient city which, according to tradition, lies submerged in the waters of the bay. According to a report by Alexia Komneni, the city of 'Jerusalem', which was located here, was submerged by a great earthquake in 967 AD. In the northwest of the bay of Polis, there is the Cave of Loizos. In the 19th century, it used to belong to S. Loizos, from whom it took its name. Loizos, while digging there to open a furnace, accidentally found important findings of great historical value. The shells of the vessels, which were found in large numbers, prove that the cave was used as a place of worship, at least from the Mycenaean period up until Roman times. Among the archaeological finds of the cave is the famous shell with the inscription 'EYHEN ODYCCEI'. The cave was destroyed by the 1953 earthquakes and it is not open to visitors today. All the findings are currently housed in the Archaeological Collection of Stavros. During the route, the walker will encounter QR information signs at the following points: a) the start of the route (on the asphalt road at the junction of the path), b) in Exogi (at the church of the Isodia of Theotokos), c) at the monastery of Panagia Eleousis (Pernarakia), d) at the old threshing floor, e) at the stable.