“SKIATHOS HERITAGE TRAILS”
A project of Social Cooperative Paths of Greece and Civil non-profit company Diadrasis, in collaboration with the Municipality of Skiathos.
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Funding: Green Fund
Budget: 50.000€
Funding program: “PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT & INNOVATIVE ACTIONS 2023”
Priority Axis 4: “INNOVATIVE ACTIONS WITH CITIZENS”
What are the Heritage Trails?
The project “Heritage Trails of Skiathos” combines the natural beauty of the island with its cultural heritage, simultaneously increasing the dynamics of the already existing network of routes and strengthening the inclusion of the island, promoting the possibility of equal participation of all social groups, including people with disability.
This is a project based on the hiking network “Skiathos Trails”, which is a project of the Municipality of Skiathos.
What is the purpose of the project?
The purpose of the project is to protect and upgrade the cultural heritage of Skiathos through its network of trails.
What did the project offer to the island of Skiathos?
Cultural impact
The project enhanced the island’s existing hiking network with five new thematic cultural routes, designed by Diadrasis‘ research team. The routes are inspired by the island’s cultural stock and the oral histories of the local population. Signs with QR codes were placed in selected points of cultural interest, allowing visitors to listen to stories from the locals about the cultural heritage of their place.
Note that the oral stories are not yet translated/dubbed to english. We are hopeful, that in the near future, the english version will become available.
Find more information about the island’s cultural routes on the project’s new website.
Below is a photo from an interview with a local woman and indicatively a sign of a point of cultural interest:
Inclusion and information
Added information on the accessibility of hiking routes for people with disabilities. At each starting point of the trails signs with enriched information about the accessibility of each route were placed, thus giving the possibility of choosing to hike the route for people with disabilities.
The island’s already existing hiking trails have been assessed for their accessibility, based on the “Guide for Accessible Nature Trails” of the National Confederation of Persons with Disabilities, making Skiathos a pioneer destination in this field.
An information sign is shown below:
More information is available on the website www.skiathostrails.com and on the central signs of the island, as shown below:
Expanding the capabilities of the Skiathos Trails network
As part of the “Skiathos Heritage Trails” project, the routes that can be proposed as cycling routes and added to the “Skiathos Trails” network were studied and identified.
Thus, 8 cycling routes included in the “Gravel Biking” category were designed by “Paths of Greece”. These routes include cycling on asphalt and dirt roads that span the entire island.
Find the routes on the project website.
Below is the route map:
Marking with entrance signs and installation of bike racks will be done at a future time, as it could not be included in the program.
Creation of a new website
A new website www.skiathostrails.com has been created exclusively for the “Heritage Trails of Skiathos”, which includes information related to hiking routes, cycling routes, points of cultural interest and the accessibility of the island’s hiking routes for the disabled.
Actions to empower the local community
Seminars on maintenance of paths and preventive maintenance of monuments
On Friday, September 20, 2024, seminars on trail maintenance and preventive monument conservation were held by the social enterprise Paths of Greece and the non-profit organization Diadrasis, respectively. The presentations took place in the Municipal Council Hall of Skiathos, at Bourtzi. The participants were informed about the trail maintenance guide, which contains practical information on the restoration and maintenance of trails, as well as the protocol for monitoring trail conditions (walkability, accessibility, signage), used to identify potential issues. At the same time, the participants were informed about preventive monument conservation practices, aimed at protecting cultural heritage.
Project completion celebrations
On Sunday, September 22, 2024, the celebratory events for the ending of the “Heritage Trails of Skiathos” project were organized. The events started with the city game “History Hunters”, followed by a walk along the beach front of the town of Skiathos, and concluded with a celebratory event at the church of Agios Georgios.
- “Story Hunters” – city game
The city game “Story Hunters” is designed for children in the form of a treasure hunt. Its purpose is to encourage children to discover the stories of their local area through the narratives of locals by scanning QR codes found on the new project signs and playing a fun game of exploration and puzzles.
- Hiking
After the game, the participants walked from the port of Skiathos to the church of Agios Georgios. The route included sections of routes ST2, ST3 and ST3A, moving parallel to the coastal front. During the hike, participants visited various points of cultural interest.
- Festive Event
The celebratory event at the church of Agios Georgios included an update on the program, a reference to the aims of the project, the individual actions, as well as a presentation of the deliverables of the project.
Final Event: Hiking the Heritage Trails
On Sunday, October 13, the last event of the “Heritage Paths of Skiathos” project took place, which was a circular hike starting from the Holy Monastery of Panagia Evangelistria. The route passed by Kryo Pigadi, the peak of Karaflitzanaka, the chapel of Agia Anna, the Holy Monastery of Agios Charalambos and finally returned to Evangelistria.
The guide of the route was Kyriaki Kantarakia of the Ecoζην Skiathos club. Find the club on Facebook and Instagram.
Special thanks to all those who supported us throughout this project.
The project “Heritage Trails of Skiathos” was a demanding program that was based, to a large extent, on the involvement of the local community, for its successful completion.
Fortunately for us, the society of Skiathos responded to the call and the result was very satisfactory.
We would like to thank:
The story tellers:
- Maria Koutseri
- Kiriaki Kantarakia
- Thodoris Tzoumas
- Giorgos Sanidas
- Konstantinos Koutoumpas
- Konstantinos Karakoudas
- Zoi Prousali
- Mary Parissi
- Matoula Kantarakia
- Zoi Parissi
- Giannis Parissis
The representatives of the Municipality:
- Thodoris Tzoumas
- Ververi Filitsa
- Dimitris Karathanos
The Greek Guiding Association (SEO):
- Theoklitos Tsagkaris
- Giannoula Kokoliou
The cultural club “Skiathos”:
- Katerina Chantzikonstantinou
The project team
Proposal Contents:
Identifying inheritance paths
Local community participation in the identification of the cultural reserve of Skiathos
Recording and evaluation of the cultural heritage of Skiathos
Analysis and evaluation of the accessibility of Skiathos trails
Identification and upgrading of Skiathos heritage trails
Protection of the heritage trails & cultural heritage of Skiathos
Support in trail maintenance
Training in the preventive maintenance of monuments
Highlighting the heritage trails & cultural heritage of Skiathos
Upgrading the Skiathos trails and routes website
Events highlighting the heritage trails of Skiathos
Project management and communication
Press releases
- Press release 1
- Press release 2
- Press release 3
- Press release 4/Informative newsletter
- Press release 4/Informative newsletter (English)
Visits and meetings with the Skiathos community
The ultimate goal of all the above is the adoption of a pro-environmental tourism model for Skiathos based on the connection of the island’s cultural and natural wealth. The project was implemented from October 2023 to October 2024.
The “Heritage Trails of Skiathos” project is part of the “Natural environment & innovative actions 2023” funding program and in particular the priority axis “Development and implementation of policies or actions for the protection and upgrading of the cultural environment with an environmental focus”. The budget of €50,000 is financed by the Green Fund, with Paths of Greece as beneficiary, non-profit organization Diadrasis as partner and with the participation of the Municipality of Skiathos.
“The project is based on the Guide prepared by the National Confederation of Persons with Disabilities (E.S.A.meA.) within the framework of the Action “Reinforcing protected areas capacity through an innovative methodology for sustainability” (“BIO2CARE”), which joined the “INTERREG V-A GREECE-BULGARIA 2014-2020″ Cross-Border Cooperation Program and was co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund and by national resources of Greece and Bulgaria”.
