The river Kereas with the wooden suspension bridges

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The river Kireas offers one of the most beautiful road routes in Evia in an area choked with plane trees and some picturesque wooden suspension bridges hanging over its clear waters.

The Kireas is located in the northern part of Evia (in its central part) while the route we mention above is in the valley of Prokopi, in the part where, according to a study by the National Technical University of Athens “Mount Kandil, Prokopi Valley, River Kireas“, there is a continuous flow of water between Mandoudi and Prokopi , while before Prokopi the flow is intermittent.

wooden suspension bridge, river Kireas-north Evia

Photos from the river Kerea
Map of the area

River Kereas: Access and distances

To get to the river Kireas you have to leave Chalkida, pass through Nea Artaki in the direction of Pascha Evia. You pass outside of Psahna and continue north. A few kilometres later the route becomes uphill with several bends until you reach the highest altitude, about 610 metres at the village of Agios.

Then the descent begins and from Neos Pagontas and after that the landscape becomes green and the road becomes smoother. The distance from Neo Pagontas to Prokopi is 13 km. In total from Chalkida the route to Prokopi is 50 km and from Athens you have to travel about 125 km.

tavern on the river Kireas-north Evia

The wider area is now located in the new “Kallikratiko” Municipality of Mantoudiou – Lake – Agia Anna, (former Municipalities of Kireos, Elymnia and Nileos) while the river Kireas originates from the mountains Kandil and Fteritsa, Pyxaria and Mavrovouni and runs through part of northern Evia before joining the Nileas River just before both rivers flow as one into the Aegean Sea at the beach of Krya Vrysi.

The river Kereas

It is worth stopping at one of the wooden suspension bridges of Kireas and crossing from one bank to the other. In one of them there is a café-tavern where you can rest under the shade of the plane trees while listening to the sound of the running waters of the river. When I had passed by there it was midday and I preferred to order lunch. The general feeling and aura of the place left me with the impression that I had the best omelette with potatoes!

the river Kereas and its plane trees in northern Evia

Geroplatanos Evia

Shortly before or shortly after Prokopi there is the famous Megalo Platanos of Evia or otherwise known as Geroplatanos. Some say it is at least 2,000 years old and is certainly one of the largest trees in Europe. The diameter of its trunk and some of its branches will really impress you! It is located at Paraskevorama and it would be advisable to ask in Prokopi for the exact location. Unfortunately, this tree is not classified as a natural monument and as a result it is not protected and has suffered some damage from fire and other human interventions.

UPDATE: According to the comment of Mrs. Konstantinos Maria, which you can read below, the big Platanos no longer exists, while the Vlachia plane forest is being destroyed by the unconsciousness of some campers. The comment was made in 2012 and we hope the situation has improved since then. If you know anything about it you can mention it at the bottom of the article in the comments section.

Wooden bridge on the river Kireas, north Evia

Perhaps the best time to visit the area is in May when all the plane trees will have put out their new leaves, greening the landscape and releasing their unique smell into the air. If you go in summer quite close there are two beautiful Aegean beaches, the one at Pyli and especially Vlachia with dark coarse sand and a small plane tree just behind.

Finally, in Prokopi there is the famous church of Aghiannis the Russian, where the holy relic is housed, so that a large number of believers flock to worship.