Spartila
Episkepsi
The large plateau of Mount Pantokratoras (ancient Histoni) is located at a height of 700m. To the north stands out the peak of the same name (914m.) with the monastery and the antennas. The monastery was built in 1347 by the inhabitants of 23 surrounding villages but was completely destroyed probably in 1537. The current church was built at the end of the 17th century. and the facade in the 19th century. Here, on the 6th of August, the festival of Pantokrator, the largest of the island, takes place. The inhabitants of the surrounding villages climb the paths at night with candles and torches.
The soil is stony, but between the small hills it forms, a little soil has been retained, creating green "ponds" the so-called pits. The fields were fertile and corn and wheat used to grow there, but today only goats graze. Signs of the old exploitation are the threshing floors, the dry stones that defined the properties, the stone cisterns and the lonely buildings where the farmers once lived during the harvest season. The Bothin area is a walker's paradise: he can go wherever he wants and from whichever road he wants, because there is no vegetation or rocky outcrops to block his way. And it can also collect saffron (saffron or saffron), this excellent flower used in cooking. Going up the mountain you will come across many villages whose inhabitants live exclusively from livestock and olives. There are also many abandoned villages whose inhabitants, after the danger of pirates ceased, went down to the lowlands and more fertile places.
