I battled my way along the path until I arrived at the stream. Clearly this was the end of the trail.

You can see where the path ended from this drone shot. So that was that. I had enjoyed my walk along the nature trail, and thought that it was a shame it was a bit neglected. I returned up the trail to my car and started to head for home. I was curious where the gorge might end up though, so I took a right turn off the main Kathikas road. This brought me to the cave church I wrote about a couple of months ago. Indeed, it was writing that article that first alerted me to the gorge. So it was nice to have a bit of closure to my adventure.

However, as I was passing the church, I noticed a familiar looking sign to the right, which I had missed on my first visit...

The text referred only to the church itself.

It concerns a contemporary country church, dedicated to Virgin Mary (Panagia). It is believed that Virgin Mary heals eye problems and the local people scrape the sooty catacomb walls and smudge their eyelids to cure the disease. Next to the church as well as at other places in the vicinity there are ancient catacombs with frescoes. Alsom during the Middle Ages there was a settlement in the area with the name Thermokrini, which is often mentioned in old texts and maps. The settlement was destroyed by the end of the Ottoman period, however scatted foundations and ruins can be seen. Several legends and stories are connected with the settlement such as the story of "Christinou tis Themokrinis", a girl who preferred to suicide rather than to be disgraced by the Ottomans. A traditional song is still passing from generation to generation, descibing the story of Christinou.

As well as the information on the church, the sign also had a rather familiar map. I originally assumed it was for another trail, but it was only when I checked my photos later that I realised that it was the same map as the Pano Akourdaleia Nature Trail. But that could only mean that it actually finished here, by the church. So the stream I found was not the end.

Incidentally, I googled "Christinou tis Themokrinis" and got only one result. It was part of a geocache description:

This area was an important medieval settlement, known as Thermokrini. It disappeared at the end of ottoman occupation. The church is dedicated to a beautiful young girl from Thermokrini village, Christinou tis Themokrinis. The priests daughter she was desired by the ottomans for her beauty, and they wished to give her to there sultan. Rather than dishonour her family and village she killed herself. A traditional song is still sung locally about Christinou.

Anyway, I decided to have a quick look to see if I could pick up the nature trail from this end. If you go to the car park next to the church you will see a trail heading down the valley.