The seaside Faneromeni Forest in Salamina is the most quiet and unpretentious place of natural beauty just half an hour away from Piraeus. Pine trees and transparent blue water, but also soil and rocks and sandy beaches full of shells and shells. A piece of green, pristine land irrigated with salt. An untouched pine forest, full of the scents of nature.
In its heart, a historic monastery, headquarters of chieftains of the 21st century, the Monastery of Panagia Faneromeni and in front of it, at the edge of a wide flowery tongue of land that is washed by the shallow waters, an all-white, also now historic, small two-story house, the house of Angelos and of Anna Sikelianou.
But let's pick up the thread from the beginning. Ferry from Perama to Palukia and then a short drive to the town of Salamis to the west. Coastal climb past the tavernas and pine-shaded cafes of Koulouri, for a taste of worldly carelessness, then turn right and line for Faneromeni Monastery, which is located on the north coast of the island's northwest peninsula.
Once the mainland road heading north exits Vasilikos Bay and Psili Ammos, there are, heading west, several openings next to the tarmac for parking. Because, from here on out, the history of the pine forest unfolds on foot.
A network of natural paths runs through the forest, the pre-war and post-war paradise of the Koulouriots, where families enjoyed walks and games and enjoyed themselves and camped out, where in the interwar period the Sicilian read poems to Palamas and his other friends, sitting in the scented shadows of niches.
The forest stretches over an almost uninterrupted chain of small and larger sandy creeks. Sometimes the ground is low and the access to the beaches is direct, and sometimes it requires searching for more hidden descent passages. Sometimes the waters ripple crystal clear over a sandy bottom and sometimes they lick gray and blue-gray slabs of rock.
At the winter tide line, a thick belt of all kinds of shells, clams, shiners, quinces, scallops, clams, sea urchins, bubbles, havara…