About Salt Road
A few words about the "Salt Road"
“But I will not tell you the story at length, no matter how warm my enthusiasm is, because, you labor in vain if you try to portray with words faithfully or even closely natural beauties. He who loves them, let him labor to see them”
Welcome to the natural path that connects Kallithea, Aitoloakarnania, with Prousos.
Follow the “Salt Road” for a unique tour through nature, discovering landscapes of unparalleled beauty and historical significance. As you explore the trail, you will be able to scan QR codes and listen to human-interest stories connected to the trail, enchanting soundscapes and get lost in digital virtual impressions.
The “Salt Road” emerges in the mountains of Mount Panetolikos as a revived path of historical, commercial and religious importance for the region, since in the past it was the main artery for the movement of people and products from Aitoloakarnania to Evrytania.
The salt was loaded by the transporters onto pack animals and taken up the uphill road towards Prousos and Karpenisi.
The trail fell into disuse with the opening of the road in the 1960s, with the wild forested landscape erasing most of its traces.
As Pallis mentions in his hiking story regarding the path:
“But I will not tell you the story at length, however warm my enthusiasm is, because, you labor in vain if you strive with words to faithfully or even closely depict natural beauties. He who loves them, let him labor to see them.”
Nowadays, the route is mainly used by pilgrims during the August 15th period.
About The Project
Communitity Mapping
The participatory mapping method is based on the active participation of the local community during the exploratory process of mapping an area.
The project “Community Youth mapping: A digital tool to enhance cultural awareness through participatory design”, which was funded by the EU under Erasmus+/Youth, is an initiative of the Yamochori team with the main aim of creating, through participatory design, a Cultural Route on a digital interactive map, which aims to thematically and temporally unify points so as to create an attractive story for the visitor, connecting the environment with the “living” memory of the route.
​We aim to:
revive the trail that regenerates the collective memory of the community and brings hikers into contact with the narrative behind the trail
highlight cultural heritage & environmental wealth
empower and include the local community
enhance soft forms of tourism and by extension sustainable tourism development
protect, preserve and highlight the cultural and natural heritage of the region through the upgrading of its hiking network and the active participation of residents
Opening a trail
With minimalist intervention in nature, respect for traditional techniques and with attention to the selection of materials used, we tried to ensure the safe passage of hikers and the protection of the trail from erosion.
​
Participatory mapping
The participatory mapping method is based on the active participation of the local community during the exploratory process of mapping an area.
The participatory mapping of the path under study took place at the Primary School of Kallithea Aitoloakarnania, in which people from the Municipal Authority of the Municipality of Thermo and Agrinio, the local community, members of cultural associations in the area and in collaboration with specialized people from our partner organization, Boulouki, as well as with experts on the path and its history, its participatory mapping was born, enriched with points of interest, historical data, stories of human interest and personal testimonies.