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The main road west of Loutra Yeras is surprisingly devoid of settlement, with little to stop for before Kalloni other than the traces of an ancient Aphrodite temple at Mesa (Meson), 1km north of the main road, and signposted just east of the Akhladheri turn-off. At the site (Tues-Sun 8am-2.30pm; free) just eleventh-century BC foundations and a few column stumps remain, plus the ruins of a fourteenth-century Genoese-built basilica wedged inside; it was once virtually on the sea but a nearby stream has silted things up in the intervening millennia. All told, it's not worth a special trip, but certainly make the short detour if passing by. With more time and your own transport, you can turn northeast towards Ayia Paraskevi village, midway between two more important monuments from diverse eras: the Paleo-Christian basilica of Halinadhou , and the large medieval bridge of Kremasti. KALLONI itself is an unembellished agricultural and market town more or less in the middle of the island, with various shops and services (including pharmacies, a post office and three banks with cash dispensers). Some 3km south lies SKALA KALLONIS , a somewhat unlikely package resort backing a long but coarse-sand beach on the lake-like gulf. It's mainly distinguished as a bird-watching centre, attracting hundreds of twitchers for the March-May nesting season in the adjacent salt marshes. Pick of a half-dozen hotels is the human-scale bungalow complex Malemi (tel 02530/22 594, fax 22 838, www.hit360.com/malemi ; ?59-72), with a variety of units from doubles to family suites, attractive grounds, tennis court and a large pool. Tavernas lining the quay with its fishing fleet are generally indistinguishable - though most offer the gulf's celebrated sardhelles pastes , or salt-cured sardines; the locals themselves tend to favour Mimi's , on the square just inland.
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