Arcadia. The name conjures images of goat-hoofed god Pan playing ditties on a reed flute to shepherds and nymphs in a bucolic wilderness. So it’s a surprise to discover that Arcadia is a real place, located in Greece’s Peloponnese. On previous visits, I’d been too busy rushing to the ancient sites around its fringes, such as Olympia and Mycenae, to explore its rugged mountainous heart. Now, with the chance to experience this Paradise Lost, I couldn’t refuse.
I’m in Langadia, preparing to trek through Arcadia’s Menalon massif. The stonemasons who built this village were renowned as the region’s best – they had to be to tame these impossibly steep hillsides. Just living here keeps you fit. And even in death you can’t escape the climbing – the cemetery straddles four tiers.
