Markopoulo

Markopoulo crag (called by many “Merenta” referring to the nearby church) has become relatively popular in recent years. The crag was created as a training venue for those living at the southeastern part of Attica, motivated by the lack of other climbing crags in a short distance. The place has a friendly aura, and compact rock. There are several routes suitable for beginners, making the crag common destination for climbing schools. All but one routes (Shismi) are equipped with bolts. Most routes are vertical slabs/faces. The style of climbing does not vary significantly, its most prominent characteristic being small crimps. Bolting is dense with no significant runouts. A 60m rope is sufficient to climb all routes. The names of the routes are inspired by movie heroes, theatrical plays and operas, a “tradition” started by the first route setters and maintained to this day.

The crag of Markopoulo was discovered back in 2002 by a climber who later publicly forbid the use of his name “in any way related to the crag, the routes or the history of the place”. The first routes were progressively established till the end of 2005. Activity continued in the following years, with around 10 new lines being opened from 2005 till the time of writing by various setters. Many of the old anchors were replaced in 2010 by D. Titopoulos. Finally, in 2013 G. Petromianos with the assistance of S. Sotiriou, E. Tsape, P. Asteriou and G. Poulidis completed a crag maintenance initiative.