Samaria Gorge Crete

By now you will have understood Crete is an island with a thousand faces and offers its visitors many opportunities as an alternative to the classic days on the beach.

Today we want to bring you the National Park of Crete and UNESCO protected Biosphere Reserve to the Samaria Gorge. They are located in the prefecture of Chania in the southern part about 1200 meters above sea level and start from the plateau of Mount Omalos 1250 meters through the Lefka Ori mountain range (the white mountains) to Agia Roumeli beach.

A stupendous gorge considered one of the most beautiful in Europe 16 kilometers long, with over 50 peaks, some of which even reach more than 2000 meters above sea level (the highest is Mount Achenes with a spectacular one overlooking the Libyan Sea ), passing from a luxuriant forest to the gorge with imposing rock walls where the absence of man has meant that a varied vegetable ecosystem was preserved with about 450 different species of which 70 are endemic and which can only be found here animals such as the Agrimi goat and the Cretan wild cat.

A succession of Mediterranean scrub made of pines, hollies, cypresses, with 22 sources of drinking water, churches and villages now abandoned, passing through inlets up to 150 meters wide and then shrinking up to 3 meters like the famous "Iron Gates" with walls that shoot steeply towards the sky.

Its particular position, hidden and inaccessible, made Samaria a safe place to take refuge from the various oppressors. It has very ancient origins as evidenced by the remains of the settlements in the vicinity of Agios Nikolaos where a sanctuary dedicated to the God Apollo came to light.

Homer already spoke of Samaria and specifically of Tarra the modern Agia Roumeli, considered one of the 100 Cretan cities to have its own currency and a fervent timber trade with Knossos, Mycenae, Troy up to Egypt.

During the Venetian domination, a diatribe between the Skordilias family of Chora Sfakion, tells that the commander of the Serenessima fell in love with their daughter Chryssomaloussa who certainly did not reciprocate his affections and to punish her he cut the strands of hair with his sword, thus forcing 'the whole family to seek refuge in the gorges of Samaria where the Venetians were unable to enter, losing the mad battle created. The girl became a nun as a sign of gratitude for her narrow escape and in 1379 a church was erected in her honor.

Other clashes took place in the Samaria gorges as in 1770 when the revolt against the Turks led by Daskalogiannis of Anopoli rescued 4000 people between women and children. In 1986, when the whole of Greece was besieged by the Ottoman Empire, only Samaria was able to resist and not give in to the invaders.

During the Second World War, the gorges were the escape route for all retreating Allied armies.

The main activity is certainly trekking, but lovers of botany and zoology will also have fun. The journey starts from Xyloskalo on Mount Omalos and among wonderful scenery you will cross wooden bridges and several passages between the rocky heights, encounters with wild Kri Kri goats a rare and ancient native species, fragrant forests, the discovery of aromatic herbs that you did not have the slightest idea of existence, up to the village on the coast of Agia Roumeli, among other things, reachable only by boat or on foot where, you can cool off with a nice swim in the Libyan Sea and savor old flavors of the Cretan culinary tradition in the typical taverns.

During your walk, you will come across points of interest such as the church of Agios Nikolaos in the lower part of the itinerary completely in stone and erected above the ruins of an ancient temple in honor of Apollo, and again the village of Samaria, in the middle of the gorge, inhabited until 1962 when the park was established. In the village the old houses of the inhabitants have been restored and today they serve as a medical center and guard points of the Forestry. In the past the village of Samaria as a means of livelihood mainly dealt with carpentry and beekeeping. The old oil mill, which is now an information desk, is curious and particular. Along the way there are also the ruins of Venetian castles and settlements from the prehistoric period. In the narrowest point of Samaria at the Iron Gates the final part of the route the rock walls reach up to 500 meters in height.

The park is open to the public from May to October and the price is € 5 per person. We recommend that you always keep your ticket with you because during the walk and at the turnstiles you will have to show the ticket to the forest guards to allow the staff to monitor the people inside and avoid locking someone inside at night.

Definitely suitable clothing for a walk according to the period you choose, ranging from long trousers and a waterproof jacket if in the off-season, to shorts and maybe a light sweatshirt (for shady areas) if during the summer.

Comfortable shoes, for trekking or gymnastics.

Costume and towel for the canonical bath in Agia Roumeli

Hat, sunglasses and sunscreen.

To drink and eat if you get peckish on the way.

First of all let's say that the adventure must start early in the morning as the complete walk lasts from 6 to 8 hours. There are three alternatives, either independently with your car, or through public buses and finally with an organized tour.

With own car. Let's start by saying that with your own car it really becomes a business because you will have to leave the car at Mount Omalos, make the path and then always walk back to the parking lot practically impossible given the travel time of the whole journey unless you decide to do it only partially.

By bus. From Chania with an hour, an hour and a half of travel (depending on where you want to arrive) you can directly reach Mount Omalos, Sougia or Chora Sfakion. Once the route is complete, you have to take a ferry from Agia Roumeli, the last stage of the excursion, to get to Sougia or Chora Sfakion. Here, too, travel times from 40 minutes to Sougia and 1 hour to Chora Sfakion. We recommend that you always consult all the timetables in order to be able to better organize both the outward and return journeys.

For the bus visit the website

https://www.e-ktel.com/en/

For the ferry see the website

https://anendyk.gr/

Organized excursion It will not be difficult to find the agencies that offer the excursion to the Samaria Gorges, throughout the territory they are proposed. With the organized tour it is certain that you will not have to worry about driving, looking for bus timetables and everything related to a trip out of town. Consult this site to get some more idea of what is offered and the prices and then the decision is up to you

https://excursionsingreece.paleologos.gr/

In conclusion we can only advise you to do this experience, it will be a further enrichment of your knowledge on the beautiful island of Crete and an opportunity to visit extraordinary places.