From an altitude of 1200 meters, on the White Mountain highlands, 43 kilometers southwest of Chania, the Agia Eirini gorge plunges southward into the blue waters of the Libyan Sea.
The stream that has been eroding the calcareous and phyllitic mountain rock for many million years, is still following its course at the bottom of the gorge.
Southwestern Crete enjoys temperate weather, with a long dry and hot season and sudden rainstorms in the fall and spring.
The gorge's varied vegetation is typical of the Eastern Mediterranean flora, dominated by Calabrian pine (pinus brutia), Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens var, horizontalis) and Oriental plane (platanus orientalis), found mostly in close proximity to the stream bed, and Cretan maple (Acer creticum), common in the eastern parts of the gorge. A great and colorful variety of shrubs and smaller plants, adoms the gorge. The slopes are covered with Cretan dittany (Origanum dictamnus), renowned as an excellent herbal remedy.
Many animal species find refuge in the wild and inaccessible environment of the gorge. Rare and endangered birds such as Lammergeyer (Gyp8etus bsrb8tuS) and Golden eagle (Aquil8 chrys8etoS) hover overhead, and the maquis is teeming with other less rare species.
Mammals include the unique wild goat subspecies (Capra aegagrus cretica). Many other animal and plant species are endemic to the island.
The Agia Eirini area, inhabited by man since remote antiquity, also includes several cultural treasures: Ancient cities such as Elyros, Suia, Lissos, Poikilassos and Hyrtakina, temples of Pan and Aesculapius, funeral sites, cyclopean walls, churches, and also the signs of many fights for national freedom and the everyday struggle for a better life.
Agia Eirini holds historical testimony to the prehistoric period, classical Greece, the roman and Byzantine periods, liberation and the struggles of world war two.
The Agia Eirini gorge is a breathtaking sanctuary for all that life past and present, geological formations, plants, animals and memories of man's momentous passage for many millenia. It is now up to all of us .local inhabitants and visitors- to defend all that beauty.
Agia Eirini gorge on the Map
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