43 km from the city of Chania, this is the longest gorge in Europe. As we start down the Xyloskalo footpath we find ourselves in an entirely different landscape which impresses even the most well-seasoned travelers . Here we are at the beginning of the Samaria Gorge or Samaria National Park.
This is one of the longest and most imposing gorges in Europe and one of the main attractions for tourists in Western Crete.
Its beauty, grandeur and wildness are unique An Austrian traveler well accustomed to the mountain landscapes of his own country confessed that as soon as he saw the Samaria Gorge every memory of other mountain scapes faded before it Apart from the entrance via Xyloskalo on the south of the Omalos plateau there are two other entrances to the gorge from Omalos: via Poria from the east and via Linoseli from the west.
The path connecting Linoseli, Xyloskalo and Poria was one of the routes most frequently used by the resistance forces during the German occupation.
The Samaria gorge has an area of 12,125 acres and its width varies from 150 meters to a mere 3 meters (at the so-called "Gates").
The precipitous sides vary in height from 300 to 600 meters. A well kept footpath leads along the entire length of the gorge to the beaches of Agia Roumeli. Among the other fine but shorter gorges in the White Mountains are the gorges of Aradaina, Asfendos, Imbros, Iligas, Anopolis, Tripiti, Domata, Therisso and Agia Irini (in the province of Selino).
On account of its great environmental importance the Samaria gorge was proclaimed a National Park with defined boundaries in 1962. In 1964 all the land was expropriated by the state and at the same time the tiny village of Samaria which was situated in the middle of the gorge was finally abandoned.
The Greek state in 1971 awarded the gorge a National Nature Preservation Certificate. In 1980 the Council of Europe, as part of its effort to encourage the preservation of the most important and unique natural environments in Europe, presented the Greek government with a European Certificate (First Class) in recognition of the gorge as a securely protected nature reserve of the highest importance.
This certificate, which is renewable every five years (it was renewed in 1984), gives the Council of Europe's guarantee that the environment is being well protected and is unspoilt . Recently the Greek government has made application to UNESCO to have the gorge proclaimed a World Heritage
Monument and a decision is expected shortly. From Xyloskalo the incredible magnificence of the Samaria gorge begins to unfold before the visitor's eyes. From here the gorge cuts through the heart of the White Mountains to the sparkling I clean beaches of the clear blue Libyan Sea.
To the east of the gorge there lies another gorge, the Eligia gorge, and to the west the two even wilder gorges of , Domata and Tripiti. The path through , the gorge runs between Mount Gingilos or Sapimenos (2,005 m.) to the west and the mountains Pahnes (2,453.65m) and Zaranokefala (2,140 m.) to the east Before completing the course the intrepid explorer here will have had his feet in water some 20 times at least.
As we descend the steps of the Xyloskalo pathway, steps which are often ra simply the roots of the trees, the dark gray bulk of Mount Gingilos rises above us and the chasm of the gorge opens up below To the right on the Linoseli slopes there is the largest area of rubble-stone slack in Crete"
This is a great mass of ash-colored small stones which at the slightest movement rattle noisily down the hillside. At the edge of the rubble-stone area lies the Linoseli spring at a height of 1.450 meters.
The chill water that flows from this spring is said to have properties that promote digestion and certainly it is preferred by the wild goats of the area. According to the French scholar Florence this was the site of an ancient settlement that disappeared after the earthquake of 360 A.D.
Mount Gingilos is also the site of the Demon's Cave (Daimonospilios) which is held to be the seat of an oracle and a grotto of the nymphs.
Tradition tells that the music and dancing of the nymphs can be heard here and that it was from this cave that Drakos, the legendary hero of Lakki, escaped a her having been captured by the nymphs As we approach the bottom of the gorge some 3 kilometers from the entrance at Xyloskalo we hear ever more intensely the howling of the wind and the roaring of the water that rushes down from Linoseli and the other neighboring springs.
As we proceed through the gorge we are overcome by a sense of the might and magnificence of nature which dwarfs man into insignificance.
We are confronted on all sides by a mass of green vegetation and unparalleled geological formations which no painter however skilful could ever capture perfectly Here indeed we are in the "Paradise of Crete". To our right we see a small river which flows quietly along the gorge.
The river disappears close to the village of Samaria and reappears at a place known as Kefalovrisia ("Springhead"). In the winter this river becomes a noisy, raging torrent which sweeps everything before it. Soon we arrive at a point known as Neroutsiko ("Little Water") with its gurgling spring.
On one occasion during the previous century the Turks managed to reach as far as this point in an attempt to abuse and kill the women and children who had sought refuge in the gorge, but here the defenders Do finally forced the Turks to turn back. No occupying forces ever managed to subdue the Samaria gorge.
It was always the bastion of the freedom so bravely defended by the local men of Sfakia. At a distance of 4.5 kilometers from Xyloskalo we reach the little church of St. Nicolas set amid towering cypress trees This church is said to have been built on the ruins of an ancient temple of Apollo The deep shade of the trees and the cool water running by make this a perfect place to rest.
The English scholar Pashley who traveled in Crete at the beginning of the 19th century argued I that this was the site of the ancient city of Kaino where the Cretan goddess Artemis or Britomartis was born. Many of the cypress trees around the church I have trunks 6.5 meters in circumference These are indigenous trees belonging to the unique species known as I the Mountain Cypress or, as Theophrastus the ancient peripatetic philosopher described them, the "cypress that sprouts when clipped", since if their tops are lopped off they do not wither and die like other cypresses but send out new shoots
These trees are regarded as sacred and are not cut down. In antiquity cypress wood was apparently exported from here to Egypt for the construction of coffins.
This wood was also used to construct columns for the Minoan Palaces of Knossos and Phaistos as well as for the mainland Mycenaean Palaces of Tyrinth and Mycenae.
Samaria gorge Maps
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