Cities

The small gorge called Havgas starts near the Minoan settlement of Azorias and ends its course in Kavousi, being only 700m long. Crossing it through its stream requires technical (canyoning) equipment as there are six beautiful waterfalls, which the highest is 20 meters high and has water till late winter.

On the European hiking trail E4 connecting Alones to Agios Konstantinos, atop a hill near Moundros village, we meet the deserted settlement of Nissi. Its remaining collapsed houses depict that this place has an important past. Among the dilapidated houses, there survives the church of Saint George, while a few meters away there is the church of Panagia Nissiani.

The E4 part connecting Kamares to Zaros is mainly signed with red marks and most of it runs along dirt and paved roads. The route offers nice views to the south outskirts of Psiloritis Range and the historical importance of the villages we come through is high.

This part of the E4 trail connects the core of Rouvas Wood to the east outskirts of Psiloritis mount and gives its position to the next trail crossing the fertile valleys of Heraklion prefecture. It is quite tiring, as it ascends from altitude 950m to 1779m and then descends to 490m. The route offers a great experience of the oak wooded forest of Rouvas, the bare peaks of East Priloritis and, if you are lucky, a nice stay in the shelter of Prinos.

The present-day Church of Saint Paraskevi in Monis Kardiotissis St. was built in the early 20th century and consecrated on 13th June 1910.

This fortress was originally built by the Byzantines on the acropolis of ancient Cydonia, on a hill next to the present medieval City of Chania. This point is still the highest in the region, as you look at the right when walking to the Venetian harbor.

The Orthodox Church of Agios Mattheos (St. Matthew) of Sinai was built in 1508 on the ruins of an earlier Byzantine church. This was the main Christian temple after the conquest of Crete by the Turks, as the Turks converted the monastery of Agia Aikaterini of Sinai to a mosque.

The Early Christian Basilica of Olous (built around 4-5th century AD) is located at position Poros and was excavated in 1937 and 1960. This is a brilliant sample of religious architecture of its time and it is considered to have been the cathedral of the ancient town Olous, which is today submerged in the lagoon of Elounda.