Monumental Trees

Either due to their enormous size or following legends, some trees in Crete have been declared natural monuments. Among the most famous of them are the evergreen plane-tree of Ancient Gortys, under which Zeus and Europe mated and, thus, Minos was born.

Many of the monumental trees have been officially designated as monuments of nature by the Greek state. One of them is the oversized hawthorn of Ancient Zominthos. Some other trees have been associated with the struggles of the Cretans for liberation, such as the huge oak tree Mandalenis at Korfes, the plane tree of the Pente Parthenes at Ancient Lappa and the oak tree of Ismael at Mathia. Monumental ancient plane trees are met in Krassi, Vlatos and within the monasteries of Saint George Gorgolainis, Saint John at Gionas and Holy Fathers at Azogyres.

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Monumental Olive Trees

In Crete there are many ancient olive trees that have been declared monumental by the Association of Cretan Olive Municipalities. The oldest olive trees in the world are located at the location Azorias by Kavoussi and Ano Vouves by Chania. The crowns for the winners of the Women's and Men's marathon at the Olympic Games held in Athens in 2004 were cut from these trees. At Anissaraki near Kandanos we meet an entire park of monumental olive trees, but also in Palea Roumata, Asomati, Ancient Eleftherna, Genna, Lastros, Panassos, etc. Show Map

Sacred Trees

In the religion of the Minoans, the olive tree had a prominent role as it can regenerate continuously and almost never die. This could symbolize the perpetuation of life through death, like nature. Ancient Greeks used to post dedications on wild olive trees (and other species) to keep evil away. Although all these seem very distant, it is very impressive that even today there are customs that have their roots in the dendrolatric beliefs of antiquity.

Plane tree of Krassi

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In the village square of Krasi, near Malia, there are three plane trees, the trademarks of the village. The most important of them is the platan in the center of the square, which is considered to be the oldest and most majestic of the plane trees in Crete.

Plane tree of Gortys

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Crete hosts an extremely rare and endemic variety of plane trees (Platanus orientalis var. Cretica) with about 50 trees being reported throughout the island. The characteristic feature of this variety is that it is evergreen, unlike the common deciduous plane trees.

Vlatos plane tree

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In Vlatos village, district of Kissamos, we meet one of the many huge plane trees of Crete. This specific legendary plane tree has been declared a nature monument by the Greek State.

Pente Parthenes Plane tree

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This plane tree is located in the Roman cemetery of Ancient Lappa and below the chapel of Five Virgins. Below it there is a cool spring with five taps, symbolizing the Five Virgins that were killed here by the Turks. This plane tree has been declared as a natural monument.

Azogyres plane tree

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Below this plane tree, that has been declared as nature monument, the 99 Holy Fathers settled after arriving to Crete from Egypt, Cyprus and Turkey. This is located inside the monastery if the 99 Holy Fathers. They say that its branches form 99 crosses.

Hawthorn of Zominthos

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Zominthos was a small Minoan town at Psiloritis Mount with a sacred spring, which was located close to the Ideon Andron Cave and Anogia town. Besides the religious importance of the town for the ancient Minoans, today the archaeological site of Zominthos hosts a second attraction. This is a special tree that has been declared a protected monument of nature from the Greek Ministry of Culture.

Splantzia Plane Tree

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Gorgolaini Monumental Trees

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The monastery of Gorgolaini hosts two ancient trees that have been declared a nature monuments by the Greek state: a cypress and a plane tree. Both are located at the end of the garden, one next to the other.

Monuments

Monumental Trees

Monumental Olive Trees

Sacred Trees

Plane tree of Krassi

Plane tree of Gortys

Vlatos plane tree

Pente Parthenes Plane tree

Azogyres plane tree

Hawthorn of Zominthos

Splantzia Plane Tree

Gorgolaini Monumental Trees

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