Photos

I took this picture in the middle part of Samaria Gorge. The hike along Samaria Gorge gives us the chance to admire the greatness of the nature...


The description from http://www.west-crete.com/samaria-gorge.htm:

The gorge of Samaria is not 18 km long (this refers to the distance between the settlement of Omalos and the village of Agia Roumeli) but is 16 km long, starting at an altitude of 1250m and taking you all the way down to the shores of the Libyan sea in Agia Roumeli. The walk through the National Park of Samaria is 13 km (but you will have to walk the extra 3 km to Agia Roumeli from theexit of the National Park).

The very narrow passage near the end of the gorge is often called the "Iron Gates". None of the former inhabitants of Samaria know why the place suddenly got this name. They were always known as "Portes" which means "doors" or "gates", but certainly no "Iron" anywhere!

Samaria is said to be the longest gorge in Europe. Well I am not sure about this. As far as I know the "gorges du Verdon" in South France are a little over 20 km in length. Similarly, the gorge of Tripiti which runs west of the gorge of Samaria is about as long, but almost nobody knows it.

The gorge of Samaria is situated in the National park of Samaria, in the White Mountains in West Crete.
The park is supervised by the Department of Forestry and the gorge is generally open only from the beginning of May to the end of October. In winter, high water makes the gorge dangerous and impassable. It will also be closed on rainy days (too dangerous because of rock falls)