When speaking about the natural beauty that surrounds Crete, one of the first sites to be mentioned is the Gorge of Samaria.

Most tourists that come to Crete have this site on their "must-see" list, but it's amazing to discover that so many local residents have never walked the gorge, or have even viewed it – and it's right here, literally, in our own back yard.


The locals from Sfakia, a small village near the gorge, say: “This is a GORGE . . . the others are just gorges."
The18-kilometre imposing site dominates the landscape south of Hania all the way to the Libyan Sea, and its entrance is found in the locality of Xyloskalo, which is also the highest point of the picturesque Omalos Plateau. There, begins an enchanting journey, that is an equally fascinating experience for Greeks and foreigners alike.

The alternation of the landscapes and the revelations of nature create strong emotions in the visitors, with the appearance of enormous trees, crystal clear water springs, immense rocks and boulders and very tall mountains. The fable says that a Cretan Titan knifed Earth in the gut creating this gorge and any gorge walker can easily see why.

It has been calculated that 450 types of Cretan flora exist in the gorge, from which 70 grow exclusively here, and, according to the law, it is prohibited to remove any vegetation from the gorge, thus protecting its sensitive ecosystem.

In addition, there are wooded regions with huge cypresses and pines, a picture from a long-ago Crete, when the island was covered by forests famed for their good quality of timber, ideal for building strong ships. There also are wild Cretan goats, called Kri-Kri, which are considered as the most important species of Cretan fauna, but which is unfortunately threatened with extinction. Near the entrance to the gorge, a small picturesque church of Saint Nikolaos can be found, surrounded by trees and cool water springs.

 Going back to antiquity, it is believed that in place of the church there was a holy temple to the God Apollo, and a small distance further was the ancient city of Kaino, where the beautiful Vritomartis (the Cretan goddess Artemis) who loved wild beasts was born.

In the middle of the journey through the gorge, we come across the old settlement Samaria with houses of traditional Cretan architecture, which were abandoned a few years after the gorge was categorized as a National Forest (1962). There, the 14th century Byzantine church of Osia Maria the Egyptian dominates imposingly, and it's also from where the name Samaria originates, which is nothing else but a deterioration of the Osia Maria pronunciation. Surprisingly, in this deserted old settlement there is a telephone, a pharmacy, a police station and a heliport in case of an emergency. The old houses are still standing and are used by the forest rangers.
 
Throughout the walk, there are many narrow passages, which are called doors. The narrowest one, known as Irondoors, has a width of three metres, and the vertical height of the two sides reaches up to 700 metres.

 These are wild and threatening landscapes, producing clearly Cretan pictures.

The journey ends at a dry river bed and then the gorge "opens" and reveals another deserted village, Aghia Roumeli. There, the exit of the gorge leads towards the bluer than blue waters of the Libyan sea.
 
While all Cretan gorges have their own individual beauty and history, the Samarian always offered a breath of freedom during the Venetian and Ottoman dominations, and during the German occupation.
 
This worth-seeing and negotiable gorge is one that all Cretans should experience. And, when they do, it is understandable that their chests swell with pride at having such a magnificent site in our own backyard.