A deep ravine, having in some places even vertical screens, rips the banks of the rivers and the high mountains on the western side of Crete Island, in Greece. On more than 18 kilometers, the Samaria Gorge meanders through the White Mountains (Lefka Ori), sometimes higher or sometimes wider and their mountainsides glow in the summer sun and in the winter snow.

Cypress trees, fig trees and oleanders grow in the wall’s crevasses, all over the gorge. Samaria is the result of the Tarraios river erosion, that in the winter seems the most violent torrent on the island, but in summer becomes such a composed and silent stream.

On the northern side of the gorge, at almost 1,200 meters above the sea level, an abrupt wooden stairway gets down, into the ravine, on the river shore. Going down through the pine trees, at approximately 8 kilometers deep into the gorge, one can find the Samaria village, abandoned by its inhabitants in 1962, when the gorge was included into a National Park. It is said that the byzantine church, Osia Maria is the one that named the gorge.

Each spot of the ravine offers new and amazing sights. Beyond the village, the gorge becomes thinner and the banks get higher and seem to merge one into each other. From this deep and narrow natural lane, the sky seems just a blue strip and the sunshine gets here only for a few hours a day.

The gorge is opened for tourists just from May to October, when the river calms down. The shortest path through the gorge takes a minimum of five hours and it’s only recommended to the skilled trekkers. The easiest way to get to the Samaria Gorge is by taking hourly buses from the city of Chania.

Image credit: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

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