The Sarakina Gorge (also ''Myrtos Canyon'', after the nearby coastal village of

Myrtos Myrtos is a coastal village in the west of the municipality of Ierapetra, in the Regional Unit (previously called prefecture) of Lasithi on the Greek island of Crete. It is located from Agios Nikolaos and from Ierapetra, on the road to ...

) is a canyon in the southeastern part of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cypru ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

. It is located about 15 km west of

Ierapetra Ierapetra ( el, Ιεράπετρα, lit=sacred stone; ancient name: ) is a Greek town and municipality located on the southeast coast of Crete. History The town of Ierapetra (in the local dialect: Γεράπετρο ''Gerapetro'') is located on ...

and a few kilometres upcountry of Myrtos, near the small village of Mithi.

Facts

Its length is about 1.5 km and the width between 3 and 10 meters, only at a few point it reaches more. The height of the walls peaks at approximately 150 m. The river of Kriopotamos flows through the

gorge A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to c ...

, which carries water at varying levels during the year, due to moist winters and arid summers.

Access and transition

The canyon can be accessed from the lower end as well as from the upper end. The lower end of the canyon is somewhat easier to locate, while the canyon's transit from the upper end is easier to manage – the entrance into the canyon is hard to find in both cases, because it was not made touristy accessible yet. The level of difficulty of a transition is medium, although one single transit takes only about hours, as you have to walk in the river at some parts and a few stone steps have to be scrambled. Otherwise belaying with a climbing equipment is not necessary.

External links

Private Website of Dutch Hans Huisman about Crete, with Photos

{{coord, 35, 03, 09, N, 25, 34, 18, E, region:GR_type:landmark_source:kolossus-ruwiki, display=title Landforms of Lasithi Gorges of Crete

Facts

Access and transition

See also

External links