The Sitia or Siteia Mountains, also known as the Sitiaka Range, are a group of four

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

s extending SW-NE in

Lasithi Lasithi () is the easternmost regional unit on the island of Crete, to the east of Heraklion. Its capital is Agios Nikolaos, the other major towns being Ierapetra and Sitia. The mountains include the Dikti in the west and the Thrypti in the ...

in eastern

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. Stretching from the southern coast to the plain of the city of Sitia on the northern coast, they tend to isolate east Crete from the rest of Crete, creating a refugium for the rare plant and animal species and a refuge for the ancient people practising the Minoan culture. In this ancient refuge are now to be found the ruins of Minoan sites at

Mochlos Mochlos () is a small, uninhabited island in the Gulf of Mirabello in eastern Crete, and the archaeological site of an ancient Minoan settlement. There is evidence that Mochlos was not an island in Minoan times, but was attached to the mainland ...

, Kato Zakro,

Palaikastro Palaikastro or Palekastro (, officially ), with the Godart and Olivier abbreviation PK, is a thriving town, geographic heir to a long line of settlements extending back into prehistoric times, at the east end of the Mediterranean island Crete. T ...

, and

Kavousi Kavousi is a historic village in the municipality of Ierapetra in the regional unit of Lasithi in eastern Crete. "Kavousi" in the Cretan dialect means "water source" (Greek: Πηγή). The village is situated 19 km (11.8 mi) northeast of ...

. These are four of the major sites of East Crete, but the number of sites recorded or excavated is in the hundreds. Endemic species, many rare or endangered, are to be found in the gorges that cut from upland to ocean or valley on all sides.

Geography

The four ranges are configured in two rows, termed the West Sitia Mountains and the East Sitia Mountains. The west side is divided from the east side by the Rema Pentelis ("Pentelis river"), a stream with its valley that flows S-N across most of Crete at that point, entering the Bay of Sitia just east of Sitia. The town of Sitia (or Siteia) is situated in some flat land, the Plain of Sitia, forming a port in the Bay of Sitia. The port is a road center and major access point to East Crete. It is the site of the major services to the area: the seaport, the airport, the hospital, educational services, and so on. The villages scattered throughout the mountains and along the coast are becoming more and more summer residences catering to tourism. Some, such as Voila and Etia, have been completely abandoned, and give the appearance of an ancient ruined village. The West Sitia Mountains comprise three ranges abutting each other south to north. The differences are entirely geomorphological or geopolitical and are conventional. The

Thrypti Thrypti () is a mountain range in Lasithi in eastern Crete, Greece. It trends to the northeast from Ierapetra in the southwest in the direction of Sitia. However, it only goes half-way in that direction. The rest of the distance is completed by t ...

Mountains are located in the southwest. They trend to the northeast from

Ierapetra Ierapetra (; ancient name: ) is a Greece, Greek city and municipality located on the southeast coast of Crete. History The town of Ierapetra (in the local dialect: Γεράπετρο ''Gerapetro'') is located on the southeast coast of Crete, sit ...

in the direction of

Sitia Sitia (Latin language, Latin and Italian language, Italian) or Siteia (, ) is a port town and a municipality in Lasithi, Crete, Greece. The town has 11,166 inhabitants and the municipality has 20,438 (2021). It lies east of Agios Nikolaos, Cre ...

. However, they only go half-way in that direction. The rest of the distance is completed by the distinct Ornon mountains, separated from the Thrypti by the Bebonas river valley, and the

Western Siteia Foothills The Western Siteia Foothills are a range of foothills in Lasithi in eastern Crete, Greece. They are transitional in altitude between the Ornon Mountains, which trends from west to east starting at Kavousi in Ierapetra and ending at Praesos in ...

, of lower elevation, covering the space between the Ornon range and Siteia itself. The East Sitia Mountains consist only of the Zakros mountains, also trending SW-NE.

Parkland

The 2015 creation of Sitia UNESCO Global Geopark placed much of the Sitia range in the park. It is the major range there, but not the only one. The coastal hill range (east coast) also is in it, so the park comprises all of Crete east of the Mochlos-Livari line. The line trends NW-SE, so that much of Thrypti is actually omitted from the park.

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{{commons category-inline Mountains of Crete Mountain ranges of Greece Landforms of Lasithi

Geography

Parkland

See also

Notes

Citations

External links