Rouvas Forest and
zaros lake
Hiking
- The Minoan Peak Sanctuary of Giouhtas (The mountain was very important for the Minoans since it was the first mountain they saw while their ships approached the shores of Crete. Here they built two Minoan shrines, the one at the highest point of the mountain (Psili Korfi) and the second at the position Anemospilia.)
- The historic church of Lord Christ with the peculiar architecture, unique in Crete.
- Stunning views to the eastern plains of Heraklion and the mountain range of Dikti.
- The colourful village of Archanes.
- Summer harvesting of grapes during the celebration of the Archanes Farmer Festival and many more cultural activities. (contact us for more info)
With 200 heritage-listed buildings, Archanes is a treasure trove of elegant neoclassical architecture. With historic routes to the ancient Minoan years, this village was a stability pole during the Ottoman and German occupation. The rich and brutal past of this land is routed deep. Walk through its narrow paths and discover the secrets that the trails around it hold.
The gorge of Rouvas is bounded by the peaks of Ambelakia from east and Samari from west. This is the most important gorge of Psiloritis and central Crete. This is an ecosystem with rich flora and fauna, smaller canyons and interesting geological formations and cliffs of rare beauty. It has a total length of 4 km being well-shaped by the Forest Service for soft activities such as hiking, mountaineering, rock climbing, naturalism and observation of wildlife in a truly unique environment. The trees of the area are very old, the diameter of their trunk in some cases exceeds 1 meter and their height can reach 15 meters. They grow in very dense formations, thus they constitute a unique forest bio society, with many species of shrubs to complement the vegetation. Along with holly trees, there are some other species which are typical of the Cretan flora such as aria, zelkova, cypress, pine, plane, pear trees, etc. The forest area covers about 30,000 acres. The rarity of the forest of Rouvas is related to the fact that holy trees escaped from the bushy typical shape and size and acquired characteristics and sizes different from those used in Greece.
Note: All our tours are private and can be modified according to your interests.
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