Vrisses is a small picturesque town with less than 1000 inhabitants relatively close to Chania city and constitutes the administrative seat of the municipality of Apokoronas. The residents of Vrysses mainly deal with tourism and cultivation of citrus fruits and olives.
Although a relatively modern settlement, the area has been inhabited since the Minoan era. Nearby were the towns of Amphimalion and Philippos, while on the Boutakas River lies the ancient bridge known as the Greek Arch (Elliniki Kamara), one of the oldest surviving bridges in Greece. In history the settlement was a center of revolutionary action, a battlefield against the Ottomans in 1866-69, the seat of the Transitional Committee against the Ottomans in 1895 and was leveled by German bombings in 1941.
Vrysses today is known for the rivers Boutakas and Vrysianos that merge in the center of the settlement, next to the bridge of 1942. A large park has been formed at the point of the rivers, where one can enjoy coffee and food under the huge plane trees next to ducks.
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Elliniki Kamara (i.e. Greek Arch) is an arched bridge built in the Hellenistic Era with some later additions (Venetian and Ottoman Era). The name comes from Hellenistic Kamara. The opening of the arc is 11.10m long, 8.40m high and has a width of 3.00m.
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