Geology

Gray limestone atop mountain peaks and vertical cliffs, deep and narrow dark canyons, steep shores, shiny greenish schist, pale phyllite, light limestone eroded by rain and wind, fertile yellowish marlstone - it’s all here. No wonder Crete is a multicolour island.

Komolithi is one of the most bizarre and interesting landscapes in Crete. They are met by the village Potamida (Kissamos province), at the valley of Tyflos River, about 35km west of Chania. These are alternating small hills consisting of soft clay, which due to time erosion, have turned them to wonderful conical shapes.

The folds of the rocks at position Apoplystra, between the village of St. Paul and the sandhills are remarkably colorful and have been proposed to be listed to the Natural Monuments of Greece.

If you climb the cliffs on the east side of Agiofarago beach and walk for a while to the southeast, you will meet a hidden saltish lake - cave, called Vourvoulitis, surrounded by vertical cliffs.

Chrissi can be considered a paradise for geology enthusiasts. One of the most spectacular geological sights of the island can be seen east of Belerinina beach, where you will meet thousands of fossils, mainly bivalves. The fossils form a so-called thanatocoenosis, that is, dead shells that have been gathered there by the streams and have fossilized over time.

Voulismeno Aloni is located approximately 15km west of Heraklion and next to the old road connecting Heraklion to Rethymnon, near the village Marathos. It is one of the weirdest geological phenomena in Greece. It is a very large sinking (karstic doline) with circular shape.

This is an entire mountainside with spectacular naturally carved rocks having amazing shapes. They are extremely sharp and stand tall like meteors in the sky, and between them aisles are formed that leave space for walking and for a few shrubs and trees.

The desert region bears the place name Elia by a centuries-old olive tree, the only tree in the area and is one of the 4 total olive trees (!) that we meet throughout the island. The existence of this secret desert does not seem in any beach of the island shows how close the island is located to the African climate and continent.