Laggos Gorge, Zourva
Between the villages Zourva and Meskla we meet one unknown canyon, one of the many of the region, which is called Lagos. Its entrance is located west of the village Zourva and ends in the village Meskla, at the bridge of the village, just before merging with the river Keritis. It is formed by the union of two canyons that are located a bit higher, that of Tromarissa and Pigaidakia (Pigaidakia is one of the most important and longest technical canyons of Crete).
Laggos is a truly beautiful and unspoilt technical gorge, crossing of which requires rope. Despite the fact that is a technical canyon, it has only a few very small rappels and a lot of walking. The rappels are not very high, are very well secured with double locks and therefore it is an excellent canyon for beginners at rappelling. It is not very narrow but still forms some beautiful narrow passages.
The vegetation along the gorge consists of plane trees, huge cypress and oak trees. It has water only in winter, after several storms and rainy periods. The most impressive and technical part is located close to the end, just before merging with the small gorge of Pises that starts from Laki Gorge. The descent of Lagos requires 2-3 hours.
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At its exit at Meskla we meet a huge rock about 40 meters high, atop which there is a rock shelter. This rock is called Bee's Top. According to tradition, the rock shelter once hosted a huge wild beehive. The beehive was visible from the village and everyone wanted to get its honey, but could not reach it. A very poor villager thought that if he could reach it he would become rich. These years, the wax was more expensive than the honey. So, he promised Panagia (Virgin Mary) to devote all the wax to Her, if she helped him to reach the honey. He then cut huge cypress trees and managed to construct an enormous scaffold and climbed to the top of the rock. When he realized how big it was and how much beehive honey and wax it could yield, he thought that if he would sell all the honey and wax he would become very wealthy. While returning back, Virgin Mary knocked him down from the scaffolding, as a punishment for his greed.
