Nature

Approximately two kilometers northwest of the village Karines at position Faragi there is a small but impressive gorge, Kariniotiko Gorge. Kariniotiko canyon is completely unknown as the entire surrounding area is not included in the tourist routes. However, the surrounding area has exceptional natural beauty and hosts one of the most impressive oak wood of Crete with huge ancient trees.

Among the villages and Agii Deka and Mitropoli there are the ruins of ancient Gortyn. Gortyn was the largest and most populous city of Crete during the Roman era. At the same place we meet an important monument of nature. This is the monumental grove of Gortyn occupying a huge area and has centuries-old olive trees. A walk through the historic grove contains many sites of archaeological interest and natural beauty. The tour starts on the main street to Mires. Everywhere around we find piles of stones that once were parts of buildings, scattered fragments of ancient walls, scattered pieces of pottery and fallen pillars.

The plateau Manikas is located at the province of Sfakia, at an altitude of 720 meters. Today, the settlement Manikas, after which it gets its name, has been abandoned and is only used by shepherds. The plateau hosts the beautiful stone-built church dedicated to St Emmanuel (celebr. August 21).

The edible dormouse (Glis glis argenteus), squirrel tailed dormouse, myoxus or fat dormouse of Crete is a subspecies of the common dormouse species, met throughout Europe and western Asia. Crete is the southernmost point where we meet this species, with the largest population being limited in Samaria National Park and some individuals being reported in Psiloritis Mount.

The Plateau of Vromonero or Lakkos Limas is located at an altitude of 1300m, 10km west of the village Kroussonas, in an amazing location east of the summit Skinakas of Psiloritis Mt, where the homonym observatory of the University of Crete is located. It can be accessed via a dirt track running through the gorge of Halasia, which starts from Livadi plateau and ends in Krousonas.

The Moorish Wall Gecko (scient. Tarentola mauritanica) is a small species of lizard that reaches a total length of 16cm and can be found on the island of Crete.

The shelter is located at position Strovili at an altitude of 1533m over Limnakaro Plateau at Dikti Range. It can be accessed either by walking 2:30 hours from Avrakontes village or by driving the dirt road from there. From here one can hike to the peaks Spathi (2148m) and Afendis Christos (2141m). The shelter can accommodate 12 people. . It is available upon request to its operator, i.e. the Mountaineering Club of Lasithi (www.fysi.gr).

A very wild gorge starting from the valley of Pervola, next to Mournia village at Asterousia Mounts, and ending on the remote amazing beach of Kaminaki. There is a trail, quite steep, starting from Pervola.