Church of Saint Charalambos at Sfakia
East of Sfakia, on the beach of Ammoudi, we meet the church of Agios Haralambos. This is a typical cavernous chapel of the coasts and inland of Sfakia province. It is quite spacious because it is built in a relatively large cave. The location of the cave can be accessed via a short path that starts from the beach, but there is also a road that reaches the place. Outside the cave, there is a large courtyard where all Sfakians meet annually (February 10) and celebrate Saint Charalambos. In front of the cave temple is formed a small beautiful pebble beach with crystal clear waters almost nobody visits.
Agios Charalambos was always very important for Sfakians as they thought that he protected them from the plague. The plague on the island was deadly and depopulated whole villages from death. This is why temples dedicated to Saint Charalambos were built at the entrances of the villages (from where the disease would try to get into the village). Chora Sfakion was accessible through the sea, therefore the church was built right on the shore. Throughout the province of Sfakia, we meet three temples honored to Saint Charalambos and it is no coincidence that all of them were built on the shore.
