Trail Tzermiado - Nissimos - Karfi
This small part of the E4 trail offers a very nice and quite easy exploration of the inhospitable peak of Karfi, where the Minoans settled around 1200BC, after the abrupt catastrophe of the Minoan centres and civilization. The view from the peak to the valley of Potamies and the dam lake of Aposelemis is amazing.
We start our course from Tzermiado, which is the capital of Lassithi Plateau. We ascend via a cement road to the small plateau of Nissimos and walk in a dirt road till the church of Saint Ariadne, the only one dedicated to this Saint in Greece. A few meters to the west starts the climbing trail to Karfi.
While ascending, look for the stone built terraces that the Minoans constructed for retaining soil and cultivating in such an inhospitable place. The trail heads to the peak of Karfi (karfi means nail). Around, we can still discern the bases of the buildings that formed this ghost settlement in the Dark Era (1200BC-800BC). The residents collected water from the adjacent spring of Vitsilovrissi, which we meet if we follow another trail coming from the north side of Karfi (not E4).
