The district of Sfakia, in the southeastern corner of Crete’s Hania prefecture, lies in rugged and somewhat inhospitable terrain in the Lefka Ori mountain range. However the landscape is at the same time quite spectacular, especially the western part, which, dotted with picturesque villages and criss-crossed by trails, is a popular destination for nature lovers.
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Indeed, many say Sfakia is a completely different experience from the rest of Greece’s largest island.
The inhospitableness was certainly felt by the island’s Venetian and Ottoman rulers in past centuries, who encountered the fiercest revolts here. The name of the district is rooted in the ancient Greek word “sfax” which means chasm -- with a total of 14 gorges carving the landscape. Until just a few years ago, the narrow, winding road alongside the gorge south from Vryses, 33 kilometers southeast of Hania, was difficult -- even dangerous. Now, a new road with three tunnels has made access much easier -- in the shadow of the rugged mountain sides, still the home of countless wild goats and colored green by short holm oaks and tall cypress trees. Stop at the end of the third tunnel and gaze at the Libyan Sea, with its enchanting hues of blue and the island of Gavdos barely visible on the horizon.
At the end of the road south is the village of Hora Sfakion, a seaside summer hub.
Leave the car at Hora and take a taxi west. Destination Anopoli, Aradena and Ai-Giannis, on the craggy slopes -- another winding new road, but narrow and hair-raising all the same, with birds of prey flying overhead. Anopoli is a lively settlement of 250 people, the largest in the area, in the midst of olive groves and animal pens. In the square stands the statue of Daskalogiannis, the wealthy leader of the 1770 revolt against the Ottomans. Outside the kafenio that serves as much coffee as raki -- a strong local spirit -- imposing shepherds in traditional attire, gray-haired, blue-eyed and black-shirted, carry binoculars on the chests and more rarely a gun on the belt. Pride and hospitality take center stage here: You are unlikely to pay for the raki if you strike up a conversation (but remember, mores tend to be conservative).
Three kilometers up the road is another breathtaking chasm, the Aradena gorge. With a depth of 150 m, it provides the highest bungee-jump in Greece (only in summer) from the iron bridge where the wooden boards creak when trucks and buses cross.
Aradena is a veritable architectural museum: deserted old houses with archways among chestnut, mullberry and prickly pear trees. The answer to the question of where the people have gone lies in the two church cemeteries, occupied by the graves of the Koukouvitakis and Tsontos families respectively. The village emptied in the 1950s because of a blood feud that started over a sheep bell, according to the few remaining locals.
Ai-Giannis, with just 15 permanent residents, is 6 kilometers on at an elevation of 800 m and fenced all around. “There are 4,000 sheep and goats grazing in these parts,” a local says. “If we left them to roam freely around the village there would be nothing left.”
Before the bridge was built 23 years ago, the journey to Anopoli took two hours by mule. A similar trail to the coast, starting at an old olive tree at the entrance to the village, was used by locals in the old days to collect salt. Now it is a popular trekking route, which joins European Walking Trail E4 on the coast.
Getting there & useful info
Area phone code: 28210. There are several flights a day from Athens to Hania with Olympic Air (801.801.01.01), Aegean Airlines (801.11.20000) and Athens Airways (801.801.4000). ANEK (210.4197420) ferries sail from Piraeus daily at 9 p.m., with arrival at Hania early the next morning; local buses leave from outside the food market (93306). Car rentals: Avis (50510), Budget (92778), Europrent (40810). Tourist Information Office, just off 1866 Square (36155). From Hania, take the road to Rethymno and turn south at Vryses. Hora Sfakion is 40 km on.
What & where to eat
Sfakia has abundant vegetable, meat and dairy products. Platanos, in Anopoli, serves good traditional cuisine. Lentaris, in Askyfou, is one of the best options, with all kinds of tasty local dishes, smoked ham, cheeses and raki. Lefkoritis, in the hotel of the same name, also has good fare. In Hora Sfakion, Nikos has excellent Cretan cuisine, including traditional local pies, snails and rabbit cooked in wine. In Anopoli, go to Costas Glymenakis. The bakeries of Karkanis and Orfanoudakis at Askyfou have very good Cretan rusks.
What to do
An ideal place for trekking. Buy Anavasi’s “Lefka Ori-Sfakia” map (210.321.8104, www.anavasi.gr) or contact the Hania Mountaineering Club at 28210.44647 (www.eoshanion.gr). The gorges of Aradena, Ibriotiko, Asfendiano and Kallikratiano are among the easiest to negotiate and are accessible throughout the year. In good weather and with a suitable car drive high up the difficult dirt roads of Lefka Ori to see lunar landscapes. In summer bungee-jump at Aradena (www.bungee.gr) at weekends.
What to see
In Aradena, the 14th-century Church of Archangel Michael (Astratigos). The War Museum at Askyfou -- with all kinds of weapons and military equipment, some as old as 1770. East from Hora Sfakion is Frangocastello, the Venetian fort associated with the legend of the Drosoulites, a procession of human-like shadows who appear before dawn on certain days at the end of May each year. The apparition has been explained as a natural phenomenon akin to rainbows, but according to local legend the visions are the ghosts of fighters who died in a battle against the Turks in 1828.
info: By Haris Argyropoulos kathimerini.gr
