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Samaria:

The abandoned village
of Samaria lies midway of the famous Samaria Gorge (18 km long). It's
the biggest natural canyon of Europe. Its inhabitants, almost all of
the old Byzantine family Viglis, were forced to move when on December
6th 1962 the gorge became a protected area. The village is very isolated
and had only access to water in Winter and early Spring. The village
is very ancient: still some buildings can be seen, like the church Ossia
Maria, which gave name to the gorge and the village. It's from the early
fourtheenth century.
The gorge starts
down from the village of Omalos on the Omalos plain at the foot of the
granite Mt. Gingilos (2080 m). First you descent a stepped path cut
from the rock with wooden handrails, the 'Xiloskalon' (wooden
stairway). It is 2 km long and the descent is 1000 meters! In the beginning
the gorge is very wide and you might see some traces of the river which
is flooding here during rain season, which makes hiking the gorge impossible.
Therefore, the rain decides when the season for hiking the gorge starts
and stops. Usually it's open from beginning of May 'till end of October.
Through the gorge
you will encounter several chapels, like Agios Nikolaos, Ossia Maria
and in the end some in the old Agia Roumeli, 2 km before the new settlement
at the sea. On your way, the gorge will narrow down 'till you reach
the 'Iron Gates' (Sidheresportes) where the opening is more than 300
meters high and only 210 cm wide!

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Old
city Tara: Ancient settlement, inhabited for thousand years from
the 5th century B.C on. There is still a ruined Turkish fort to be seen,
as well as some other remains, like the remains of an urly christian
basilica, an old bridge passing the 'Samaria river' and pieces of mosaic.
In the old days a temple of Apollo used to be here. Tara had its own
coins.

Agia
Roumeli and Turkish fort of Tara
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Islets
of Gavdos and Gavdopoula:
Gavdos is an Island
in the Lybian Sea, 40 km off the south coast of Crete. The highest point
of the island is at 382 m above sea level, on Gavdopoula it is 133 m.
The surface of Gavdos is aprox. 27 km2, Gavdopoula 2.75 km2. Sea depth
between the two islands is approximately 80-100 m, the depth between
Gavdopoula and Crete is of 1100 m. The Lybian Sea reaches a depth of
up to 2400 m (measured at a distance 50 km south of Gavdos).
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