The Cretans are known for their
generosity of spirit. They like strangers, they
are pleasant, graceful and hospitable. As their
glorious and turbulent history indicates, they
are driven by a powerful desire for freedom
and independence, which is reflected in
every expression of their daily life. Their
intense character, combined with a strong
sense of family loyalty, often leads them to
actions that may be viewed as extreme by
outsiders. The ultimate expression of this
behaviour is the famous "vendetta," where the
rivalry between different families can
continue for generations on end.
The Cretans keep the local customs
and traditions alive. Many still wear the
traditional costumes, sing traditional Cretan
songs and dance the local dances. Their
income derives from agriculture, stock-
breeding, commerce and in recent years from
tourism, which has developed quite a bit.
Cretan girls make beautiful folk-art objects,
like ceramics, embroideries and woven
fabrics, which can be purchased at most
shops on the island.
Found in the crossroads of of three
continents, Crete is surrounded be the Lybian
Sea, the Cretan Seam the Karpatian Sea and
the Myrtoon Sea. Its geostrategic poistions is
of great importance, a fact explaining its
adventurous history. The shape of the island
is narrow but long, with a a length of 260 km.
and width of 60 km. and just 12 km. in its
most narrow part, which is located in the area
of Ierapetra.
Crete is the biggest among the greek islands,
with a total area of 8,303 square km.,
including the reas of the little islands of Dia
and Gavdos. The latter represents the
southernmost point of Greece. Its extensive
beaches - of great variety of terrain - have a
total length of 1,064.4 km.
The population of the island amounts up to
about 500.000 residents, who live mainly off
agriculture, animal husbandry and as of lately
off tourism.
Administratively, the island is divided into
four Counties. The County of Chania, with
Chania as its capital City, the County of
Rethymon with thw homonemous capital city,
the County of Lasithi, with Aghios Nikolaos as
its capital, and the County of Heraklion, with
its capital, the city of Heraklion being the
largest city on the island with about 100.000
inhabitants.
In the mountains of Crete there have
been formed many caves, owing to the terrain
of the island. Archaelogical and paleohistoric
findings testify to the fact that most of these
caves were used during the prehistoric era as
sites of worship and religious observances.
Among those caves, we distinguish the Dikteo
Andro and the Ideo Andro, connected with
many local legends, the Caves of Melidoniou
Apokoronou, of Sendoni Rethymnou, of
Ilithieas, the Cave of Aghios Ioannis the
Hermit and thew Caves of Omalos Chanion.
The coastline of Crete spans an area
of 1,046.4 km and is adorned by capes, bays,
picturesque harbours, gulfs, steep cliffs and
lovely sandy beaches. The southern coast is
less developed as far as tourism goes, thus
more peaceful and secluded. The northern
coast, though rougher, tends to get more
crowded.
Some of the most characteristic
natural beauties of the cretan scenery consist
of the famous cretan gorges which begin at
the mountainous areas of the island and end
to the sea. The green gogrges aabound with
rare species of flora and fauna which are
protected by strict rules, as they are unique
throughout Greece. Among them, one can
admire rare species of cypress-trees, platans,
pine-trees and wildflowers.
The most famous and significant
gorge of Crete is the infamous gorge of
Samaria, which impresses with its size and
unique natural beauty, while on its slopes,
one can adire the famous wildgoat of Crete
which is found nowhere else in Greece. other
significant gorges are the gorges of
Kourtaliotis river, of Nimbros and Tipoliano.
The mountainous areas of Crete form
many plateaux. Some of them are very fertile
with abundant water and are systematically
used to cultivate garden produce and fruit.
Others are used for pasturing. Among the
better known ones are the Plateau of Lassithi
on mountain Dikta, at a 900 m altitude, the
very popular Omalos Plateau, on Lefka Ori
(700 m altitude), made famous in folk songs,
Plateau of Askifou and, finally, the plateau of
Nida, on Psiloritis mountain, (1,400 m
altitude).
The mountains of Crete present a
wide variety of geological formations, valleys,
gorges, caves and plateaux. They are part of
the Dinarotauric Arrow, which begins at the
Dinaric Alps.
The western side of Crete includes
Lefka Ori (White Mountains), or Madares,
with Pachnes being the highest peak at 2,453
m. The central part of the island is dominated
by Psiloritis, or Ida mountain, Crete’s tallest,
Timios Stavros (2,456 m) being the highest
peak. In the eastern part of island one can
admire Dikta, or Lassithiotika (2,148 m).
Apart from these mountain chains there are
other, less high ranges, such as Kedros (1,777
m), the ridge of Kouloukonas alias Talea Ori
(as it was known in the ancient years), mount
Kofinas (1,231 m) and the Sitia mountains
where the tallest peaks are 1,320 m and
1,476 m high.
The Cretan mountains are for the
most part covered with forests. In the recent
years, severe damage has been caused by fire
and the intensive timber trade and the forest
density has been significantly reduced. Still,
Roura Forest on mount Ida and Selekano
Forest on mount Dikta, are well preserved.
Yet, the most beautiful forest on the island is
the famous palm-forest of Vai, where the
palm-trees reach the beach giving a tropical
touch and unique beauty to the area.
Due to its narrow width, the island of
Crete has view rivers, which begin from its
central, mountains region and end at the
Libyan and the Cretan Seas. Most of them
have little water during the winter months,
and they dry up in the summer. The biggest
rivers on the island are the Geropotamos and
the Anapodiaris, in the Messara area, the
Tyflos and the Kolenis in the valley of Chania,
the Kilaris, the Mega Potamos and the
Kourtaliotis, at the delta of which we find an
area of exquisite beauty.
The island does not have big lakes as well,
except for some very small ones as well as the
lake of Koyurna in the Apokoronou area.
There also exists the small but picturesque
harbour-side lake of Voulismeni, next to the
port of Aghios Nikolaos.
A great variety of agricultural
products is produced in the numerous
valleys found on the island of Crete. The
lowlands of the island spread along its north
side, where we find the valleys of Kastellion
Kisamou, of Kydonia, of Aghia, of
Georgioupolis, of Rethymnon, of Chania, of
Malia, of Ierapetra as well as the Mesara
Valley, known since antiquity for the
bounteous production of cereals.
Due to the yielding climate of the island,
agriculture is greatly developed and during
the last few years big greenhouse cultivations
were created here, from where all kinds of
products are shipped to the rest of Greece.
Among other products, Crete is famous for its
olives - from which the high quality cretan oil
is produced - the grape vines, the groceries,
the oranges, lemons and other products of the
kind, as well as for the production of
"tropical" fruits, such as bananas,
avocadoes and kiwi, as well as thwe famous
cretan raisins, known by the name of
Soultanina. In the mountains areas, there is
bounteous production of of mountain tea,
chestnuts, walnuts and other products.
On the island there is also production - in
great quantities - of high quality honey and
cheeses, such as the cretan anthotyro, the
mizithra and the graviera, while local
fishermen sell all kinds of fish and sea food.
Crete is known for the wide variety of
its natural flora. It is estimated that the island
is home to 2,000 different kinds of plants,
many of which only grow on Cretan land,
such as the famous evergreen, Platanus
orientalis.
Along the Cretan land spread green
areas of unique natural beauty. One can
admire beautiful wildflowers, anemones,
daffodils, osiers and the wild ranunculus. On
the mountain slopes grow cypress-, plane-,
chestnut-, and oak-trees. The greatest variety
of rare plants grows in the gorges, especially
in the famous Samaria gorge, which is a
known National Park. Here, one comes across
rare plants, like the Ebenus cretica,
Campanula pelviformis, Gladolius italicus,
Linum arboreum, Staechelina arborea,
Cyclamen creticum, Chrysanthemum
coronarium, Cistus villosuscreticus and
Petromarcula pinnata. In the rest of the island
varieties such as Tulipa bakeri, Anchusa
caespitosa, Erysinum raulinu, Dianthus
juniperinus, Dianthus pulviniformis, Asperula
idaea and Scabiosa minoana can be found.
Finally, of singular natural beauty is
the palm-forest of Vai, where Phoenix
theophrastu grows, a variety unique to this
part of Greece.
Crete is well known for the cretan
goat, otherwise called "kri - kri" which is
found mainly in the Gorge of Samaria. The
archaeological excavations, which have
brouth to light many a wall paintings of the
"kri - kri", testify to the view that this
animal was worshiped on the island during
antiquity. Its rareness is one of the reasons
that led to the Gorge of Samaria becoming a
national park. However, "kri - kri" have
been spotted in the nearby islands of Dia,
Theodoros and Aghioi Pantes.
From the Cretan countryside, there could not
been absent animals less rare, which are
found in many parts of Greece. Among them,
the rabbit, the wild cat or fourogatos and a
unique kind of mouse. Among the birds, in
the Cretan mountains we distinguish the
golden eagle and the eagle Gyps Fulvus,
while there are many kinds of travelling birds
which make a stop on the island as they travel
to the south.
The climate in Crete can be described
as typical Mediterranea. Summer is hot and
dry with sparce clouds and lots of sunshine.
Winter is mild, although in certain areas there
may be snow and temperature may drop to
unusually low levels.
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