Stavros, Zorbas' sweet home!

Few tourists visiting Chania and Crete actually come here. Still, this place is one of the most popular and well-known. Millions of people around the world have admired its beauty, but now many even know its name! How can this happen? It's because in Stavros, Akrotiri - yes, we're talking about Stavros - the Michalis Kakogiannis' movie "Zorbas the Greek" was directed, with leafing actor Antony Queen and music by Mikis Theodorakis, based on Nikos Kazantzakis' novel "Alexis Zorbas". One of the most sommercial movies ever made, a movie that "gave birth" to sirtaki dance! Millions of people everywhere admired "Alexis Zorbas" dancing in the unbelievable scenery but they didn't know where it was exactly (OK, somewhere in Crete but where?) or at least its name.



Akrotiri in general is not one of the most popular destinations in Crete, despite its beauty, its history and its proximity to the city of Chania. Still, it's one of the main entrances to the prefecture and Crete itself (airport). You can't say it lacks tourism and tourist infrastructure - over 50 hotels and apartments for rent can be found there, as well as dozens of taverns and restaurants - but in no way it is Falasarna, Sfakia or Maleme, Agioi Apostoloi or Venetian Port. Not even Aptera. When most of people say "I went to Akrotiri", they mean "I reached Chalepa and the Venizeloses' Tombs". Or as far as the Technical University, if some of their friends or relatives are students! Few "experts" reach wonderful Kalathas and very few are those who come to remote Stavros which oversees the Cretan Sea.
Stavros is absolutely modern village, there is nothing "traditional" or "picturesque". Still, it has its own architectural style, thanks to the good taste of  its residents and the village's multinational character. Because Stavros is a multi-cultural village: more than half of its permanent residents are foreigners. Most of them have built their houses there or have changed the houses they rent basing on their aesthetics and the architectural influence of their motherlands. Thus, Stavros is a nice architectural complex, with green gardens competing one another in their beauty.



The optical beauty is completed with the feast of smells: flowers of all kinds, trees and a note of sea breeze in the air make you feel good all the time.
And the scenery is a real museum of nature! Two wonderful beaches (which are united in one big shore) totally different between them - one is a bit "wild" and "exotic", and the other one is a picturesque bay ideal for family vacation. Both of them have crystal-clear water in the shades of green and blue. "The Sleeping Beauty", a hill looking like a sculpture made by God, is dominant in the place.
For me, Stavros is not just some village like all the others. It's Shakespeare's "Forrest of Arden", a place where you come to be cleared from the pollution of your previous life, to find yourself and to start from the beginning...

Agioi Apostoli, a miniature paradise!

You see, it's not that difficult after all to go the paradise. If you're from Chania, you know why. Just 4 kilometers from the center of the city, you may even walk there for less than 1 hour! If you ride a bike, it'll take you about twenty minutes.
We talk about Agioi Apopstoloi of Chania. This place borrowed its name from a small chapel situated there. This place really has the beauty of the paradise, and it's not an exaggeration. For the last twenty years the building development in the region has been rather anarchical, and the "tourist infrastructure" constructions tasteless. But Agioi Apostoloi still offers to its visitors much calm and beauty of the nature (of course if it's not the high season!)

There are two big beaches which unite in the sea. A narrow peace of land uniting them ends with a rock full of greenery, with a church of Agioi Apostoloi on top of it. Sea in front of it, sea in the back and the pine trees on top. Water is sheer blue and clear as crystal. Believe it or not!

And you're in the city. Not somewhere distant. Not in some exotic place that will take you a one-day trip to get to it. Inside the city! Well, this is Chania, a place where anything can happen!

White mountains, the refuge for the Cretan soul

The Crete sea shores are endless and all the big Cretan cities are situated at the sea-side. Still, the Cretan soul - especially if we talk about the residents of Chania - is in the highlands! We'll understand easily why it is so if we look over the history of Crete. For ages there were many intruders who tried to conquer the proud nation.  They had their fortresses and their entities near the sea, where they could communicate easily with their mother cities but also to run away quickly in the case of a danger. But in the inaccessible high mountains, the Cretans were breathing the air of freedom. There, they kept their language, their customs and traditions, their way of life.  

Especially in Chania, Madara or the White Mountains, besides the refuge of freedom has always been the source of life for the Chania residents. The multiform natural environment gave food, water, raw materials and inspiration to the proud Cretan soul. There are more than 50 peaks higher than 2000 meters in Madara - this is how the Chaniots call the White Mountains - as well as countless gorges and cliffs which make you hold your breath, a unique view to the both sides of Crete, to the Cretan Sea but to the Libyan Sea as well. If you want to discover the authentic Crete, your way lies through the rugged trails of Madara! 

It won't be that difficult, though. With a little help from the Chania Climbers Society, you can do it! There are four refuges here and there in the White Mountains, as well as many hospitable villages! The Chania Climbers Society has existed for eighty years now and has been one of the oldest nature lovers organizations in Greece and the oldest one in Crete. It has experienced guides and climbers, and with its actions it protects the mountain groups of the region and helps the permanent residents, as well as visitors who want to discover the mountainous Crete.

There are four refuges in the White Mountains, the mountains near Chania. The oldest of them was built in 1958 and is situated on the Volika site, above the Kampi Keramion village, on the altitude of 1450 meters. It was renovated in 2006 and can accomodate up to 30 persons.
Another refuge, which is the most popular due to the unique view to the Samaria gorge, is called "Kallergi" and is situated on the altitude of 1650 meters, above the Omalos glen. The path that will take you to it starts from the Xiloskalo, in the entrance of the Samaria gorge. This refuge boasts a thrilling view: White Mountains peaks (covered with snow in winter), all-green sidehills of Samaria, the Omalos glen. It can lodge up 45 persons.   

The third Chania refuge is situated above the Tavri glen and the Askifu village, on the altitutde of 1200 meters. It is easily reached by the 8 km farmers' road. Of course it's better to walk there, at least one part of the wonderful part which starts from the Askifu village and goes up to Tavri, through a cypress forest. This route will take you about 2 hours.

The last refuge is the newest and the highest one in Chania. It's situated in the center of the White Mountains, under the Svurichti peak, 2080 meters above the sea. To reach it, you'll have to walk for about 6-7 hours from the Kallergi refuge or 3 hours after the end of the country road which starts from the Anopoli village, in the Roussies district. This refuge may lodge up to 20 people.
For more information, Chania Climbers Society, tel.: 00302821044647