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Crete is the largest of the Greek islands at 8,336 km² (3,219 square miles) and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean.
Crete is a popular tourist destination; its attractions include the Minoan sites of Knossos and Phaistos, the classical site of Gortys, the Venetian castle at Rethymno, and the Samaria Gorge, as well as many other natural sites, monuments, and beaches.
Geography
Crete is one of the 13 regions into which Greece is divided. It is the largest island in Greece and the second largest (after Cyprus) in the East Mediterranean. Crete has an elongated shape - 260 km from east to west and 60 km at its widest, although the island is narrower at certain points, such as in the region close to Ierapetra where it has a width of only 12 km. It covers an area of 8,336 km² and has a coastline of 1046 km. To the north Crete borders with the Sea of Crete , to the south it is bordered by the Libyan Sea , to the west the Myrtoon Sea, to the east the Karpathion Sea. Its population is 650,000 people (as of 2005). The island lies approximately 160 km south of the Greek mainland.
Crete is extremely mountainous and is defined by a high mountain range crossing it from West to East, formed by three different groups of mountains. These are:
* the White Mountains or Lefka Ori (2,452 m high);
* the Idi range (Psiloritis (35.18° N 24.82° E) 2,456 m);
* the Dikti mountains (2,148 m high);
* Kedros (1,777 m high);
* Thripti (1489 m)
These mountains gifted Crete with fertile plateaus like Lasithi, Omalos and Nidha, caves like Diktaion and Idaion cave, and gorges like the famous Gorge of Samaria. The protected area of the Samaria Gorge is the home of kri-kri. Cretan mountains and gorges are refuges of the endangered vulture Lammergeier (Gypaetus barbatus)
.From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
On our descent from the Lasithi Plateau to Hersonnisos, we diverted slightly to see an old 13th Century church said to have the finest frescos in all of Crete.
A tiny little Byzantine church in Kritsa, it was called the Panagia Kera, which we reached via a heart-stopping single track, blind-bend, 10% gradient hilltop climb in the car complete with hairpin turns and landslides. We were shitting ourselves.
When we got there it was closed! Don't visit on a Monday. It was pitch black inside, but my camera did manage to pick some of the old paintings on the wall as well as an image on a window of what appears to be Christ.
On our descent from the Lasithi Plateau to Hersonnisos, we diverted slightly to see an old 13th Century church said to have the finest frescos in all of Crete.
A tiny little Byzantine church in Kritsa, it was called the Panagia Kera, which we reached via a heart-stopping single track, blind-bend, 10% gradient hilltop climb in the car complete with hairpin turns and landslides. We were shitting ourselves.
When we got there it was closed! Don't visit on a Monday. It was pitch black inside, but my camera did manage to pick some of the old paintings on the wall as well as an image on a window of what appears to be Christ.