Chania – Kolymbari – Kaloudiana – Kastelli Kissamou – Platanos – Falasarna – Chrysoskalitissa Monastery – Elafonisos; return via Elos and the Topolia gorge

This itinerary will show us something of the western part of the Prefecture. We leave Chania in a westerly direction and enter the sub prefecture of Kissamos.

We soon come once more to Tavronitis, where there is the junction for Kantanos and Palaiochora. A deviation from our route, to the west, will take us first to the pretty village of Kolymbari, at the head of the Bay of Chania, and then a little further north, to Gonia Monastery, in the west corner of Kydonia Bay.

The Monastery (dedicated to Our Lady Hodeghetria) was founded in 1618 and has a good collection of old manuscripts, codices, post-Byzantine icons and ecclesiastical vessels.

To the north of the monastery stands the building of the Orthodox Academy of Crete, a modern ecclesiastical, religious and intellectual centre. Nearby is the monument to the Greek officer cadets who fell in the battle of Crete.

After 25 km from Chania we deviate from our main route once more (right), to visit the village of Rodopou and the east side of Cape Spathas, where stands the Diktynnaion, a sanctuary of the second century BC dedicated to Artemis Diktynna, on the ruins of a still earlier sacred building.

We return to the main route and pass through Kaloudiana before coming to Kastelli Kissamou (42km). This is a small town which serves as the ‘capital’ of the sub prefecture of Kissamos. It is fringed by a superb sandy beach. The town took its name from its ‘kastello’, a Venetian fortress.

Seven kilometers to the south are the ruins of ancient Polyrrhenia. Wee head west from Kastelli for Falasarna, passing through Platanos, where much garden produce is grown, and turning to the right there into the plain of Falasarna, the beach where the cultivated land ends is one of the best in Crete, with fine sands and pretty coves.

Here we can visit the ruins of ancient Phalasarna, where there are traces of a temple of Artemis (or Apollo) and the foundations of houses. In antiquity, this city – which took its name from the nymphs – was a centre for trade.

According to our sources, it had a safe, enclosed harbor linked to the sea by a channel. Today, the water has receded and the site is dry and suitable for cultivation.

Read part two of the trip from Chania to Topolia gorge. ->

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