Photos of Zakros Gorge
Zakros Gorge
Ano Zakros, a large village in East Crete, 38 kilometres south of Sitia. Here we start our hike to the Gorge of the Dead or Zakros Gorge 
An old traditional house in Zakros, its yard full of flowers. If you have time, walk around the narrow village streets to discover its pretty sights 
We leave Zakros and walk along the road to Kato Zakros and its beach. We’ve decided to enter the gorge by the second entrance, 4 kilometres from Ano Zakros 
It’s mid-February and the whole of Crete is covered in a thick carpet of grass and yellow Bermuda buttercups, while olive trees are found almost everywhere on the island 
In Crete the winters are mild and become milder the further east and south go you. Many wildflowers like this anemone bloom from late January onwards 
This signpost is located at the point where we leave the tarmac road to enter Zakros Gorge. Don’t follow the dirt track behind the signpost, but the first one next to the bus shelter 
Having walked along a dirt track for a while, we come to Zakros Gorge and start climbing down 
The path is clear and there’s no danger of getting lost 
The descent takes about 10 minutes. The slope is steep and you have to be careful not to slip on the stones 
The first hikers from our group have reached the bottom of the gorge and are waiting for the rest to catch up 
Above us rise the sheer sides of the gorge where vultures and hawks nest. Vultures are called “skares” in East Crete 
In the steep cliffs of the gorge are many caves, to which the ancient inhabitants of Zakros would laboriously raise their dead to bury them. This is why the gorge is known as the “Gorge of the Dead” 
In winter the water level in the gorge depends on recent rainfall. In summer, however, the riverbed is dry, making walking easier 
Small waterfalls form in places, tiny but beautiful 
There are no crossings from one bank to the other. You have to improvise by jumping from stone to stone 
A borrowed baton in one hand and a stick in the other, Maria tries to cross the river without wetting her shoes 
The crossing over, there follows a bright grin of success 
The vegetation in Zakros Gorge is so dense you can’t leave the path 
In some places you may need to scramble over a rock, but it’s not too difficult 
After the first kilometre, the path becomes easier and in some places you walk in the shade of the trees, a great relief in the hot summer months 
Sophia with her pretty rucksack is only 11 years old, but she walks easily and sure-footedly along the path 
A strange plant attracts our attention. In Crete it’s called “ta stivania tou lagou”, or “hare’s boots”, because it looks a bit like hare fur. Its Latin name is Aristolochia cretica (Cretan Birthwort), endemic to Crete and Karpathos 
No, it’s not an ancient Minoan throne hidden in the bushes. If I remember right, it’s a stone fountain at a rest area in the gorge. We saw others too, but they were all dry 
The entrance to the gorge from Kato Zakros. We walked down it from Ano Zakros to Kato Zakros, but you can also go the other way 
The river widens near Kato Zakros and flows more slowly 
Here the footpath ends, giving way to the dirt track to Kato Zakros and its beach 
Map of the footpaths in Zakros area 
A small flock of sheep in the fields around Kato Zakros, a common Cretan picture 
An old olive tree which somehow seems to have split into four different boles. The older the olive tree, the stranger the shape of its trunk 
The Kato Zakros archaeological site with the Minoan Palace of Zakros, which is much smaller than Knossos or Phaistos, but whose excavation produced many important finds 
The rainwater has formed little pools in the archaeological site 
All the hikers gather in the only taverna in Kato Zakros which is open in the winter. They are members of the “Friends of the Mountain and Sea” climbing club from Heraklion 
Straw umbrellas waiting to offer their shade to summer tourists on the beach of Kato Zakros 
Leaving wintery Zakros behind us, we board the coach to return to Sitia
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