Imbros Gorge
The Imbros Gorge ( Greek Φαράγγι Ίμπρου , Farángi Ímbrou ) is one of the most visited gorges in Crete after the Samaria Gorge . The hiking trail through the gorge is eight kilometers long and leads from the village of Imbros south of the fertile Askyfou plain down to Komitades on the Libyan Sea . A height difference of around 650 meters is overcome.
The gorge is named - according to legend - after two brothers who were once exiled from the island of Imbros to Crete and who founded today's village of Imbros there.
Before the road to Chora Sfakion was built, the Imbros Gorge was the most important traffic route from the north coast of Crete ( Chania ) to the province of Sfakia on the south coast of the island. Remains of the paved mule track can still be found today. In the course of history, the gorge has served as a place of retreat and escape route during disputes with the various occupying powers. For example, a marble plaque indicates a cave in which Sfakioten are said to have been murdered by the Ottoman rulers in 1867.
During the Second World War, thousands of Allied soldiers tried to get through the gorge to the south coast in order to be evacuated from there to Egypt. Many, persecuted and captured by German troops, had to return and were taken prisoner of war.
Especially since the Samaria Gorge was overrun, day trips to the Imbros Gorge are increasingly being offered. During the season, the municipality of Sfakia charges an entry fee for the inspection, the tickets are checked about halfway after a hose-like narrow point. The walking time is about two hours. The Imbros Gorge is one of the more easily accessible gorges in Crete, there are no climbing sections or other problematic passages to overcome. Because of the coarse gravel ground (river bed), sturdy shoes must be worn. The gorge only seems to have water after exceptional rainfall, so it is also possible to visit it in winter.
The flora of the gorge reflects the two climatic zones it crosses on its course. In the southern, lower and drier part, sparse vegetation predominates - the Cretan cypress dominates as a tree (the round, not the candle-shaped growth form), whereas it becomes more diverse in the upper part. Here, oaks and plane trees are increasingly mingling with the conifers, and the bushy Phrygana such as wild thyme also grow significantly more densely.
The European long-distance hiking trail E4 runs through the gorge .
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Coordinates: 35 ° 14 ′ 48 ″ N , 24 ° 10 ′ 5 ″ E