Paralia Gerondolakkos
| Paralia Gerondolakkos Παραλία Γεροντόλακκος |
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| location | Sitia municipality | |
| Geographical location | 35 ° 2 '17 " N , 26 ° 13' 51" E | |
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| length | 70 m | |
| width | 30 m | |
| nature | Sand and marl | |
| water | clean | |
| tourism | ||
| Visitor frequency | low | |
| Parking spaces | unpaved | |
| monitoring | no | |
| Nudism | Yes | |
| next port | Kouremenos (20.1 km) | |
Gerondolakkos ( Greek Παραλία Γεροντόλακκος Paralia Gerondolakkos ) is a beach in the southeast of the Greek island of Crete . It is the southernmost of the beaches of Ambelos ( Παραλίες της Αμπέλου ) on the coast of the Levantine Sea and belongs to the settlement Xerokambos ( Ξερόκαμπος ) of the municipality of Sitia ( Σητεία ).
Location and description
Gerondolakkos is located at the northeast end of the small peninsula Trachilos ( Ακρωτήριο Τράχηλος ) with the offshore, 47 meter high island of Kefali ( Νησί Κεφαλή ) about 800 meters in the southeast. The buildings of the scattered settlement of Xerokambos extend approximately 700 meters inland to the north of the beach. It is bordered on both sides by low rocks that reach into the water. In northeastern Gerondolakkos is through a rocky gap a passage to the neighboring beach Argilos ( Παραλία Άργιλος ), the farther to the north, the beaches Hiona ( Παραλία Χιώνα also) Ambelos ( Παραλία Άμπελος called) Vourlia ( Παραλία Βούρλια ) and the central beach ( Κεντρική Παραλία ) from Xerokambos.
From the northeast side of Gerondolakkos beach , a narrow footpath leads to the small church of Agios Nikolaos ( Άγιος Νικόλαος ), which is 100 meters north on the hill Farmakokefalo ( Φαρμακοκέφαλο ). It is built on the foundations of the Hellenistic settlement of Xerokambos , which in ancient times stretched over the entire hill and was only excavated in a few places . The remains of the settlement, which is partially identified with the ancient Ampelos , can be visited on the hill. The beach is also called Agios Nikolaos after the church , the name Gerondolakkos means "holy pit".
The beach Gerondolakkos has a length of about 70 meters, its maximum width is 30 meters. The sandy beach leading flat into the sea is interspersed with a few boulders on both sides. At the passage to the neighboring beach Argilos , whose name means loam or clay (earth), there are rocks made of strongly fragmented white marl , which was formed in the Pliocene and has a high proportion of clay. It is popular with bathers to soften fragments of the marl in the water and apply them to the skin. While the steep coast behind Argilos protects against strong south winds, Gerondolakkos is exposed to them. In 1996 the northern beach Vourlia was designated as bathing water, the validity of which is shown for the entire coastal area from the central beach to Gerondolakkos in the south. Since 2010 the water quality has been regularly checked according to the EU Bathing Water Directive and has always been rated as excellent since 2012 .
Access
Xerokambos can be reached via country roads from Ziros ( Ζίρος ) in the west or Zakros ( Ζάκρος ) in the north. An access road leads from the west to Vourlia beach , in front of which there is an unpaved parking lot, on which vehicles can be parked free of charge. From the parking lot a path leads south to the Farmakokefalo hill , another one past a private house to Chiona or Ambelos beach and along the shore to the south via Argilos to Gerondolakkos . The northwest side of the beach is accessible via a dirt path that goes off the road to Vourlia .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alexandros Roniotis: Παραλία Ξερόκαμπος: Άμπελος. Cretan Beaches, 2019 (Greek).
- ↑ Βούρλια GRBW139313093, Bathing Water Profile PDF Online Ministry of Environment and Energy (Greek)
Web links
- Alexandros Roniotis: Xerokambos Beach. Cretan Beaches, 2019 .
- Γεροντόλακκος. In Sitia, 2018(Greek, English ).