Kissamos - Kaloudiana - Topolia (Topolia ravine - Aghia Sophia cave) -
Myloi - (Elos - Kefali - Chrysoskalitissa
Monastery) - Strovles - Plemeniana -
Palaeochora.
Return: Palaeochora - Plemeniana -
Kantanos (Anisaraki - Rodovani - Elyros
- Soughia) - Floria - Kakopetro -
Voukolies - Tavronitis.

From Kissamos we continue eastwards
along the main Chania - Kissamos road
and, at the 4th kilometre, at the village
of Kaloudiana (see route 18), we turn
right and follow a right fork to the south.
The route is enchanting. We pass through
the picturesque villages of Potamida
and Voulgaro and find ourselves at To-
polia (8 kms. from the intersection), a
traditional village with flowing streams, built amphitheatrically on a wooded hill. Here begins the Topoliana ravine, which is approximately 1500 m. in length. Its walls are high (300 m.) and sheer, and the scenery is luxuriant.
To the right passes the road for Palaeo-
chora, and at this point the road forms a
tunnel.
On the right side of the road is the cave
of Aghia Sophia with its small church of
the same name. The cave has stalactites and stalagmites and is interesting
archaeologically because of the fragments of pottery of the Neolithic period which were found here. Its exit is near the village ofKartsomatados.

We continue southwards for Myloi. Out-
side the village, there is a bifurcation.
We can visit the convent of Chryso skalitissa, if we take the right fork towards Elos and Kefali- where there is a
church dedicated to the Transfiguration
of Christ, with frescoes dating from 1300.
Outside Kefali, we find a dirt road (11
kms.) which, after passing through the
villages of Vathi and Plokamiana, leads
us to the Chrysoskalitissa convent, on
the southwestern coast of Crete (72 kms.
southwest of Chania). The convent is
built on a rock, on the site of an old mo-
nastic community, and has a superb view. Its church has two naves, dedicated
to the Dormition of the Holy Virgin and
to the Holy Trinity respectively.

In the small settlement of the same name,
there are a few rooms to rent.
Five kilometres further south (along the
same dirt road), we can see the islet of Elafonissi, to the west of the coast, from which it is separated by a shallow stretch of sea of about 100 m. in width and not deeper than 0.80 m.

The beaches and the sea in this area are
glorious, but near the convent the shores
are rocky and steep.

From the intersection at Myloi we follow
the left fork, in a southeasterly direction
and, two kilometres further along, we
come to the village of Strovles, in a beautiful natural setting with bubbling streams and many chestnut trees.

We continue for another 8 kilometres (this
is mostly a dirt road) and arrive at Pleme-
mana, where there is a church dedicated
to Saint George, decorated with murals
which are worth seeing.

At this point we meet the road which
starts from Tavronitis (see route Chania

3) and takes a southerly direction towards Palaeochora, passing through the western part of the island from north to south.
We follow this road southwards and pass
through the villages ofKakodiki, Vlithias,
Kalamos (in this region there are inter-
esting Byzantine churches with 13th cen-
tury frescoes), to end up at Palaeochora
(74.5 kms. southwest of Chania, 55 kms.
from Tavronitis).
The picturesque small town on the Libyan sea has developed into an important tourist centre, with many places to stay, tavemas, restaurants, discos, bars, etc. In the summer it attracts many visitors, as well as the hikers who come down from the Samaria gorge to Aghia Roumeli and then take the little boats to Palaeochora (see route Chania 2).

Small boats also link Palaeochora to Sou-
ghia and Chora Sfakion to the east, and to the islet of Gavdos in the Libyan sea.

Tourist agencies operating in the town or-
ganize excursions to the Samaria gorge
from here.

In 1282, the duke of Crete, Marino Grado-
nico, built a fortress here which he called
Selino - perhaps from the name of the
area - as a protection against Cretan in-
surgents.

The insurgents destroyed the fortress, the Venetians rebuilt it and developed a
"burgo", a settlement, around it.
In 1539 it was taken by Barbarossa and in 1653 it fell into the hands of the Turks,
who repaired extensive parts of the de-
stroyed walls.

The fortress, which is very similar to the
Mirabello and lerapetra fortresses, has
three towers, officials' quarters, barracks,
a church, a reservoir, etc.
Today, one can see ruins which clearly
show the marks of the repairs and addi-
tions made by the Turks.
Below the fortress lies the old neighbour-
hood with its narrow alleys.
To the west of the village is situated the
lovely beach ofPacheia Ammos, one of the
most popular in the region.

In the region there are many interesting
Byzantine churches. From Kantanos, a
road - in rather poor condition - forking
out to the right of the main road, leads in
an easterly-southeasterly direction, pass-
ing through the villages of Anisaraki, Temenia, Rodovani, and comes to the little
seaside village ofSoughia (see route Chania 2).

We continue northwards towards Voukolies and after 8 kms. arrive at Tavronitis (53 kms. from Palaeochora), which is the end of our journey.

From there we can either drive eastwards towards Chania (20 kms.) or westwards towards Kissamos (22.5 kms.)