| Nature > Geology > Caves, gorges and plateaus |
Caves, gorges, plateaus
The limestone rocks are surely some of the strangest materials. They are very hard and massive but also very ephemeral... The water breaks a grain of limestone sand in five months! The limestone rocks that comprise the majority of rocks in the area of Psiloritis defined the form and the characteristics of the whole surface due to this particularity. The numerous caves, the gorges and the plateaus are all a result of the dissolution of rocks. The higher the mountains get the more dissolved they become due to water. Wherever there is a crack, the water enters it and makes it bigger, digging the mountains, creating underground rivers that will create the caves. This is the reason why the visitor of the area cannot see any rivers. They are all under their feet! Many of these underwater rivers make their way towards the surface forming important fountains such the one of Gergeris and Zaros, while other times they mingle with the sea such as Almiros in Heraklion, the biggest fountain of Crete or the underwater fountains of Bali. Smaller fountains pop out of everywhere offering life and dew to the people and the environment. The same way the water digs the gorges at the sides of the mountains, it makes the holes of the surface bigger forming plateaus or landscapes from naked limestone, since the ground transfers to plateaus to create the "red land" or in other words terra rosa. Many of the small plateaus and the gorges make an oasis of endemicity and biodiversity gathering and protecting unique species of the flora and fauna of Crete. Characteristic plateaus are these of Nida, Ious Kampos in Gerakari, Rouvas, Evdomos at Gonies, Stroumpoulas at Tylisos as well as the gorges that are demarcated from Eleftherna-Margarites-Orthe villages, Agia Irene in Krousonas, Gafaris at the forest of Rouvas, Vorizia, Patsos in Amari, Kalandares at the south of Mylopotamos and Moussai next to Mourtzana village. Undisputedly, however, the caves are the most impressive elements of the anaglyph of this area due to their number and their forms. From the simple drafts of the surface (dikes and dents) such as "Voulismeno Aloni", cavitations or rock roofs such as the ones at Agios Nicholaos in Patsos village, underwater rivers such as "Chainospilios" in Kamaraki or the cave in Erfoi at the Municipality of Arkadi, to the unfathomable precipices such as "Tafkoura" in Nida that reaches the 960 meters under the surface. The underworld of Psiloritis competes deservedly the wealth of the surface. Many caves are impressive due to their decoration. The cave of Sfendoni at Zoniana with a surface of 3000 square meters and partly accessible to the visitors or the cave of Melidoni with the enormous stalagmites and stalactites are two of the few caves accessible in the island. Other caves such as Chonos of Sarchos, Koritsi at Nida or Kamilari at Tylisos, Mougri at Sises and Tsoupa at Kalivos, Arkalospilios at Marathos and Spyliara of Astyraki, Notiki Tripa at Nithavri, Margiles at Elenes are characterized not only for their difficulty and riskiness but also for the legends and traditions that are hidden behind their walls. Surely the greatest are these of Idaion Andron at Nida, where Zeus was born as the biggest devotional place of Minoan Crete, Kamaraiko above Kamares village with the pottery of unique style, Sfendoni at Zoniana and Melidoni as a place of martyrs against the Turkish invaders. The beauty of the landscape of Psiloritis, the value of its natural monuments and the richness of the cultures, has ranged Psiloritis in List of the Global Network of National Geoparks by Unesco and the European Geoparks Network.
