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Nature
Geology
The limestone rocks of the area create a plethora of rock formulations across the mountainous Mylopotamos, while the schist and foliar rocks of the northern coast and the soft sediments of the lowland areas offer the small fertile rural land. The limestone platters of Psiloritis are ideal for dry wall constructions such as the shepherds’ shelters (mitato) and the dry walls that demarcate the areas. In the lowland zone, the yellowish marl limestone replaces the structural material for the traditional dorps’ constructions. The intense pressures that formed the mountains are captured in the form of impressive corrugations (crease) in the layers of platter-like limestones that unroll during the ride to the Monastery of Vokasos or the plateau of Nida. The road from the village of Sises to the village of Aloides is a unique geological route, since the large variety of limestone rocks is a mark of 250 million years. The pillow lavas that the visitor comes across from Malevizi to Aksos villages are unique, since they were formed from undersea volcano eruptions millions of years ago. However, the plateaus and the caves constitute the unique characteristic of the area’s anaglyph: From the large plateaus of Psiloritis and Nida to the smaller of Petradolakia, Zominthos, Rousa lake etc, where unique preservation pouches of endemic forms of flora and fauna in Crete are formed. There are tens of caves and other forms of limestone breaks of the rocks in the area. The ones that stand out are the one of Idaion Andron, Sfendoni cave at Zoniana and Gerondospilios cave of Melidoni that is accessible from visitors without the risk of bat attacks or other animal. At Psiloritis, there are some deeper cave chasms such as the one of Tafkoura that is 960 meters deep. For the speleology lovers there are many other caves that are equally important, such as the one of Erfoi of the Municipality of Arkadi, the one of Mougri near the Monastery of Vosakos, the one of Fandaksospiliara at Prinos village, the caves of Tsoupa in Kalivos etc. The few gorges of the area are gathered round Margarites village where the cypresses with the horizontal branches can be found as well as several species of the fauna and flora of the island. The gorge that leads to Kalivos from the dorp of Mousai, the gorge of Kalandares as well as the gorge that is located in between the Abdanites and Damavolos and Agios Silas villages, where there are many windmills are of particular natural beauty.
Flora
Something that characterizes the area of Mylopotamos is the variety of ecosystems and by extension the different types of vegetation. At the north side of the Kouloukonas Mountain appears the characteristic type of dense makia vegetation, where arbutus (Arbutus unedo and Arbutus andrachne) and Ericas (Erica manipuliflora) prevail. In the same area, during spring the spiny brooms (Calicotome villosa) bloom and their bright yellow color competes with their strong aroma, while during the very hot days of the summer, one can see the residents of Sises village holding leather rakes (workshops) in order to gather the labdanums (Cistus creticus). During summer the hardy flourished oleander (Nerium oleander) can be found either self-sawn in coombs or planted on the side of the road. During September, the sea daffodil (Pancratium maritimum) bloom in the river mouth of Geropotamos and the beaches of Skaleta-Stavromenos. Near Arkadi and north Mylopotamos, clusters of cypresses with horizontal branches (Cupressus sempervirens) and acorns (Quercus pubescens) appear. Particularly impressive are the gorges of Eleftherna – Margarites – Orthe in which a large variety of plants is gathered. Ascending to a higher altitude of Psiloritis, we observe that live stocking has formed the vegetation. Most of the bushes are prohibitively bristly, such as the perennial shrub Rhamnus lycioides, the perennial herb Astragalus angustifolius, and Astracantha cretica, while among them there are hidden small but beautiful bulbed plants, such as the Prospero automnale, the endemic Cretan colchicum (Prospero automnale) and the endemic tiny plant called Colchicum cretense. At the root of “Skinakas” top, grows the rarest plant of Crete, which is one of the four endemic species of Greece. It is hard to be detected by humans and unfortunately very easy to be detected by goats. Horstrissea dolinicola grows only in small plateaus of the area and is threatened by habitat loss. At the plateau of Nida, the trees are few, mainly maples (Acer sempervirens), wild pear trees (Pyrus spinosa) and whitethorns (Crataegus monogyna). The monotony of the mountain genista breaks because of the reptilian endemic plant of Crete, the Polygonum idaeum that spreads like a carpet across the plateau. In smaller neighboring plateaus, maples, Kermes oaks and acorns are multiplying day by day. The forest of Mylopotamos (villages of Doksaro-Drosia-Agridia) and the Kermes oaks forest at Kalivos village are very impressive.
Fauna
The area of Mylopotamos practically identifies itself with the mountain area of Psiloritis, one of the three big mountain chins of Crete. Due to the limestone rocks, the high altitudes and the intense geomorphology, it is characterized by a large variety of super terrestrial but also “underground biotopes”. South of the mountain area, big slopes prevail, offering numerous sites for the nesting of the big raptors. The north glacis fade away slowly at the Cretan Sea and is used as a feeding ground, which has as a result to offer more food search (usually dead sheep) for the carrion buzzards and the lammergeyers. The wider area of the mountainous Psiloritis hosts several war eagles that use the smooth glacis for the hunting of partridges, while Bonelli’s eagles and lannerets nest and hunt here on a regular basis. At the plateau of Nida (around Idaion Andron), the Choughs (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) are gathered as one of the most important populations in Greece, while equally large populations have their “cousins”, the Alpine coughs (Pyrrhocorax graculus) in the same places. At the altitude of 1800 meters, it is easy to come across woodlarks (Lullula arborea) and a few meters higher the Alpine accentors (Prunella collaris). As far as the invertebrate species of the area is concerned, the presence of one of the four butterflies of the island is unique. Kretania psylorita lives and reproduces only at the plateau, where due to its rarity is immensely endangered from its collectors that visit the island. Underground, a whole animal world (often blind), lives and develops slowly, adding its own beauty in the fauna mosaic of Psiloritis. Tens of colorless, tiny and blind anthropoda and snails endemic species that we come across nowhere else in the world but here survive and reproduce in cavities, caves or precipices of the karstik system at the mountainous Mylopotamos.
