Page 280 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Greek Islands

A DRIVING TOUR
THE AMÁRI

VALLEY The Amari CRETE
Valley

EXPERIENCE Crete Tour length 92 km (57 miles) Stopping-off points There are For more detail see p246
local tavernas in every village en route (Ano Méros offers
Locator Map
spectacular views) Terrain Twisting but well-paved roads
Dominated by the peaks of Mount Ídi to its east, the Amári
Valley offers staggering views over the region’s rocky peaks,
broad green valleys and dramatic gorges. Winding roads link
the many small agricultural communities of the Amári where,
even today, traditional life, including wearing folk dress,
continues. An area of Cretan resistance in World War II,
many of the villages were destroyed in the 1940s.
The Venetian
The beautifully buildings of Moní
frescoed church of the Asomáton, now
Panagía at Thrónos a college, stand
dates back to the 14th in a lush oasis of Views of Mount Ídi can
century. The key is held palm, plane and be seen from the
at the nearby taverna. eucalyptus trees. clock tower in the
centre of Amári. The
nearby church of Agía
Voleónes Anna has the island’s
START oldest frescoes.
Thrónos
Pandánasa Moní
Apostoli Asomáton
FINISH
Méronas Plataniá
Amári
Spíli
Gerakári Fourfourás
Kardáki Vríses Petrohóri Vizári
Kisós
Ano Méros Kouroútes
Ágios
Platanés Ioánnis
Nítavris
The 13th-century
ruined church of Agios Agía Paraskeví Plátanos
Ioánnis Theológos is
north of Kardáki.
West of the village of
Vizári are the ruins of
an early Christian
A war memorial outside basilica dating from
of Ano Méros depicts the 6th century.
a woman hewing out the
names of Resistance heroes.
0 kilometres 4 N
0 miles 4
One of the many churches
dotting the Amári Valley
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