APOKORONAS area

The luxury holiday house "Villa Limani" is situated in the hart of APOKORONAS area in the North-West of Crete near the city of Chania. The APOKORONAS used to be one of the 5 provinces of Chania, but now it is the "merger" (DIMOS) of the next villages :

Armeni, Asi Gonia, Fres, Georgioupoli, Kryonerida en VAMOS.

The APOKORONAS became famous because of the movie ZORBA the Greek, that was mainly filmed in VAMOS and Stavros beach.

The area is characterised by the presence of the the white mountains "the LEFKA ORI" up to 2450m. The mountains are covered with snow from January till May. The mountains provide water for the entire area of the Apokoronas and this is also why the vegetation is so green compared to the rest of Crete.

One of the biggest sweet water lakes "LAKE KOURNAS" plays an important role in the buffering of the water supply of the area. But "Lake Kournas" is also a tourist hot spot where it is sometimes less crowded.

For the archeologists amongst us, they could visit the site of APTERA out the MINOAN era with its thermal baths and amphitheater with an amazing view on the white mountains. In VAMOS the Sint Georgos monastery with its ruins from the Olive factory from the Venetian times. In several villages there are little musea as in Gavalochory. This little but typical Greek village is worth a visit, stay for lunch or diner in one of the local restaurants that offer the "real" Cretan specialities.

The most important industry in this area is tourisme and agriculture. Nature wise the region is characterised by olive- and citrus trees and recently Aloa and avocado farms. at different locations you will find olive oil factories that offer their well awarded VIRGIN olive oil of high quality.

The "mighty" mountains consisting of limestone  are subject to erosion and time has created deep gorges that are famous amongst the hikers and walkers. Some are more adventurous than others, the most famous in the APOKORONAS is the "Diktamos" gorge in Stilos. It takes a well practiced walker 3 hours to descend the gorge that takes you down to the village of Stilos.

Most famous beaches are at KALYVES, ALMYRIDA and Georgioupolis. Georgioupolis is more touristic than the others but the ones at Kalives and Almyrida are very cosy with multiple lounge bars and beach restaurants.

The different villages of the APOKORONAS are very original and the atmosphere and habitants are not really affected by tourisme. Many expaths remain all year long. VAMOS is the most interesting village, in the high saison the tourist are dropped in the old center for a walk in the narrow streets.