Chania Trails - APO 05 - All of Apokoronas in one Route

The historic settlement of Vafes, the tower of the notorious Aga Ibrahim Alidakis in the village of Embrosneros, the Byzantine murals by Ioannis Pagomenos at the churches of Panagia Sourouthiani in Alikambos and Agios Nikolaos in Maza, the small gorge near the village of Filippos, the ‘Hellenistic Arch Bridge’ and hiking along the banks of the Boutakas River, are but some of the highlights that will imprint themselves on our memories, our cameras or in our notes in the last pages of this guide.

Hikers who tackle the entire, 17-kilometer trail can stop for a rest at one of the villages along the way or at the end of the path, chatting about the Cretan janissary Ibrahim Alidakis and his reign of terror, the legend according to which the famed 14th-century Byzantine painter Ioannis Pagomenos is buried under the floor of Agios Nikolaos (Saint Nicholas) in Maza, but also about the wife of the master builder of the single-vaulted Hellenistic Arch Bridge, who, according to folklore, was entombed in its foundations to make it stronger.

One of the most vivid memories hikers take back, however, is undoubtedly of the old footpaths traversing Apokoronas’ wild landscape and connecting the villages along the route. They stand as witnesses to a way of life that defined the entire Chania hinterland until just a few decades ago and remain hidden from visitors until they decide to get to know Apokoronas through its hiking trails.