Agia Roumeli ( el, Αγιά Ρούμελη) is a small village in southwest

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

and is popular with tourists.

Background

Located a few kilometers above the town is the southern entrance to the

Samaria Gorge Samaria (; he, שֹׁמְרוֹן, translit=Šōmrōn, ar, السامرة, translit=as-Sāmirah) is the historic and biblical name used for the central region of Palestine, bordered by Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. The first ...

. For most walkers, this is the exit, as the usual route through the gorge is to descend from the north. The gorge is a popular tourist destination in Crete, the longest gorge in

, and one of the longest in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, measuring 18 km. The village has several hotels and a few rooms for rent and also some

taverna A taverna (Greek: ταβέρνα) is a small Greek restaurant that serves Greek cuisine. The taverna is an integral part of Greek culture and has become familiar to people from other countries who visit Greece, as well as through the establishme ...

s. Agia Roumeli has a large beach and a ferry

slipway A slipway, also known as boat ramp or launch or boat deployer, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats, and for launching and retrieving small ...

where the ferry to and from

Hora Sfakion Image:Chora Sfakion 1941 evacuation monument.jpg, 200px, Monument commemorating the evacuation during WW2 of British and ANZAC forces from Hora Sfakion in May 1941. ''Click on the left plaque for a closer view'' rect 198 536 320 1082 rect 0 0 90 ...

via Loutro, arrives, mainly used by walkers who have completed the Samaria walk. The village is not accessible by road. According to one local source, the name comes from a corruption of the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

words ''Maya'' (وأتر) meaning water, and ''Roumi'' (رومى) meaning

Byzantine Greeks The Byzantine Greeks were the Greek-speaking Eastern Romans of Orthodox Christianity throughout Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. They were the main inhabitants of the lands of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire), of Constantinople ...

, indicating a place of "Greek/Roman water", possibly a reference to the ''Samaria Gorge'' or a nearby spring. If this origin is true, it is possible that it was named when the island was controlled by the

Emirate of Crete The Emirate of Crete ( ar, إقريطش, Iqrīṭish or , ''Iqrīṭiya''; gr, Κρήτη, Krētē) was an Islamic state that existed on the Mediterranean island of Crete from the late 820s to the reconquest of the island by the Byzantine Empi ...

, or later under the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. However, it is also possible the name refers to or evolved into a reference to Saint Romula (or ''Romylia''), a minor saint of

Late Antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...

in the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...

References

Populated places in Chania (regional unit) {{Crete-geo-stub