Ha Gorge ( el, Φαράγγι Χά) is a narrow

gorge A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

, at the Monasteraki Dakos, on the eastern part of the island of

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, and ...

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 with ...

. It is located in the west slope of

Thrypti Thrypti ( el, Θρυπτή) is a mountain range in Lasithi in eastern Crete, Greece. It trends to the northeast from Ierapetra in the southwest in the direction of Sitia. However, it only goes half-way in that direction. The rest of the distance ...

mountain range, and exits east of Vasiliki village in the plain of

Ierapetra Ierapetra ( el, Ιεράπετρα, lit=sacred stone; ancient name: ) is a Greece, Greek town and municipality located on the southeast coast of Crete. History The town of Ierapetra (in the local dialect: Γεράπετρο ''Gerapetro'') is loc ...

. From this location scenic views overlook Pahia Amos and the bay. Being practically inaccessible to people, the gorge maintains a rich and diverse flora and fauna. Its depth is about and the fissure is said to be one of the largest in the world. Late Minoan IIIC sites are in the area.

Etymology

The name 'Ha Gorge' is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Cretan dialect Cretan Greek, or the Cretan dialect ( el, Κρητική Διάλεκτος, ), is a variety of Modern Greek spoken in Crete and by the Cretan diaspora. Geographic distribution The Cretan dialect is spoken by the majority of the Cretan Greeks ...

''hasko'' ( el, χάσκω) meaning "separate" or "to gape".

Location

The gorge is located on the north end of the Isthmus of Hierapetra. Access to the geological fault is very difficult. The road approach to the gorge is along the national highway from

Iraklio Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban Ar ...

to Agios Nikolaos and then the approach leads through

and the village of Episkopi. From this village, a diversion road over a distance of leads to the Thripti, a location of a church. From this location access to the gorge is only by walking.

Features

The gorge has an elevation of at the entrance where the width is about . It is about long, particularly narrow at several points and has rocky walls rising up to , in cascade form. The gorge splits "at right angles a fault-cliff which divides east Crete". The width of the gorge varies from ; at some locations it is as narrow as . Its depth is about and the fissure is said to be one of the largest in the world. It has a number of falls along its length out of which a fall of 250 m is the steepest. The geological formations created by this wide fault exposes the rock-beds and their folds which are identical on both banks of the gorge. Geologically it is interpreted as a "r Tectonics" active normal fault, known as the Ierapetra

active fault An active fault is a fault that is likely to become the source of another earthquake sometime in the future. Geologists commonly consider faults to be active if there has been movement observed or evidence of seismic activity during the last 10,0 ...

with a northeast–southwest orientation. The stream emerging from the gorge is diverted to drive two watermills.

Abseiling Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling the person descending controls their own movement down the rope, in contrast to Bela ...

is conducted in the vicinity; the gorge has 26 abseils of varying length from .

Archeological excavations

Archeological excavations in the vicinity of have revealed Late

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

-Final Neolithic (4000 BC -3000BC) occupation on the Monastiraki Katalimata, which is precariously located at the edge of Ha Gorge. Monasteraki Halasmenos is nearby. Halasmenos, a Late Minoan IIIC site, lies on a hill near the end of the gorge's mouth, and with Kavousi and Vasiliki-Kephala, it forms a triad of important sites from this period. A number of ruins and artifacts have been unearthed on the northern bank of the Ha gorge, with some of the ruins perched on the individual narrow rock shelves near vertical face of the cliff. Apart from archaeologists, a few adventure seeking

rock climbers Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically an ...

are seen in the area, which otherwise is almost inaccessible.

Wildlife

'' Smyrnium'', a genus of flowering plants in the family

Apiaceae Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus ''Apium'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plants ...

, the umbellifers found in Crete is also found in the inaccessible Ha gorge; there are three species of this plant. The gorge is home to many migratory and endemic birds, mammals, reptiles and insects.

Etymology

Location

Features

Archeological excavations

Wildlife

References

Bibliography

External links