Agia Eirini (''Αγία Ειρήνη'') is a small community in Western

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

, population 58 (2021 census). It lies in the Chania regional unit which constitutes the western part of Crete. It is in the municipality of

Kantanos-Selino Kantanos-Selino () is a municipality in Chania regional unit, Crete, Greece. It is numbered 4 on the map of the Chania region. The seat of the municipality is the village of Palaiochora. The municipality has an area of . A significant number of f ...

, which forms the southwest part of the region, specifically the

East Selino East Selino ( - ''Anatoliko Selino'') is a former municipality in the Chania (regional unit), Chania regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Kantanos-Selino, of which it is a municipal uni ...

unit, and the community of Epanochori.

Description

The importance of Agia Eirini lies in that constitutes the north end of the

gorge A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, 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 tend ...

that takes its name from this village. The gorge is popular with trekkers, bringing tourists north from the beach resort of

Sougia Sougia () is a community and a small village in Chania regional unit on the island of Crete, Greece. It is part of the municipal unit of East Selino (''Anatoliko Selino''). It is located on the south coast of the island, 70 km south of Chan ...

where it ends. The valley itself continues some distance north of the village to the watershed dividing north and southern Crete. After pausing at Agia Eirini, the walk continues east to Omalos.Randonnée en Crète n°35: Soughia - Omalos par la gorge d'Aghia-Irini
The village lies on the road from

Chania Chania (, , ), also sometimes romanization of Greek, romanized as Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania (regional unit), Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno ...

to Sougia, 40 km south of Chania at an altitude of 650m, located at the foot of Apopigadi, south of Prases (in neighbouring Mousouroi,

Platanias Platanias (Greek: Πλατανιάς) is a village and municipality on the Greek island of Crete. It is located about west from the city of Chania and east of Kissamos, on Chania Bay. The seat of the municipality is the village Gerani. Platani ...

) on the north side of the pass, just past where the road branches east to

Omalos Omalos () is a small village in western Crete, in the Mousouroi unit of the Chania region. The Greek word Ομαλός means even, plain, regular, or smooth, referring to the plateau. Description Omalos is situated at the northeastern corner ...

at the

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that wind power, converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. , hundreds of thousands of list of most powerful wind turbines, large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, were generating over ...

line on the ridge, and just north of Epanochori itself. Agia Eirini is nested between two smaller settlements, Koulouridiana to the north and Livadhaki to the south. The inhabitants are engaged in farming. Local produce includes chestnuts, honey and mournoraki (''μουρνόρακη''), a local spirit made from

mulberries ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of 19 species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 subordinate ...

References

External links

Wikimapia: Agia Eirini
The + marks the entrance to the gorge
Mapcarta: Agia Eirini
Populated places in Chania (regional unit) {{Crete-geo-stub