70 Agios Georgios – Limnakaro

The village of Agios Georgios in Lassithi, eastern Crete, is found at an altitude of 880 m and is 40 km away from Agios Nikolaos. A small village, that according to some legends was the birthplace of Zeus, Agios Georgios is often the start to hikes in the mountain range of Dikti. The route towards Limnakaro follows a south direction through the chapel of Agio Pnevma before reaching Limnakaro Plateau.

The route from Agios Georgios to Limnakaro

We follow the road south of Agios Georgios for 300 m. Slightly before the settlement of Koudoumalia, we come to a complex of agricultural tourism facilities on our left-hand side. There, a secondary road (1), with a southerly direction, begins, which we follow for approximately 500 m. We then come upon a fork and take its left (southern) branch; we continue for 100 m until we reach an uphill main dirt road (2), which we take southwards for 850 m.

Coming across a right turn, we leave the unsurfaced road and follow a distinct path which zig-zags for approximately 300 m, to the top of the slope (3). We continue on the smooth slope walking southwards, towards the saddle. Once there, we reach the dirt road (4) again. From here, the Plateau of Limnakaro (5) can be seen; we arrive there after 650 m on the unsurfaced road. On our left side, eastwards, we see the steep, vertical slopes of Spathi which have given it its name (σπαθί- spathί = sword, in Greek).

Down below at Limnakaro, we can distinguish the chapel of Agio Pnevma (the Holy Spirit), and slightly southwards, the bed of a stream which runs through the small plateau. As soon as we descend to the plateau, we come across a dirt road on the left which we ignore and follow the main unsurfaced road southwards. This road, having passed by the chapel of Agio Pnevma and immediately after a well (the water is not drinkable), continues straight on towards the south. We ignore a junction (6) that we meet a few metres along the road and continue rather uphill to a shepherd’s stone dairy hut (7), which is located at the foot of the western side of the plateau.