85 Dafni – Papagiannades

We start our walk along the narrow alleys of Dafni (1) and descend to the eastern exit of the village. Once there, we take a left-hand on a downhill dirt road, which passes through olive groves on the slope and meanders until a crossroads (2), near a watercourse with plane trees.

At the crossroads, we take the left branch which leads us down to the watercourse; we cross onto its northern bank, where we reach another dirt road (3), and follow it to the right.

We continue parallel to the bank, yet at a distance until we reach an old, abandoned farmhouse (4). There, we will cross the watercourse again.

After approximately 500 m, we leave the main dirt road, turn left onto a cart track, cross the watercourse one more time and climb up to the little rocky saddle which can be seen in the distance ahead of us (5).

On our right, we see a characteristic rocky elevation, south of which there is a huge cave-like hollow and a small chapel of Saint John the Theologian – Agios Ioannis Theologos – where a small yet spectacular gorge begins.

Having passed the saddle, we descend in a south-easterly direction, initially walking through scrub and then a flat rocky area. At the end of the latter, we come upon a dirt road (6), cross it and continue straight on, to the small stream (7) ahead.

We reach a spot with a few characteristic cypress trees, cross the stream and continue to the left of the cypresses. A little further up, we will cross the stream again and reach its northern bank. There, we come to a dirt road which runs along the mountain line. We ignore the many turn-offs we encounter and continue up eastwards, to the village of Vori (8). The village has retained its traditional Cretan character and is surrounded by olive trees. Visitors will find small houses clustered together with well kept gardens and two traditional “kafeneia” where the locals gather for a coffee and friendly chats.

The path continues through the little village and then we go up the steep unsurfaced road north-eastwards until we reach the main road, which we follow to the left. After a few metres, we arrive at the village of Papagiannades (9). This is a very small and traditional Cretan village with a rich history and a few notable churches that are worth visiting if time allows.