Greece Rudolphu · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
653 metres, to scale.
A slice through Kritsa Gorge where it is deepest and narrowest, measured on the Copernicus relief model every 30 m. Same scale as the landmark standing on the floor.
Standing on the floor, to scale: Great Pyramid · 139 m · Empire State · 443 m
Depth is measured to the lower rim; the width is from rim to rim. A 30 m relief model smooths the narrowest walls, so a slot canyon reads shallower than it is.
653m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
4.0km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
30°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
594m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
4 °C warmer at the bottom.
In August the afternoon reaches 27 °C on the floor, against 22 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from May to June and from September to October. The wettest months are from November to February.
- 12°7°Jan
- 12°7°Feb
- 13°9°Mar
- 16°11°Apr
- 20°15°May
- 24°20°Jun
- 26°22°Jul
- 27°22°Aug
- 24°20°Sep
- 20°16°Oct
- 17°12°Nov
- 13°9°Dec
Afternoon highs, 1991–2020 averages (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the rim and of the floor with the standard lapse rate (6.5 °C per 1 000 m). Shade, wind and rock change this on the day. Not a forecast.
Narrow gorge not far from the town of Kritsa, Greece
Kritsa Gorge is a canyon in Greece. The relief model measures 653 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 4.0 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Neápolinearest town · 8.1 km in a straight line
- Parking 740 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 5.7 km from the floor
- Heraklion International Nikos Kazantzakis Airport (HER)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 37 km in a straight lineCar hire at HER airport (Heraklion)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From May to June and from September to Octoberbest months to hike (estimate)
Plan the visit
Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From the sky.
The canyon from above, with the relief shaded, the line of the cut, the river and what people have mapped around it.
N
2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 8 × 8 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 1viewpoints within 5 km
- 1footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- 2car parks within 3 km
- 7hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmΚαταφύγιο, Limnakaros naturally, Argoulias and 4 more
- 7restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- marked hiking routes within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- swimming spots within 3 km
- named waterfalls within 4 km
- caves within 3 km
- information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- bus stops within 2 km
- campsites within 8 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the floor of the canyon. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Neápoli8.1 km in a straight line
- Kritsá9.3 km in a straight line
- Sísion13 km in a straight line
- Mália13 km in a straight line
- Mokhós14 km in a straight line
- Ágios Nikólaos15 km in a straight line
- Stalís15 km in a straight line
- Eloúnda17 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Kritsa Gorge.
The river that carved it, the waterfalls inside it, the mountains on the rim, the lakes, beaches and island nearby — from our six sister atlases, each with its own figures.
Peakyas20 mountains within 15 kmFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Month by month
The weather, at the floor and at the rim.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon · floor | 12 | 12 | 13 | 16 | 20 | 24 | 26 | 27 | 24 | 20 | 17 | 13 |
| Afternoon · rim | 7 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 15 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 20 | 16 | 12 | 9 |
| Night · rim | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 6 |
| Rain (mm) | 88 | 74 | 41 | 28 | 18 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 20 | 48 | 58 | 90 |
| Rainy days | 14 | 11 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 13 |
| Sun hours/day | 4.1 | 4.9 | 7.0 | 8.6 | 10.3 | 12.2 | 12.2 | 11.1 | 9.4 | 7.1 | 5.2 | 3.7 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 12 | 7 | 4 | 88 | 4.1 |
| Feb | 12 | 7 | 4 | 74 | 4.9 |
| Mar | 13 | 9 | 5 | 41 | 7.0 |
| Apr | 16 | 11 | 7 | 28 | 8.6 |
| May | 20 | 15 | 10 | 18 | 10.3 |
| Jun | 24 | 20 | 14 | 5 | 12.2 |
| Jul | 26 | 22 | 17 | 2 | 12.2 |
| Aug | 27 | 22 | 17 | 4 | 11.1 |
| Sep | 24 | 20 | 15 | 20 | 9.4 |
| Oct | 20 | 16 | 12 | 48 | 7.1 |
| Nov | 17 | 12 | 9 | 58 | 5.2 |
| Dec | 13 | 9 | 6 | 90 | 3.7 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (594 m) and the rim (1,269 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
Photographs
Seen from the trail.
Recent years
Wet years, dry years.
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 103% | 63% | 121% | 96% | 59% | 222% | — | — | 149% | 131% | 188% | 66% |
| 2021 | 67% | 116% | 124% | 208% | 69% | 139% | — | — | 60% | 132% | 67% | 137% |
| 2022 | 110% | 110% | 252% | 46% | 52% | 111% | — | — | 117% | 109% | 73% | 31% |
| 2023 | 52% | 66% | 93% | 89% | 227% | 750% | — | — | 95% | 21% | 57% | 76% |
| 2024 | 102% | 61% | 40% | 25% | 119% | 17% | — | — | 106% | 12% | 45% | 177% |
| 2025 | 53% | 94% | 122% | 129% | 168% | 22% | — | — | 26% | 55% | 96% | 99% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Kritsa Gorge
Greece
- 653 mDepth
- 4.0 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 30°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q3827259) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Viewpoints, trails, bridges and the river line | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Rivers, waterfalls, mountains, lakes, beaches and islands nearby | Coastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
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