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| Mikronisi Beach in Chrissi island |
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Up to 1km to the north and 500m to the south the depth does not exceed 10m, while the 5m depth contour encompasses both the islands. It is very easy to reach the area by walk either from the South Chrissi beach or from Golden Beach after 15min. Due to the shallow waters, as said before, the beach is suitable for snorkeling and relax. The beach is less impressive than those of the north side or South Chrissi beach, but more secluded. The boats leave from Ierapetra at 10:30 and 12:30 and return at 16:00 and 17:00. Camping is prohibited (although some locals defy the prohibition and stay there from some days to some months), so you can only stay there for 5-6 hours. Mikronisi Beach photo gallery:
Chrissi Island Chrissi Island is located, as said before, 13 km southwards of Ierapetra, Eastern Crete. The people of Ierapetra just call it ‘ Island ' as there is a special bond among them and Chrissi. Every summer, from the midst of May until the end of September, small boats depart daily from the port of Ierapetra to go to the island. In the Libyan sea you journey along with sea-gulls whereas it's rare (but still possible) to see dolphins around. After almost an hour trip the boats arrive to the south end of the island, which is usually less windy. The disembarkation is made on the ‘vougiou's eye' spot, where there is a small wharf and the reception.The excursions on the island are a-day-long, so the visitors have plenty of time to tour on the paths of Chrissi, to dive in the blue-green sea and have lunch in the kiosk of the municipality of Ierapetra . The grand relief Chrissi is an almost flat island, which has an average altitude of 10metres only. When watched from far away it appears as a thin strip of earth that stands out of the sea. It has a maximum length of 5 km and width of 1 km . Its highest spot is east, it's called Kefala and it is 31m high. There you can find the forestall guard house, which has a view of the whole island. Almost 700m east of Chrissi there is ‘Mikronisi', which is a rocky island about 117 m2. The sea around the islands is quite shallow. In a spread about 1km north and 500m south is no deeper than 100m, while in the distance from Chrissi to Mikronisi the sea is about 5m deep. The rocks and the ground The basic rocks of Chrissi were made from the concretion of lava , which was surged out of an undersea volcano millions of years ago . By walking on the surface of the island, the visitor will be impressed by the colors of the rocks (maroon, grey-green, black). The larger part of the island is covered by sand. On the flat parts, the ground is fairly solid and is composed by thin grains of sand, which on a large amount are covered by leeches. On the parts of the island where there are sand hills, the sand is yellow and fat-grained. There, the sand is restrained by the roots of the cedar trees and by their leafage (which touches the ground) as well. The fossils All the fossils (49 kinds, shells, corals, sea urchins) that have been found on the island come from the sea. They were on the volcanic rocks about 350.000 to 70.000 years ago, when Chrissi was still underwater. The north coasts of the island are filled with shells. Especially on the east end of the north beach they are so many, that this becomes the main characteristic of the island. Flora and fauna The flora and the fauna of Chrissi have a very large variety if compared to the size of the island (the dominating ones are the cedar, the cypress bush, the lentisk, which are in a form of tree and bush as well, and sand-friendly vegetation). The cedar forest of Chrissi is quite rare in structure and length for the Greek standards. It is about 350 m 2 and the density of the cedar trees is about 14 trees per m 2 . It is consisted of age-long trees with an average age from 200 to 300 years, height up to 10 meters and diameter which reaches almost one whole meter. Cedar trees have a root system which develops in a rage at least twice their height! Besides their large roots, they have a huge amount of really thin roots which create a complex that restrains the sand. The number of the floral kinds of Chrissi is very large compared to the size of the island, and corresponds to 1/20 of the Cretan flora! Those kinds, which you can find on the island of Chrissi , are rare on the coasts of the south Europe and unique all over the world. In the sea area around Chrissi the variety and the population of the sea fauna increases just because the water is not deep. An area about six times the island (30km 2 ) surrounds it, without being deeper than 20 m. Most of animal kinds on the island have a Mediterranean spread. Therefore, none of them is dangerous for the people. The sea turtle Caretta caretta has been observed many times on the island, but without a report of birthing. There have been totally reported about 120 kinds of birds, in their majority migrants, which find food and rest on the island to continue their journey afterwards. In the recent years there have been imported rabbits, hares and partridges on the island by the habitants of the opposite coast. The hares ceased to exist, while there is being an effort to remove the rabbits as well. Aforetime, the Mediterranean seal (Monachus monachus) came out of the sea to wonder around on the beaches of the island. Today, it rarely makes an appearance and only the place name ‘Fokospilio' (it means the cave of the seals) on the northwest end of Chrissi reminds us of its frequent visits. History During the last centuries Chrissi is uninhabited, but before that there were small dorps around the island. On the west and east side of the island the activity that was developed during Minoan times is obvious. On the northwest side there is a church of st. Nicolas, which was probably built around the 13 th century. On the northeast of the church there is an old saltern and the only house on the island, which is built on ancient facilities. On the south and southwest of the church there are several wells and graves. The bigger one is from Roman times. Tour The total length of the paths on the island is about 10 km , which is about a three hour walk . The only things you will need in order to tour around the island are snickers , a hat , sun protection and water , which are necessary to protect yourself from the high temperatures during the summer . The visitor, who doesn't want to walk much, can enjoy the azure sea by the beach right next to the arriving area or right opposite of it, on the north beach of the island, which is a five minute walk only. The maintenance of the natural environment of Chrissi, past the moral obligations, is also commanded by a strict national and European protection system. So, it is not allowed Any form of pollution Visitors outside the restricted area ( paths and beaches ) C ollecting rocks, fossils, shells or ancient findings Collecting animals or plants Free camping Lighting a fire Smoking around bushes or trees
Chrissi island photo gallery:
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| Last Updated on Friday, 27 April 2012 23:16 |
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