Kallikratis

Kallikratis is a small mountainous village situated in Sfakia, and more precisely at the White Mountains at an altitude of 540 meters. The village is accessible either through the neighboring villages of Asfendou (from the west) and Asi Gonia (from the east) or by following the covered in tarmac and spiral-shaped road that begins from the north of the village Kapsodasos and ends up at Kallikratis plateau.

Kallikratis Gorge is situated at the southwestern plateau and it leads to the village Patsianos. The gorge is crossed by a 4 km long path.

During the winter, Kallikratis seems almost desolate, due to the fact that the shepherds of the village take their flocks and descend to their pastures to pass winter.

The residents of Kallikratis had a long tradition and history of participation in the liberating fights that took place. During the great Cretan Revolution of 1867, Turkish forces under the command of Omer Pasha tried unsuccessfully to invade Sfakia via Kallikratis. In the early 20th century, the residents of the village voluntarily participated in the Macedonian Struggle (1904-1908).

During the German Occupation, resistance forces had installed a wireless at Anemospilios cave, near Kallikratis. George Psychountakis, a Greek Resistance fighter on Crete during the Second World War, wrote in his book “The Cretan Runner” that he remained hidden in the cave during the spring of 1942 and that the locals were those who helped him through these all.

In 1943, the paramilitary group of Fritz Schubert (a branch of the German Wehrmacht) looted and burned the village and executed more than 30 people in retaliation for the participation of local people in resistance against the Nazis.