Kotsifou Gorge

The Kotsifou gorge is one of the many gorges in the prefecture of Rethymno, located several kilometers north of the village Sellia. The gorge starts at the village Kanevos and end up at Plakias.

With total length of 1.800 meters and some slopes, almost vertical, reaching the height of 600 meters, the Kotsifou gorge is very narrow at the beginning, approximately 10 meters, but it widens afterwards.

Inside the gorge, with its magical landscape surrounded by tall, vertical, imposing rocks, there is a small chapel of Agios Nikolaos, built inside a stone cavity.

The bottom of the gorge is thriving with vegetation; while on the steep rocky banks brushwood vegetation and various chasmophyts (species growing on rock crevices) are dominant.

Starting from the village Kanevos, the visitor enters the riverbed and, after about 1 hour’s hiking, approaches the bridge that connects Sellia with Mirthio. The path goes between large boulders, blocking the way, and soon the Kotsifou gorge joins a small gorge of Mpoutsina. In winter, an impressive waterfall, 20 meters tall, is formed here, while in summer the riverbed is completely dried.

Near the bridge leading to Sellia, the Kotsifou gorge gradually turns into a large valley where, if the visitor follows the dirt-road that leads backwards, opposite the flow of the canyon, he will meet the springs of Kotsifou, which form a small lake. The nearby villages draw water from this lake and from here onwards, the river, full-flowing throughout the year, flows towards one of the beaches of Plakias.