Petre Gorge

The Petre gorge in the prefecture of Rethymno is located 13 km west of Rethymno, among the hills of Mandaro and Tsouni Viglas. It starts near the Karoti village and ends at the beach of Episkopi.

Although short in length, the Petre gorge is a beautiful gorge, easily accessible by all and suitable even for summer dips in its ponds. At a certain points, the visitors need to be careful when it comes to climbing large rocks.

Inside, the Petre gorge narrows and is surrounded by steep cliffs that reach 120 meters in height, for about 1 kilometer, while there are places that offer great views. The gorge is a home to several plant species, such as laurels, oleanders, Monk’s Peppers, silver willows, almond-leaved pears etc.

The river that flows through the gorge, the largest in the western Rethymno, is supplied by the waters of Kollita Gorges. It is full-flowing throughout the year and covers half of the prefecture. At the point of its exit, at the beach of Episkopi an important wetland is being formed, which has been included in the Natura 2000 program.