Platis River

Platis River is one of the most important and largest rivers in the prefecture of Rethymno and in entire Crete.

With strong current all year round, the Platis River is supplied with the waters from northeastern Mount Kedros, gathers almost all the water from Amari valley, which has many springs everywhere, and flows into the sea in the area of Agia Galini bay, south of the city of Rethymno.

As it is obvious from its name, the Platis River (=wide river) is wide throughout its length and, at one point, it joins with the tributary of the Smilianos gorge, the Lygioti River, which starts near Gerakari.

At a distant site of Amari valley, between the villages of Agia Paraskevi, Vizari and Petrochori, the Platis River narrows abruptly and creates two impressive gorges. The first is the Mesa gorge, which is a miniature of the Kourtaliotis and its crossing requires walking and swimming in the water that runs all year round.

Platis River is one of those rivers in Crete, which has large amount of water and dense vegetation. Along its length, there are arched stone bridges built by the locals for their transportation across the river, while the remains of an ancient temple dedicated to Artemis can be found in its statuary.