The approximately 20-hectare botanical garden of Crete in Skordalou was created a few years ago from the ashes of a devastating fire and has quickly become one of Crete's top sights.
The village of Skordalou is located 20 kilometres from the city of Chania, at the foot of the White Mountains. It is one of the greenest villages in Crete, with the oldest olive plantations in Europe and the main income of the population comes from the production of olive oil (tsounati).
At the end of October 2004, a sudden southerly wind from Africa caused a cable fire. This developed into a fire that spread so quickly that nobody could control it. Twenty-four hours later, the entire region around the village was almost completely burnt. The damage was unprecedented: sixty thousand olive trees, some of which were over 400 years old, were burnt. The village was destroyed both financially and ecologically. But the scorched earth was fertile and provided a new habitat for countless plants. The botanical garden, which is absolutely worth seeing, opened in 2009 thanks to a private initiative.
You can expect:
Mediterranean fruits, aromatic herbs, endemic plants, cacti, fruit trees, wild birds, mountain goats, a small lake, farm animals and butterflies.
There is a restaurant and a shop on the premises.
Special features:
Presentation and history of traditional dances, location for weddings and an amphitheatre
Click here to visit the website.