traveldk.com

The zig-zag path down through the gorge is called the Xyloskalo. The toughest part plummets a breathtaking 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in little more than 2 km (1 mile), passing through pine and cypress woods along the way.

Above the Xyloskalo to the west, the skyline is dominated by the massive peaks of Gingilos and Volakia. These mountaintops may remain snow covered well into early summer when the temperatures at sea level are scorching.

The springs of Neroutsiko and Riza Sikias meet at the foot of the Xyloskalo. In winter they form a fierce torrent that makes the gorge impassable, but in summer they dry to a trickle.

Not far from the foot of the Xyloskalo and the springs, the tiny, roughly built chapel of Agios Nikolaos stands in the shade of pine and cypress trees, next to an official rest area.

The last dwellers in the gorge abandoned this village in 1962 when the area was designated a national park. The ghostly cottages have become ever more derelict.

Dwarfed by steep cliffs, the small church of Osia Maria contains 14th-century frescoes and lends its name to the village of Samaria and to the gorge itself.

Near the shrine of Afendis Christos, the gorge narrows to just 3 m (9 ft) of space separating rocky walls that rise 700 m (over 2,000 ft).

A crumbling Turkish fort, a ruined Venetian church and a few tumbledown cottages are all that remain of the old village of Agia Roumeli. Below these ruins lies the site of the small Hellenistic city state of Tarra.

The inhabitants of Agia Roumeli abandoned their village in the 1960s, intent on a new location by the sea. The new village has since grown into a cheerful string of tavernas and guesthouses spread out along a single street.

Just east of Agia Roumeli, Agios Pavlos beach is a long, uncrowded stretch of pebbles. It is named after the tiny chapel here dedicated to St Paul.