One of the most remote and beautiful Cretan villages, Aradena, and Vardinoyiannis bridge, Sfakia county, Chania, Crete, Greece
Aradena, is one of the most remote and most beautiful mountainous villages of Crete, surrounded by an impressive and "wild" landscape. Located in the already remote county of Sfakia, is among the most distant ones. Aradena, and the next village of Agios Ioannis were seperated from the "other" world by the Aradena Gorge, and the only way to reach there, on the slopes of Lefka Ori (White Mountains), was to walk up and down a path in the heart of the gorge. That was until 1986, when a greek bussiness man, whose origin was from here, donated the metalic, military bridge that you can see on the lower left part. It took his name and is called "Vardinoyannis bridge". It was the same year, 1986, that electricity reached for the first time those remote villages. Aradena, was completely destroyed by the Turks during the Ottoman Empire, because its inhabitants participated to the revolution of Daskalogiannis. It was later reinhabited, but today is almost completely abandoned, because the two large families that stayed here, exterminated each other, member by member, during a vendetta. In one of the most traditional regions of Crete, strict, unwritten moral and ethical laws are still in power. Most of the impressive houses of the village are nowadays destroyed, and evidence of the "battle" between the two families, are the 2 seperate cemeteries (one for each large family). The cars that you see there, belong to bungee jumpers, who come here to enjoy the experience of the highest bungee jump in Greece (and probably Europe). The "dive" goes down to 138 m.
Size: 5616px × 3744px
Location: Aradena village, Sfakia region, Chania, Crete island, Greece, Europe
Photo credit: © Hercules Milas / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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