Thripti Village

More mountain climbing to go through unpaved road to an old and current mountain retreat, where excellent grape varieties produce equally good raki. Carry on to Afentis peak dominating the area from 1476m, for breathtaking views.

A marvelous village on a beautiful plateau, which is unknown to the masses. You can reach it through Kato Horio, some kms northern from Ierapetra. The The road rises up to the side of Sitian Mountains. After that is leads through a wonderful forest of pine trees and ends to Thripti settlement.

Another way to reach the village is the following: A road paved with asphalt starts from Koutsouras‘ area, 18 kms far from Ierapetra and rises up to the Orino village. There it is the end of the asphalted road, but a passable dirt road goes on. This road gets through the wild mountain landscape and ends up to the Thripti village from the eastern side. Taking this route, before you arrive at the village, on your left there is another dirt road, which leads you on the peak of Thripti mountain, called Afentis Stavromenos (1476m). There you can have a taste of the gorgeous panoramic view.

The village is known for its vineyards and the few inhabitants, who remained there, work on stockbreeding. Most of its inhabitants have left the village and have taken their residence at Ierapetra or Kavousi (north) area. On the plateau the vegetation is lush, and you will find many gardens with fruit trees like apple, pear, walnut, almond trees and many vineyards. But what makes Thripti stand out is the only remaining pine forest of the mountains of Sitia, extending till the mountains of Makrigialos. Unfortunately, it is the only remaining forest that once covered the entire eastern Crete. Much of this was burned out by a huge fire in 1987. The mountains of Thripti are the starting point of one of the most spectacular gorges in Greece, the Gorge of Ha.