St. JOHN THE HERMIT’S WATERFALL

In the 13th century, St. John the Hermit stepped the land of Crete, in the coast of Palaiochora.

He then lived in caves belonging to the village of Azogires Paleochoras in the mountains: Zoures Cave, Characas Cave.

The caves are very difficult to reach.

The caves are located in a completely vertical rock wall: the Zoures Cave is 535 meters above sea level – the Characas Cave is 250 meters above sea level.

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The source and small waterfall are 400 meters from the foot of the rock wall: it was the only one place in the neighbourhood, which provided the drinking water needed for life.

For the hermit and his companions a serious effort had to be made, to have access to fresh drinking water every day.

That is why the waterfall was named: St. John the Hermit’s Waterfall.

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As you can see in the picture, only a little old sign indicates the path to the waterfall. There is an inscription on one side of the board only.

Anyone who goes to the city of Palaiochora, only they can see the sign.

With my friend John, we are traveling by car, from Palaiochora.

From this direction, people can’t see the expiration that leads to the waterfall at all.

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I told John to stop, because the navigation system showed, that we had arrived at the waterfall.

It is not possible to stop, where are stairs lead to the waterfall, so we drove a little further.

Since only the dense forest can be seen along the road, therefore, John doubted, that we would indeed find anything here.

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We love West Crete:
– because we can really feel the love between people
– honesty, which come from love: it is value here
– there is trust between people
Proof of this: no seller is needed! – but a clay pot is enough: if people want to buy cold drinks.
The cold drink is in the water. The money should be put in the clay pot.

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My friend John took amazing pictures, and I tested the water.

In the great heat, it was very pleasant in the woods. I thought: the fresh water would be cold, but the water temperature surprising me: it was great!

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