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Frangokastello guarantees its visitors, from the very first sight, sharp contrasts and wide horizons and is certainly one of the most picturesque places in Crete.

We are here in the municipality of Chora Sfakion, at coordinates

+35° 10' 56.002" North, +24° 14' 4.202" East

in a location that has no real central village, but that is instead formed of a few scattered houses on the coast with a total population of only 148 people (source Wikipedia.gr the national census of 2011).

Its name ("Frango-kàstelo" in modern Greek pronunciation) derives from the presence of a medieval defense fortress built by the Venetian rulers in the fourteenth century (Castel Franco),

recently restored and well preserved in its outside wall has now become the silent sentinel of a beautiful and peaceful stretch of sea .............. with so much history behind it!

Located south of the province of Chanià, overlooking the Libyan Sea towards Africa, the wide flat stretch of Frangokastello is bordered by a varied and interesting coastline, which alternates stretches of

rocky or clay cliffs (Kritama) to beautiful dunes covered of rare Mediterranean bush (Orthi Ammos) and beaches of fine sand or pebbles (Hontros Volakas, Illigas, Mavro Nerò , Vatalos , etc......) giving a wide and never dull choice to the lovers of the beautiful sea!

Frangokastello can be reached, on asphalted roads, through steep gorges (Kotsifoù, Kourtaliòtiko and Kallikratiànos) that cut through the foothills of the "Lefkà Ori" (which literally translated means "White Mountains" because these peaks are covered with snow through May), a mountain range which includes seven peaks over two thousand meters with the highest, the Pachnes, which reaches 2,453 meters above sea level.

This is the largest mountain chain of Crete which divides horizontally the west of the island, this made Frangokastello not easily accessible until a fairly recent past, delaying and

limiting the development of tourism, so that here there are no hotels with facilities large enough to attract mass tourism (there is only a small marina on about ten kilometers of coastline!) so that the good hospitality you will encounter in these areas will still be managed by small and medium size accomodations mostly family owned.

From the climatic point of view a number of factors such as the south-facing position of Frangokastello, its latitude (essentially "African") and the effect provided by the

protective screen to the north of the "White Mountains", provide mild temperatures for most of the year, but be careful because in summer these areas are also subject to very strong Meltemi winds.

To reach Frangokastello, coming from Chanià or Heraklion, the best route passes through the junction of Rethymno with compulsory turn in the direction of Armeni-Agios Vassilios-Anguselianà and Agios Ioannis

and then through the gorge of Kotsifoù until you reach Sellià (here there is also the junction leading to the nearby bay of Plakiàs), Ano Rodàkino (where a new bridge is under construction) and then Argoulès and Skalotì.

Continuing west, after Frangokastello, the road leaves the coast and returns inland; after about 3 km you will reach a junction, to the right leading to the villages of Patsianòs and Kapsodhàsos, taking the left direction, towards Agios

Georgios, you will arrive after about 14 Km of beautiful panoramic road to Sfakià and from here every morning in summer (sea conditions permitting) sails the ferry boat that connects to the bays and the

villages of Loutrò, Agia Roumèli (located at the mouth of the longest gorges of Europe, those of Samariàs), Soùgia and Paleochora, taking  practically a "small cruise" on the edge of an area that is still one of the wildest and most pristine of the Mediterranean.

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