Upload your photos for Golden beach - Belegrina and share them with us! Press here.
Prefecture: Lassithi
Address:
Chrissi island 
Telephone:
Golden beach - Belegrina
Διασχίζοντας το κεδροδάσος και σε απόσταση 5 περίπου λεπτών με τα πόδια θα φτάσετε στην παραλία Μπελεγρίνα ή αλλιώς Χρυσή Άμμο. Είναι η πιο δημοφιλής παραλία του νησιού και βρίσκεται στις βόρειες ακτές του. Πρόκειται για μια πανέμορφη παραλία που θυμίζει έντονα παραλίες της Καραϊβικής, με τη λευκή άμμο, τα σπασμένα κοχύλια και τα ρηχά γαλαζοπράσινα νερά της. Διαθέτει κάποια οργάνωση και θα βρείτε ομπρέλες αλλά και μια καντίνα για τις αναγκαίες προμήθειες.
Places near Golden beach - Belegrina
Chrysi (“golden”), alternatively known as Gaidouronisi (“donkey island”), is an uninhabited Greek island about 15 km south of Crete close to Ierapetra in the Libyan Sea. Approximately 700m east of the island is the island of Mikronisi. Administratively these islands fall within the Ierapetra municipality in Lasithi Prefecture.It is possible to visit Chrysi by sea from Ierapetra and from Myrtos. There is a nudist beach on the north coast of the island. The highest point on the island is called Kefala (“head”) and it is 31m above sea-level. On the western part of the island is the chapel of Saint Nicholas (estimated to date to the 13th century). There are also a salt pan, an old port, some Minoan ruins, a lighthouse and a Roman cemetery. Due to the shallow waters around Chrysi, snorkelling and diving is a popular pastime. The Belegrina, Hatzivolakas, and Kataprosopo bays have a wide diversity of shells.It is possible to reach the island from Ierapetra between middle of May and late October.Chrysi is protected as an “area of intense natural beauty”. The island hosts the largest naturally formed Lebanon cedar forest in Europe. There is no fresh water on the island. The majority of trees have an average age of 200 years and average height of up to 7 metres, some of the trees are up to 300 years old and 10 metres tall. The density is approximately 28 trees per hectare.
On the west part of the island you can see the well-preserved old chapel of Agios Nikolaos, the salt pan which still gathers salt, the old port, the Minoan ruins, some Roman carved graves and the light house.At the Byzantine era the inhabintants on this tiny island were living mainly from fishing, salt export and the export of “porfira” a scarlet dye produced from shells for the cloaks of Europe’s royalty.Later pirates forced the inhabitants to flee Chrysi for safety on Crete and they used the island as a hide-out. Many pirate and merchant ships have sunk in the sea around Chrysi.Things to do in Chrissi islandDivning around Chrysi: In the sea around the island the variety of the marine species is impressive. About 55 different species of fossils were set on the volcanic rocks 35.000 to 70.000 years ago, when Chrysi was covered by water. A number of them still live in the sea around Chrysi. As a result all of the northern coast, Belegrina, Hatzivolakas and Kataprosospo bays are full of shell. The turquoise waters around the island are shallow. Both northe and south of the island the depth does not exceed 10 metres for about one kilometer. This makes Chrysi the best place for snorkeling. It truly looks like paradise on Earth.
Chrissi Island is located in Ierapetra, East Crete: It is one of the 81 uninhabited islands of Crete. The residents of Ierapetra call it "The Island", because of their special relationship with it. It lies 8 miles away from Ierapetra coast in the Libyan Sea.
The cedar forest of Chrissi is quite rare in structure and length for the Greek standards. It is about 350 m 2 and the density of the cedar trees is about 14 trees per m 2 . It is consisted of age-long trees with an average age from 200 to 300 years, height up to 10 meters and diameter which reaches almost one whole meter. Cedar trees have a root system which develops in a rage at least twice their height! Besides their large roots, they have a huge amount of really thin roots which create a complex that restrains the sand.
The number of the floral kinds of Chrissi is very large compared to the size of the island, and corresponds to 1/20 of the Cretan flora! Those kinds, which you can find on the island of Chrissi , are rare on the coasts of the south Europe and unique all over the world.
Login with
Facebook