Topolia
Topolia is a village on the road to South
Beach, 47km from Chania and 22km from Kissamos. It is located at an
altitude of 280m above the sea, just before the Topolia Gorge and
is the centre of the community with 370 residents. Here are 4
settlements Kapsaniana, Tsourouniana, Aikyrgiannis (Ai Kyrgiannis
is a Cretan Saint from Messara's Siva of Heraklion who helped
in the reunion of Christians after the liberation of Crete by
Nikiforos Fokas) Koutsomatados. The residents are farmers and
stock breeders.
The Topolia Gorge is full of plane and olive
trees, flowers and bushes. Its walls are almost vertical with 300m
height, many cavernous hollows and width that reaches in some
cases only 5 meters. The canyon crosses the river Tyflos.
The Cave of Agia Sophia.
On its left side a small church was built
at the point of the rock where, according to tradition,
the icon that came from Istanbul was stuck.
The cave has been mapped and is
considered to be of great national interest. The height of the dome
is 20m and its diameter 70m. and has many stalactites and
stalagmites in a variety of shapes.
It is of archaeological interest since neolithic sherds were
found there. But it is also of historical interest because, in this
cave, important events took place.
Two religious festivals are held here every year. The one on
December 24th with the representation of the birth
of Christ and the other on Easter Tuesday.