Carob wood of Tris Ekklisies

The carob wood of Tris Ekklisies is located 64km south of Heraklion , next to the seaside settlement of Tris Ekklisies . The area, one of the most secluded in Europe, is quite hard to reach, as a serpentine road 10km long starts from the village Paranymfi , runs across the wild Asterousia Mountains and ends at the beach Tris Ekklisies .

After reaching the settlement, you must continue west on the hill above the village, to the beach Psili Ammos (or Ornios) . The slopes of the mountains leading to the beach are full of old carob trees , a very common tree in the arid and rocky Cretan grounds.

The carob wood of Tris Ekklisies is considered the largest natural carob wood in Europe, being almost unknown to everybody. The resistant carob trees thrive in arid and rocky areas and are planted in large distance from each other.

Their fruit looks like a hard bean and is hard and sweet. During the last century, Cretans used to eat the carobs like a sweet and even today it is a very healthy substitute for chocolate.

Formerly dry areas of Crete were ideal areas for growing carobs for forage, but today their exploitation has been reduced dramatically.