Rouvas Forest, one of the most important and treasured forest remaining on the island of Crete, is a vital ecosystem, primarily based on an oak forest.
The forest of Rouvas is located on the foot of mountain Psiloritis, east of the town of Heraklion and north east of Gergeri village. It is a plain surrounded by the mountain range called Ampelaki, Thallasokefala, Skinaka and Giristi. The access to the forest cis through the point Selia, in 1.300m high.
The plain of forest is in the location Ai-Giannis and is in 900m high. There are three exits from this plain, one through Gafari gorge which leads to the village Zaros, the second is returning to Sellia that leas to the village of Gergeri and the third way is the route that leads to the plateau of Nida, in Ideon Andron. The flora of the forest consists mainly by yews, maples, hollies, black cypresses and pines.
There is a wide variety of herbs, with more than 80 species. In our bee garden, in collaboration with the Natural History Museum of Crete we have counted 68 species. Endemic orchid , Cretan Cephalanthera cucullata( in danger of extinction) and endemic Ampelitsia or else Anegnora are also included in the flora of the forest.
In the fauna of the forest we can find rare mammals such as Fourogatos (endemic wild cat of Crete), the Cretan fly, the nanobat of Chanak but also badgers, hedgcocks, hares, weasels etc. From the family of amphibia we can find the endemic Cretan frog, as well as many varied species of reptiles. The poultry of the forest is also of great importance since very often groups of vultures are seen. Also, there is the lone vulture, a rare kind of vulture which lives only in Crete.
The magnificent, magical scenery of the forest in combination with the hunting of wild truffles, the unique Cretan food made by our own pure products will make this experience an unforgettable one!
An extraordinary experience at the Forest of Rouvas! Enjoy a unique but also extreme experience of Cretan truffle hunting through the magic scenery of the forest, the one and unique holly forest of Balkans and taste the delicious traditional Cretan cuisine but far and foremost the special Cretan truffle.
