Mount Psiloritis

Psiloritis, also called Mount Ida, rises to 2,456 metres and carries a small chapel of the Holy Cross on its summit, the highest building on Crete. The standard ascent starts from the Nida plateau at about 1,400 metres, a wide grassy basin ringed by stone mitata, the round shepherds' huts used for cheese-making, and takes three to four hours up on a marked path over limestone, with the whole island visible from the top on a clear day, sea to sea. On the plateau's edge opens the Ideon Andron, the cave where one tradition says Zeus was raised, excavated to reveal bronze shields and votives of the ninth and eighth centuries BC. The mountain is part of the Psiloritis UNESCO Global Geopark.

What you actually see

• The summit chapel - Timios Stavros at 2,456 metres, Crete's high point.
• The Nida plateau - a grassy basin with stone shepherds' huts.
• The Ideon cave - the cult cave associated with the raising of Zeus.
• The sea-to-sea view - both coasts of Crete from the summit on clear days.

When to go

May to October; snow covers the summit from November into spring and the route then needs winter equipment. Start at dawn in summer, as the limestone offers no shade and afternoons build cloud.

Honest expectations

The ascent is long, rocky and entirely exposed, with no water on the route and no facilities beyond a seasonal taverna at Nida. The path is marked but the terrain is monotonous limestone. The Ideon cave itself is a large empty chamber; the finds are in Heraklion.

Nearby

Anogia lies below on the northern side; Zaros and Kamares are on the southern flank.