Vafes is a small village 37 km far from the city of Chania. It is located at an altitude of 210 meters at the roots of White Mountains. Livestock farming and the production of oil and wine are the main occupations of permanent residents.
Vafes is the only village in the prefecture of Chania, which has been proclaimed since 1997 entirely by the Ministry of Culture as a historically listed monument due to its remarkable marvelous architecture and history.
Beyond the beautiful well-preserved Venetian architectural buildings, the traditional stone streets, and the beautiful people you will encounter, Vafes has beautiful aspects of the natural beauty of the place.
The visitor will have to tour the beautiful path and gorge of Kryonerida and visit her cave, where in August 1821 the Turks drowned with the smoke the 130 women and children who had been hiding because they did not go out so that the mothers would not be disgraced. Crossing the path, you will also find a cave, called Kalamato.
Crossing the path and making a short tour you will meet the chapel of Saint John of Hermit or Tangitis as he is called by the villagers. At his entrance you will see a strange tree, as it has leaves of mulberry, while its fruits are figs. The chapel is located in a large rock-hut on the mountain slope and its natural opening was built with stones leaving a small window and a door. According to the tradition, there was an old icon of St. John, which a Turk during the 1866 Revolution nailed with his knife, but then emerging from the cave fell and died.
In the center of the village is the Cathedral of the Saint Apostles. It has a gilded iconostasis and domes, the old stone vaulted warehouses. In two of these, the priest of the village has collected a small collection of 18th-century icons. Another jewel of the religious and cultural heritage of the village is the holy chapel of Saints Assomates. According to the investigations of the Archaeology, it is for a very old monastery, where the monks were engaged in pottery, as many broken and non-earthen objects were found. In the excavations were also found a double church with graves and a church dedicated to Saints Anargyri Kosmas and Damianos.
Additional sights to visit are the large residence of Emmanuel Iereos Skordylis, dated in 1745, the array of vaulted structures attributed to the juniper Alidakis, the two-aisled Temple of Christ and several residences of the Early Ottoman domination, its temple St. John the Baptist, with the Venetian bell of 1581 and the old school which functions as a Museum.
The village of Vafes has small cafes and traditional taverns, a tourist shop, a mini-market, and traditional guesthouses.
