Kokkino Chorio: Village Stories and Traces of the Past

Kokkino Chorio lies at an altitude of 152 metres on the northeastern edge of Apokoronas, west of Cape Drapano. Old houses and two different explanations of the village’s name offer a distinctive introduction to the place. At the foot of Drapanokefala and in the surrounding area, you can also encounter traces of the occupation and remarkable finds from Crete’s natural history.

A Village with Two Stories Behind Its Name

One local tradition traces the name Kokkino Chorio to the red soil of the area. Another explains it as referring to the blood shed by local people in their battles against the Ottomans. The two accounts emphasize different things: one links the name to the landscape, the other to the history of the people who lived there. Together with the old houses, they give a concrete sense of the village without reducing its past to a single interpretation.

The Church and Wartime History at Drapanokefala

The Church of Saint George at the foot of Drapanokefala dates back to the 16th century. During the German occupation from 1941 to 1945, German forces converted it into an explosives store. Beside the church is an underground shelter that German forces used as an administrative office for the southern part of the Souda Fortress.

The Drapanokefala area is also associated with the wartime period. After the Battle of Crete in May 1941, German forces used local people as forced labour to build machine-gun posts, fortifications and underground shelters there. During the war, a cable car connected the entrance to the German underground headquarters in Kokkino Chorio with the summit of Drapanokefala, at an altitude of 527 metres. The church, shelter and summit thus lead to different sites from the same period of occupation.

The Lighthouse and Caves Nearby

A lighthouse stands at Cape Drapano, built in 1864 by the French Society of Ottoman Lighthouses. Nearby is the Underwater Cave of the Elephants. In 2000, fossilised bones of deer and elephants that lived on Crete around 60,000 years ago were found there. The 160-metre-long cave is of particular palaeontological interest; its finds offer a very different perspective on the past from the historic sites around Drapanokefala.

Koutalas Cave lies northeast of Kokkino Chorio. The road network through the village provides access to the area. This means that different themes can be explored nearby: the history of the church and wartime installations, the history of lighthouse construction, and the island’s much older natural history. These offer different points of interest for travellers who like to connect their stay with tangible discoveries.

Which stories would you like to shape your stay?

If you are looking for an apartment or holiday home, you could start by asking what interests you most about Kokkino Chorio: the village’s old houses and stories about its name, the history at Drapanokefala, or the palaeontological finds at the Underwater Cave. It’s also an easy choice to discuss as a family: which would you rather explore—the sites from the occupation or the traces of animals that lived on Crete around 60,000 years ago? Your answer can help you choose Kokkino Chorio as a destination based on which stories you would like to give your holiday a common thread.

Discover more destinations: Kontomari, Palaiochora, Platanias, Ayía Roúmeli, Theriso, Meskla, Xirosterni, Malathiros

For the main travel overview: Chania.