One of the places I wanted to visit during our fall 2021 trip to Greece was the chapel at Georgioupoli in Crete. I have seen this church out in the sea many times on Instagram and wanted to see it myself. I liked the look of the white chapel in the sea contrasted with the black rock path leading to the chapel. While researching where the chapel is located, I was thrilled to find it just a few miles off of our route from Chania to Rethymno in Crete. As it was though, we ended up going to Koutalas Beach first so took some backroads to get here. I wouldn’t necessarily say we were lost, but many of the roads we drove, weren’t on our map. Lucky for us, in my broken Greek, we were able to ask and understand directions from a helpful local gentleman.
Location
From Old Town Chania, once you connect to the main highway, you can get to Georgioupoli pretty easily. When coming from Chania, follow the road to Georgioupoli and follow it to Georgioupoulis Beach. I don’t remember if there were signs pointing to the beach, but we drove right to it so it must have been pretty easy to find. There is parking by the beach and you can walk out to Agios Nikolaos Chapel. It is about a 40 minute drive from Old Town Chania. The drive then to Rethymno from Georgioupoli is about 30 minutes.
Agios Nikolaos Chapel
The Chapel at Georgioupoli, Crete is named for Agios Nikolaus who is the patron saint of sailors. Built by the sea and dedicated it to Agios Nikolaos in hopes to protect the sailors and also their boats. This small whitewashed chapel sits on the end of an islet so it appears to be setting in the sea. To reach the chapel you must walk a short distance on a path of black stones. Note that these stones are not smooth and takes careful footing to walk on. I am glad I wore tennis shoes as I think I would have had stubbed a toe or two on these rocks.
Conclusion
Stopping to walk to the Agios Nikolaos Chapel at Georgioupoli in Crete is something I would absolutely do again. It was fun and also a bit of an adventure while walking over the rough rocks. I highly recommend stopping here if you are driving from Chania to Rethymno.
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Follow these links for more posts of my 2021 Greece Vacay:
Koutalas Beach and Sea Cave, Crete, Sept 2021
A Walk Through Chania, Sept 2021
Temple of Poseidon, Septs 2021
You can also follow my other Crete adventures here:
Elounda Peninsula Hotel, Sept 2019
Knossos Palace, Crete Sept 2019
Seitan Limania Beach, Sept 2019
Katholiko Monastery, Sept 2019
Very unique chapel built on such a distinctive area! Agios Nikolaos Chapel definitely looked to be a wonderful stop while vacationing in Crete!
It was a lot of fun. After seeing it on Instagram for quite awhile now, I was happy to find it was close to our path. I am glad we went! Lori
Enjoyed reading this! I stayed in Georgioupoli some years ago and it is indeed such a peaceful little place, especially in the off season. That church out in the sea is idyllic.
I bet it was a lot of fun to stay in Georgioupoli! It looks like a great little place!
What an incredibly beautiful and peaceful little chapel
It was very nice!
Very cool! I especially love that little chapel at the end of all those rocks. No wonder you had a hard time walking out there. It always makes me wonder how things like that are built.
It was glad I didn’t wear flip flops! I too wonder how things like this are built!