Chania to host photography exhibition on Crete’s Sfakianes Madares from November 8
A photography exhibition documenting the Sfakianes Madares of Crete’s White Mountains opens in Chania on November 8, running until November 28, the Region of Crete has announced. The exhibition, titled “Apocosmos, outside the world and time,” features the work of journalist and photographer Giorgos Patroudakis and will be shown at two venues in the old town: Giali Tzamisi and Megalo Arsenali.
The show previously appeared in Heraklion and is being presented in Chania as part of the post-festival programme of the Crete Festival, organized by the Region of Crete. Co-organizers for the Chania presentation are the Municipality of Chania, the Chania Port Fund and the Municipality of Sfakia, according to the organizers.
The exhibition focuses on the White Mountains, the mountain range overlooking Chania, and specifically the Sfakianes Madares, an area the organizers describe as having significant natural, archaeological, architectural and folklore interest. According to the organizers, recent mapping found 55 peaks in the White Mountains exceeding 2,000 metres, with another 54 peaks between 1,500 and 2,000 metres.
Two thematic sections across two venues
For the first time, the exhibition is organized into two separate but complementary thematic sections, the organizers said. At Giali Tzamisi, the section titled “Outside the world – the mountain desert and Europe’s oldest trees” focuses on the area’s geological time. It includes the mountain desert landscape of conical peaks, sinkholes and chasms, which researchers Oliver Rackham and Jennifer Moody have described as Crete’s most unusual landscape, according to the organizers, who added that the researchers said no similar landscape exists elsewhere in the northern hemisphere. The section also presents ancient cypress trees that the same researchers have described as among Europe’s oldest trees.
At Megalo Arsenali, the section “Outside time – the human time capsule of Sfakiani Madara” turns to human history in the area, according to the organizers. The photographs document pastoral traditions maintained in the region, including seasonal migration to the high mountains, traditional cheesemaking, and structures known locally as koumous, mitata and tyrokelia.
Three decades of photography
The exhibition draws on roughly three decades of photographic work by Patroudakis in the area, the organizers said. They described the Madares as a repository of traditional Cretan practices and said the exhibition aims to raise public awareness of the need to protect the area.
The exhibition in Chania will be open daily from 10:00 to 20:00 between November 8 and 28, 2026. Further information is available via email at cretegeo@gmail.com or by phone at 6977 502 730. The exhibition’s earlier run was covered in a report on its Heraklion presentation.
