- A 30 cm fish fossil was discovered near the guard post of Samaria Gorge.
- The find, embedded in natural stone, reveals detailed impressions of the fish’s body and fins.
- Professor Elias Louloudis, a long-time visitor to Agia Roumeli, believes it dates back to an ancient sea.
- Thousands pass the site daily, unaware of the ancient secret beneath their feet.
- Experts urge protection and signage before the fossil erodes or vanishes.
Near the guard post of Samaria Gorge, just past the narrow stone gates known as the Portes, lies something few notice: a perfectly preserved fish fossil resting silently on the rock. Professor Elias Louloudis, who has walked the Agia Roumeli trail for more than thirty years, discovered it recently.
Measuring about thirty centimeters, the fossil captures in remarkable detail the body and fins of a long-extinct marine creature — a ghostly imprint of a world that once existed beneath waves, not mountain peaks.
According to Louloudis, this may be a remnant of an ancient sea that once covered the area. “For over three decades, I have visited Agia Roumeli without fail,” he wrote. “This year, after a suggestion, I found the fossil on a natural stone just after the guard post. Thousands of visitors walk past it each summer, unaware they are treading over a silent memory of the deep.”
Protecting a Stone Memory
This is not the first fossil to be found in the region — a similar one was discovered in 2017 — yet this latest find feels more personal, almost poetic. As Professor Louloudis notes, such natural imprints deserve attention and protection.
He calls for local authorities to act before time and footsteps wear it away:
“It would be important for the competent bodies to ensure that this fossil is protected and highlighted — with a simple sign or information plaque — before it is lost to erosion or the passage of thousands of unaware visitors.”
Samaria Gorge, one of Crete’s most visited natural sites, has always been a place of geological wonder. Now, beneath the sound of trekking boots and echoing canyons, a quiet fossil whispers a story millions of years old — a story of Crete’s ancient sea still sleeping beneath its mountains.
