Web camera Gergeri, Heraklion, Crete, Greece - View of the city towards the Messara Plain and the Asterousia Mountains

Gergeri is the seat of Rouvas municipal unit in Heraklion regional unit in the Greek island of Crete. The population was 1,440 in 2011. Gergeri's location is at a region called "Pano Riza" of Psiloreiti's, and in that region there are also the villages Panasos, Nivritos, Zaros, Vorizia and Kamares. Nowadays, everyone in Gergeri and in Pano Riza is proud for the surplus of companies in Gergeri, and for the football club Rouvas F.C., which now is playing on Football League 2. Near Gergeri also is the Rouva's Forest, which is very famous and very beautiful. During the Greek War of Independence the Commissioner of Crete, Emmanouil Tombazis, gathered 3,000 Cretans in Gergeri to face a force of 12,000 Turkish-Egyptian soldiers at Ayia Varvara. On August 20, 1823 and despite a valiant defence against the much larger and better organised force, the Cretans had to retreat after losing 300 men in the battle at the village of Amouryelles.

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The Messara Plain or simply Messara is an alluvial plain in southern Crete, stretching about 50 km west-to-east and 7 km north-to-south, making it the largest plain in Crete.

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The Asterousia Mountains are a range in southern Crete separating the Messara Plain from the Libyan Sea. Evidence of ancient Cretan cultures have been found in excavations performed within sites contained in this range; moreover, one of the most significant Minoan sites on Crete has been excavated at nearby Phaistos to the north; apparently, the Phaistos palace was designed to permit views over the expansive Messara Plain and the Asterousi Mountains. A further historical name for this range is reported by Encyclopædia Britannica as the Kofinos Range, named after the highest peak of Asteroussia, Kofinas.