Plakias (Greek: Πλακιάς) is a village on the south coast of the Greek island of Crete, in the Rethymno Prefecture, about 30 kilometres south of the city of Rethymno. It is part of the municipality Foinikas. It is surrounded by mountains to the north and the Libyan Sea to the south.
Initially a fishing jetty and a few houses, Plakias developed in the last few decades into a tourist resort. The first official notice of Plakias was in1961, when it was mentioned in a census as the permanent home of six fishermen. The history of surrounding mountain villages like Myrthios andSellia goes back into the 10th century, when the Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas (961 AD) built roads and bridges in order to link those villages.
Plakias has a 1300 metre long sandy beach and several other beaches within walking distance (Souda, Damnoni, Ammoudi and Skhinaria). The south-eastern end of the beach, near the Kakomouri headland, is used by nudists. To the east is the Monastery of Preveli, which, due to its isolated position, played an important role in Cretan revolts against occupying forces such as against the Nazis in World War II. Plakias is home to the Youth Hostel Plakias, famous among international backpackers as the ‘most southerly hostel’ in Europe.
There are two roads into Plakias through the mountain range which lies to its north, both of which run through gorges – to the north of Plakias, theKotsifos Gorge, and to the northeast, the Gorge of Kourtaliotis.
