It is the nearest gorge to the city of Chania and the only gorge that a visitor can drive through by car or other transportation means, since it is crossed by a carriageway leading to the gorge from Chania via the suburb of the city of Perivolia.

The main portion of the gorge is 6 km long. The imposing precipitous rocky slopes and the very luxuriant flora have no cause to be jealous of the bigger gorges of Chania.
The gorge, even if visited by car, and the beauty of the village of Therisso, built at the foot of the White Mountains at an altitude of 580 m and only 15 km distant from Chania, will remain unforgettable to the visitor.

The great politician and later Prime Minister of Greece, Eleftherios Venizelos, born in Chania at the beginning of the previous century, actualised the Cretan Revolution from the village of Therisso in order to unite the island of Crete and the rest of Greece, after four hundred years of slavery under the Turks.