Spili is located about 30km south of Rethymno, at an altitude of 430m, at the foot of Mount Vorizis, an offshoot of Psiloritis Mt. Its population is 800 inhabitants, but this number increases during the summer months. The villagers are mainly farmers, ranchers and merchants, but in recent years most young people deal with tourism.
The village is a node for the south coasts and this makes its position particularly advantageous. Given the importance of its location, almost all basic services can be found in Spili, such as banks, post office, telecommunications, health center, police station and even the Cathedral Conference Center. Therefore, Spili is an ideal destination for foreigners and for Greeks, where they can combine their holiday without missing anything.
In the center of the village square with the two huge plane trees, is Kefalovrisi (i.e. prime spring) as it is called. This is a series of 25 fountains with the form of a lion head from the mouths of which 330 cubic meters of water flow every hour, rich in iron and having a constant temperature at 13 °C. Around Kefalovrisi you‘ll meet several taverns with genuine Cretan cuisine, coffee shops and folk art shops.
The lush vegetation of the village is caused by the gurgling river flowing south of the village. The river is full of trout and can be accessed through a path of great natural beauty.
One of the main attractions of the village are the numerous traditional water mills still surviving near the river. In particular one of them is still in operation, while the beautiful scenery is completed by the European path E4-route 20 "Spili - Gerakari" which runs next to the church the Holy Spirit and through the olive groves north of the village. Lastly, next to the village, starts the most beautiful canyon of Rethymnon, Kourtaliotiko Gorge, exiting at the famous palm grove of Preveli.