The Viglis family, a historic family from Chania, has been producing and collecting honey for over 1.5 centuries in one of the richest and purest habitats in Europe: the protected National Park of Greece (since 1963), in the Samaria Gorge.

Here where the 98% of the plants we encounter in the Mediterranean thrive, honey is collected using traditional methods, in the most adventurous and unique way. The product is renowned for being one of the highest quality and most nutrient-rich honeys globally, abundant in rare varieties of nectar from wildflowers.

Descendants of the proud classical Dorians, the Viglis family has been practicing beekeeping since antiquity. At the tender age of 17, Thodori Viglis followed in the footsteps of his father: he became the sole curator of a small bee colony in the world-renowned Samaria gorge, that is instrumental in preserving the frail local ecosystem. Harboring more than 300 endangered plants and herbs, this National Park only allows activity if it serves the purpose of long-term protection. Nowadays Thodoris still only reaches his bee garden after a 3-hour hike down the gorge, a trek filled with memories of his youth and his late father.

The end of August harvest results in a world-unique brand of honey deferring to a centuries-old tradition in agreement with nature. The whole process takes up to two weeks and culminates in the on-site slinging of the honey, when Thodoris works for 48 hours non-stop. After the cans are sent downhill by pulley, his trusty mules transport the end result to Agia Roumeli in a final 3-hour hike.