EASTERN CRETE

The G. & A. Mamidakis Foundation, has for two decades
now made ongoing efforts to present to the public major
cultural events, always directly related to Tourism.
Taking as our point of departure our native island of Crete,
a crossroads of cultures from East and West, we have
sought to propose seminal exhibitions of Greek and
international Contemporary Art for art lovers.
Perhaps unique for the 48 sculptures on display in its
gardens, the MINOS BEACH ART HOTEL boasts of a
substantial collection of works by leading Greek and
international artists.
Continuing our cultural activities today, we have
established, illustrated, documented and explored
untrodden paths of Eastern Crete in a tasty 144-page
catalogue titled:
Awake your Senses
Discover the unknown Crete
Eastern Crete - book one
We trust that the publication of these practical catalogues,
which also provide information about other unknown
destinations-monasteries, archaeological sites-will enable
modern-day travellers to experience another side of Crete,
the authentic, unexplored inland regions of the island, just
like the international travellers who discovered and
recorded the charms of our land in the 17th and 18th
centuries.
Gina Mamidakis
President
G. & A. Mamidakis Foundation

JUDITH LANGE MARIA STEFOSSI
awake your senses
DISCOVER THE UNKNOWN CRETE
Eastern Crete - Book One
Publication of this book has been made possible thanks to Gina
Mamidakis, President of the G.& A. Foundation and bluegr Mamidakis
Hotels group, and long-time patron of culture and the arts. The book is
dedicated to those ever-curious travellers who wish to learn more of
the beautiful region of eastern Crete.
© copyright text and photographs by Judith Lange - Maria Stefossi
© copyright edition by the G.& A. Foundation and bluegr Mamidakis hotels group.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written
permission from the authors.

4

Crete is the island of which Homer sang, "Along the winedark
sea, by water ringed, there lies a land both fair and
fertile", a mysterious and magical land, source of the myths
of the Greek world. Zeus, king of the gods of the ancient
Greeks, was born in a grotto here, and it was here too that
he died and came back to life.
This book tells of the beauty of eastern Crete, of the
Prefecture of Lasithi, with its mountain ranges, vast
plateaus, fertile valleys, arid plains, magnificent beaches
and its ancient memories. To discover the authentic Crete
one must travel slowly, drawn by curiosity not only to the
great archaeological sites and monuments, but also to the
landscape and the sky, the houses and the rocks, because
on Crete everything is myth, legend and history: the
mountains, the grottoes, the gorges, the trees, the stones
and even the scent of the shrubs in bloom.
5

MINOS BEACH art hotel
Escape in style
Experience the wonder of Cretan luxury with aromatic gardens
and distinctive architecture.
Located on the waterfront in the magical area of Ayios Nikolaos,
in the eastern part of Crete, the town centre is a mere ten minute
walk away.
Set within a serene landscape and unique environs thus ensuring
an unforgettable experience in one of the 129 beautifully and
spaciously appointed bungalows. All are equipped with balconies
or private terrace with unique views of the azure sea and
extensive gardens, air-condition, direct dial telephone, mini bar,
TV, in room safe, hairdryer and bathroom. Our Executive and
Presidential suites are spacious and offer a private swimming
pool.
6

MINOS BEACH art hotel
You can awaken your senses at Minos Beach Art hotel, with its
unique artistic environment of 45 works of Greek and foreign
artists. A local and international culinary choice of traditional
Cretan cuisine and unique gourmet tastes for exquisite dining in
our restaurants or enjoy an array of thirst-quenching cocktails in
our two bars.
An abundance of
recreational activities
and leisure facilities will
ensure fun and
entertainment
throughout your stay
in an environment of
tranquillity and luxury.
7

CANDIA PARK VILLAGE
Experience a world of fun
and recreation
Candia Park Village is an ideal place for
families and couples
of all ages. Modelled on a traditional Cretan
village, all 222 apartments are spaciously equipped and offer a
magnificent waterfront location overlooking the turquoise
waters of Mirabello Bay.
Set in the environs of a traditional Cretan Village with extensive
gardens, the clock square, the Greek coffee house, all add to the
charm of this picturesque village of traditional hospitality.
All apartments are spacious of 40 m2 and 60 m2 offering private
balconies or terrace. Each can accommodate from 2 to 6 persons
and are fully equipped with airconditioning, bathroom, direct
dial telephone and a kitchenette to prepare afternoon coffee or
tea or perhaps a light meal.
A variety of restaurants with a wide choice of a la carte items,
sunny bars for thirst-quenching drinks and light snacks provide a
unique ambience with panoramic views of Mirabello bay. A mini
market is available.
8

CANDIA PARK VILLAGE
The Candia Park Village is a complete holiday village making it
the ideal place for relaxation and amusement. Facilities include
sea water and fresh water swimming pools, Jacuzzi, tennis
courts, private beach, water sports and recreational areas for all
tastes and age groups. The highlight is our mini club for our
young friends from 4 to 12 years of age that offers stimulating
activities, competitions and games.
9

CHAPTER 1
SACRED AND PROFANE
IN THE SHADOW
OF MOUNT DIKTI

AYIOS NIKOLAOS
KRITSA
PANAYIA Y KERA
LATO
KATHARO
LASSITHI
KARPHI

C H A P T E R 1
Ayios Nikolaos
An engraving
representing the
Venetian castle of
Ayios Nikolaos:
today nothing
remains of this
fortress
The excavations of
the ancient town in
the city
It is hard to imagine that a century and
a half ago Ayios Nikolaos - one of Crete's
richest and liveliest cities - was, as an old
document attests, only a tiny village of just
95 souls. Ayios Nikolaos, capital of the
Prefecture of Lasithi, has the appearance of
a relatively new city, but its history is very
ancient, even if the evidence of its turbulent
past is now buried under modern buildings.
Thanks to its splendid position
overlooking the gulf of Mirambelo (or as the
Venetian has it, Mirabello or "beautiful view")
the site was chosen by the ancient Dorians
(ninth to seventh centuries B.C.) for the port
of Lato, an important fortified settlement
between the mountains near Kritsa. The city
was then called Lato pros Kamara and was
famous for its safe harbour. One of the
wonders of the place was considered to be
the small lake of Voulismeni - today linked
to the sea by a narrow canal and surrounded
by restaurants and cafes - a lake of dark and
unfathomable waters, also known as
12

Xepatomeni (bottomless), sacred to Athena
and Artemis who, as the legend goes,
bathed their divine bodies here.
The city declined after the Roman
conquest but acquired new importance
during the Byzantine period, when it
became the seat of the bishopric of Kamara:
of that era there remains the little church of
Ayios Nikolaos of the tenth or eleventh
century, with rare frescoes from the
iconoclast period when the ecclesiastical
authorities forbad the physical
representation of sacred images.
At the beginning of the thirteenth
century the Genoese and Venetians fought
for possession of the coast and initially the
Genoese, led by the gentleman-pirate Enrico
Pescatore, prevailed. Pescatore erected the
castle of Mirambelo, promptly destroyed by
the Venetians to whom the island of Crete
was assigned by the treaty of Adrianoupoli
in 1204.
Hurriedly reconstructed, the castle was
briefly occupied by the Turks in 1645, then
The small church of
Ayios Nikolaos
dating from the
tenth or eleventh
century
Lake Voulismeni
13

C H A P T E R 1
A medieval
archer from the
region of Sfakia:
during the
nineteenth
century many
sfakiotes arrived
in Ayios Nikolaos
taken back by the Venetians who, however,
decided to destroy it once more themselves
for the sake of not leaving it in Turkish
hands: not one stone remains of the
celebrated fort atop the highest
hill of Ayios Nikolaos.
The city was entirely
abandoned when, during the
second half of the nineteenth
century, groups of exiled
sfakiotes arrived from the
mountains of western Crete,
and the place slowly began to
come to life again. From that
moment onwards the reborn
city would be called Ayios
Nikolaos, taking its name from
the little ninth-century
Byzantine church which was the
only surviving testimony to
have resisted all the turbulence
of this history. Every 6th
December there is a great feast
dedicated to St. Nicholas,
patron saint of fishermen.
One must is a visit to the city's
Archaeological Museum which possesses
beautiful finds from the past forty years of
excavations in eastern Crete: ceramics, gold,
idols (among which there are a large number
of votive offerings from the Minoan peak
sanctuaries), sarcophagi and glass.
14

ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM
OF AYIOS NIKOLAOS
Skull with a wreath of gold leaves
from the Roman cemetery at
Potamos, first century A.D. and
Late Minoan clay sarcophagi or
larnakes
Late Minoan
female
worshipper
from the
cemetery at
Myrsini
Pottery dating
from the Late
Minoan period
Clay vessel
from the
fourteenth
century B.C.
found in the
Palace of Malia
and
Daedalic
figurines from
the eighth and
seventh
centuries B.C.

C H A P T E R 1
Kritsa and Panayia y Kera
Kritsa stretches out like a white lizard
above a sea of olive trees at the mouth of a
dark gorge beneath the mountain heights of
the Dikti that surround two high plains, the
immense Lasithi plateau and the more
modest Katharo plateau.
The white village
of Kritsa above a
green valley of
olive trees
Kritsa, with its narrow alleyways, the low
houses jumbled one over another, its very
colourful traditional costumes, its numerous
kafeneion and taverns, seems the archetypal
"Cretan village", even if the definition
"village" seems reductive for this fairly large,
extended country town. It is so very "Cretan"
that in 1957 the American film director Jules
Dassin chose Kritsa and its inhabitants for
the setting of the film He, who must die
based on Nikos Kazantzakis' famous novel
The Greek Passion which told a modern
version of the passion of Christ. Every year
on Good Friday there is a sumptuous
procession through Kritsa during which the
epitaphios, a catafalque covered with
flowers, is carried through the town, amidst
prayers, laments and song.
However, before arriving at Kritsa one
should pay a visit to one of the most
beautiful and important Byzantine churches
on Crete: the Panayia y Kera (the Madon-
16

Among the narrow
alleyways of Kritsa
na of the Creation) dating from the
thirteenth or fourteenth century, with three
naves and an unusual three-pointed facade,
surrounded by tall cypresses.
The arrangement of the
paintings that cover each of
the internal walls observes the
rigid hierarchy required in that
period: first God and the
angels, then the life of Jesus
and Mary, followed by
representations of Paradise and the Last
Judgement, biblical stories, saints and,
finally, images of men known for their faith.
The saturated colours (the dark red of ripe
pomegranates, the green of the leaves of
ancient olive trees, the ochre and dark
brown of the earth) and the close-packed
sequence of images, each different, each
powerful and vigorous, immersed in the
semi-darkness, rather dizzy the viewer, and
this was, perhaps, precisely what the artist
intended.
The Byzantine
church of Panayia y
Kera with its
beautiful frescoes
17

C H A P T E R 1
Lato
Lato, once an
important Dorian
city-state, amidst
a beautiful
mountainous
landscape
These small
daedalic figurines
are typical of the
Doric style of
sculpture that
flourished during
the eighth and
seventh centuries
B.C.
As everywhere in Greece, on Crete the
sacred and the profane live side-by-side, and
if on one hand churches and monasteries
record the profound religiousness of the
population, numerous ancient ruins evoke
the foreign powers, wars and conflicts that
have tormented the island over the
centuries. Some kilometres before arriving at
Kritsa a turning off the main road leads to
Lato, one of the island's best-preserved
ancient cities, enclosed between two hills
below Mount Thylakas. The city-state, which
took its name from the goddess Leto,
mother of Apollo and Artemis, was founded
in the eighth century B.C. by Dorians hailing
from the Greek mainland, who invaded
Crete in around 1000 B.C., chasing the native
inhabitants from their lands: they spoke a
dialect similar to Greek and proclaimed
themselves descendents of the offspring of
Hercules. Strengthened by their absolute
authority over the island after the fall of the
Minoan and Mycenaean kingdoms, they
18

made new laws, minted coins with the
effigies of Artemis and Hermes and imposed
a new social order on the population of the
area.
Lato was born as a fortified city
stretching across six terraces with a double
acropolis, a vast agora and a prytaneion,
which functioned as administrative centre
and banqueting hall for the guests of
honour who dined here sitting on the stone
benches of the hestiatorion. A monumental
stairway marks the entrance to the
prytaneion, while another, not far from a
large temple (perhaps dedicated to Apollo)
has been identified as the "theatre space".
The city flourished up until the Hellenistic
period and the ancient writers affirm that
this was the birthplace of Niarchos, valorous
general and friend of Alexander the Great.
A careful observation of the structure and
the materials that form the buildings, the
roads and the doors is worthwhile: the
ancient system of construction has been
handed down through the centuries, and
some of the same architectural details can
still be seen in the old stone-built country
houses dotted among the mountains
around Kritsa.
With its strong
walls and
monumental
buildings, Lato
is the bestpreserved
of the
Cretan cities of
the Doric/ Classical
period
19

C H A P T E R 1
The Katharo Plateau
Less well-known, smaller and more hidden
than Lasithi, the plateau of Katharo is
reached via a road (all curves) that begins at
the crest of the town of Kritsa. Climbing up
amidst silver-grey rocks that glitter in the
sunlight in contrast with the red soil, and
among low tough-leaved shrubs that form
anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures
like little sculptures, one has the sensation of
travelling through an archaic land, fixed and
solid, as though it were petrified. The few
trees have dark hat-shaped crowns that give
shade to the roots and offer relief to sheep
and goats in search of some cool.
A dark grotto on
the way to the
Katharo plateau
Halfway along the route towards the
plateau (where there is a magnificent view
across the gulf of Mirambelo) a small road
sign indicates the existence of a grotto
which is to be found about three-hundred
metres further along the slope, not difficult
to reach. The triangular mouth of the grotto
allows a glimpse of a steep descent through
two galleries into the dark bowels of the
earth amid grey and pink-ochre striped
rocks.
Continuing along the road and looking
attentively towards the hills, one notes the
mitates - now in ruins and camouflaged in
the landscape, but with a very interesting
architectural structure: these are the
20

small stone houses of the shepherds and
peasants who took refuge here during the
months of mountain pasture. Almost always
rectangular in form - but also, at times,
circular like the tholos (beehive) tombs - the
building of the mitates involved choosing
with care the individual stones, evaluating
the shape and dimensions in order to lay
them expertly one on top of another until a
perfect wall was formed through which
there filtered neither sun, nor wind nor rain.
At the centre of the single room a robust
tree trunk with a forked top functions as a
column, holding up the roof of branches and
canes, whilst the entrance is marked by two
vertical pilasters surmounted by a stone slab,
a modest version of the monumental portals
of the ancient cities or of megalithic houses.
Now abandoned and used only
sporadically, the mitates contain small signs
of an austere life: a blackened hearth, the
occasional cooking pot with a hole in it,
frayed ropes for tying up the animals, or
troughs cut into the stone. Observing these
lifeless houses it is natural to wonder how
much longer they will resist sun, wind and
rain before crumbling definitively.
The remains of
old stone houses
or mitates are
part of the
landscape as
much as the
rocky hills and
withered trees
21

C H A P T E R 1
Every season
has its own
colours at the
Kataharo
plateau: green
fields in
springtime,
yellow earth in
summer
Curve after curve, between oaks and
carobs with their tormented outlines that
seem born from the rock, the mountain
suddenly opens out offering a spectacular
view over the entire Katharo plateau,
surrounded by the bare mountains of the
Dikti. Fields cultivated with grain and
vegetables, fruit trees (in particular pears,
apples, figs and pomegranates) and great
stretches of meadows for pasture, few
houses, few men and the odd little white
church form a unified and compact pattern.
The plateau, which in springtime is full of
flowers and green grasses, in summer is
coloured yellow with stubble and the
ploughed soil that becomes as fine and
dusty as face-powder. Katharo is the summer
reserve of the people of Kritsa and at given
periods all the flocks of sheep in the zone
converge here for shearing: imagine the
sound produced by the bleating of
thousands of animals echoing through
the mountains!
22

From Katharo a stony trail (to follow
only in a robust car or on foot) climbs back
down towards the coast in the direction of
Kroustas, initially crossing through desolate
landscapes with strange cumuli of dark
green stones that glitter in the sunlight like
shards of glass. The road follows the course
of an underground river, dry on the surface,
which creates little oases of green amidst the
stones. Along the highest pass there opens
up extraordinary scenery: the simultaneous
vista of the northern coast of Crete looking
towards Europe and of the southern coast
that looks towards Africa at the point at
which the island is narrowest, on one side
the gulf of Mirambelo and on the other the
Libyan Sea. A panorama from which one
understands the wonders of Cretan
geography.
From this point one can continue east
along a road that is asphalted only in parts
towards Kroustas and Kritsa or to Istron on
the coast. Near Kritsa we encounter the
church of Ayios Ioannis Theologos with
three apses and very beautiful iconostasis
while near Kroustas one can visit the small
white church of Ayios Ioannis, decorated
with rare paintings dating from 1347, with
images of severe saints and fathers of the
church.
Ayios Ioannis
and Ayios
Ioannis
Theologos: two
churches with
interesting
frescoes and old
icons
23

C H A P T E R 1
The Lasithi Plateau
"Situated above the mountain summits,
flat and very beautiful, and an almost
miraculous work of nature," this is how
a Venetian document of 1600 describes the
Lasithi plateau. The plain appears like an
immense shell, not unlike a spent crater,
amid the mountain crags of the Dikti, at
a height of around 850 metres: patterned
with the rigid and regular geometries of the
fields, its divisions recall the city plan of
ancient Miletus. Here there grow fruit trees
of every kind, vegetables, potatoes, grain
and walnuts, and in the spring millions of
poppies blossom creating a red carpet that
stretches out between the mountains.
Isolated houses, small villages and the
monasteries of Vidianis and Kroustalenias
crown the plateau which, although
remaining essentially agricultural, has given
over to an intense tourism.
Monastery Vidianis
and Monastery
Kroustalenia:
places of worship
26

Not many years ago,
when the place was
still only accessible
on mule-back,
around 10,000
windmills ornate
with white canvas
sails pumped up the
water that served for
the crops, but now
very few remain.
27

C H A P T E R 1
The grotto of
Trapeza was a
site of cult
activity up to
the Early
Minoan period
Once an inaccessible region, the
plateau has been inhabited since the
Neolithic period, around 7,000 years ago,
as testified by the bone fragments and tools
discovered in the grotto of Trapeza, which
remained sacred for the Minoans, as a
dwelling place of the gods of the
underworld. Because of its protected
position amid the mountains, Lasithi
became a place of refuge for the native
populations from the period of the Dorian
invasions to the Venetian and Turkish
occupations, and even during the Second
World War. For fear of the rebel groups, in
1263 the Venetians deported all the
inhabitants of the plateau down towards the
valley, prohibiting any form of cultivation
for 200 years. Without its fruits, this fertile
land suffered terrible famine and in the mid
1400 s it was decided to repopulate the
plain, which in the meantime had become a
swampland requiring large-scale
reclamation. During the Turkish dominion
too, Lasithi was continuously besieged, but
never completely taken.
There are numerous grottos and
caverns in the rocky walls around the plain,
ideal hiding places from the most ancient
of times. The most famous cave is Psychro
or Diktaion Antron which contends with
another grotto (that on Mount Ida in
28

The Diktaion
Antron of
Psychro is
believed to have
been the
birthplace of
Zeus
western Crete) the honour of being the
birthplace of the Greeks on supreme god,
Zeus. In Hesiod's Theogony we read that
Cronus, king of the Titans and husband of his
own sister Rhea, devoured his children
(among whom Demeter, Hades, Poseidon,
Hestia and Hera) because a prophecy had
foretold that one of them would dethrone
him. At the birth of Zeus, Rhea tricked
Cronus, having him swallow a rock wrapped
in swaddling bands in the place of the child,
and immediately afterwards she escaped
with the newborn into the grotto of Psychro.
Fed on the honey of the bees and the milk of
the goat Amalthea and defended by the
warlike Kouretes who beat their shields hard
to cover the sound of the infant's cries, Zeus
was saved. Once grown, he killed his cruel
father (not before having forced him to
vomit up his siblings), taking on the role of
chief divinity in the Greek pantheon.
In 1900, to explore the immense cavern,
as dark and humid as maternal placenta,
filled with stalactites and stalagmites of the
most varied forms and colours, the English
archaeologist David Hogarth even had to
use dynamite to make a route for himself
through the narrow underground
passageways: there he found idols, ceramics,
cult objects, gold and ivory, seals and jewels,
altars for sacrifices and a niche that was
identified as the "crib of Zeus".
For many centuries
the grotto of
Psychro was a place
of worship, from
the Middle Minoan
period to Roman
times, and rich
votive offerings
have been found by
the archaeologists
29

C H A P T E R 1
The Diktaion Antron was also a sacred site
for King Minos of Knossos, who every nine
years descended into the cavern to receive
laws directly from Zeus.
All around the plateau, amid low
vegetation and scented bushes of broom
and thyme there are to be found small
villages, some inhabited, others abandoned,
lying beneath the slope of the mountains
like birds' nests. An excursion on the Dikti,
starting from the village of Katofigi, leaves
one breathless: lunar landscapes of silver
rocks, isolated trees with majestic crowns
and rough, stony outcrops alternate with
steppe-like terrain and low
vegetation from which
sheepfolds spring up. At times
one's way is barred by fencing
and gates tied shut with knotted
ropes to keep in the livestock:
they can be opened on the
condition that one is scrupulous
in closing them again to prevent
the animals from wandering.
30

Karphi
One particular attraction is an enormous
rocky mass that rises above Lasithi to an
altitude of 1,100 metres, visible from far off.
The place came to be called Karphi (nail) for
its strange cylindrical shape. Below the
ragged peaks of the mountain there is
hidden a Late Minoan settlement completely
camouflaged amid the stone and inhabited
from 1150 to 1000 B.C. by the last groups of
Minoans - also known as Eteocretans (true
Cretans) - in flight from the Dorian invaders.
The city, which could hold up to 3500
inhabitants, was regular in plan like Gournia,
with the houses built one up against another
Because of its
particular shape,
this mountain is
called karphi,
meaning nail
and with steep streets and flights of steps
among the rocky terracing. Explored
between 1937 and 1939 by the
archaeologist J. D. S. Pendlebury, the site has
yielded numerous cult objects (female idols
with raised arms, bull horns, bird heads,
rhytons) which testify to the survival of
Minoan culture and religion even after the
fall of the palace kingdoms.
The Eteocretan city
was built on the
slope of the giant
"nail"
31

CHAPTER 2
THE AUSTERITY OF STONE
AND THE SPLENDOURS OF MALIA

OLOUS
SPINALONGA
DREROS
KARYDI
FOURNI
MONI ARETIOU
MILATOS
MALIA
NEAPOLI

C H A P T E R 2
The austerity of stone and
the splendours of Malia
On Crete there are apparently-forgotten
lands, ignored by the normal tourist guides,
but which nevertheless possess a particular
beauty, "quieter" and hard to define. One of
these is the silent and almost uninhabited
hinterland above Ayios Nikolaos, Neapoli
and Malia, in complete contrast with the
overcrowded beaches that stretch out in
front of Spinalonga. Following this itinerary,
it is a good idea to travel without a precise
destination, losing oneself in the hilly
landscape, among small, partly-abandoned
villages, mills and tumble-down houses,
monasteries and white churches. The very
stones of this place recall dramatic and
painful stories, stories of sieges and of
conquests, of the battle against hunger and
illnesses of a population in continual revolt
against foreign invaders - Dorians, Romans,
Saracens, Venetians and Turks.
36

37

C H A P T E R 2
Spinalonga
Linked to the mainland by a narrow
isthmus, the Spinalonga peninsula
extends as far as a small rocky islet, it too
called Spinalonga. A natural harbour suitable
for small boats, Spinalonga has been known
since the time of the Minoans, and legend
has it that Daedalus, the brilliant architect of
Knossos, created for the inhabitants a very
beautiful statue of Britomartis (the Cretan
Artemis - protectress of hunters and
fishermen). Documents from the fourth
century B.C. attest to the existence of a city,
Olous was a citystate
in Classical
Greek times and
later became an
important Christian
cult centre. Of the
Basilica there
remains only the
floor with its black
and white mosaic
decoration
Olous, which controlled the maritime traffic
of ships coming from Rhodes and Cyprus
and which honoured herself in the fight
against the pirates who infested that stretch
of coast. In the ninth century Olous was
occupied by the Saracens, but not long
afterwards the entire city crumbled thanks
to a terrible earthquake which was followed
by the sinking of the isthmus. There are few
traces of Olous still visible on the surface:
most of the city was swallowed by the
waters. On the partly-swampy terrain the
foundations of an early Christian basilica of
the seventh century with precious mosaic
paving, with floral and geometric motifs,
dolphins and inscriptions in Greek have
been discovered.
38

The history of the island of Spinalonga
is equally dramatic, famous for the imposing
Venetian fort which was erected in 1579 and
considered unassailable because equipped
with one of the most powerful batteries of
cannon in all
Crete. Not even
the Turks could
succeed in taking
it. Only during the
first half of the
eighteenth
century, by which
time Venice had
lost all authority over Crete, did the Turks
take possession of the little island which
then became a smugglers' haunt. In 1903,
after Greece's liberation from foreign
dominion, Spinalonga was transformed into
a leper colony, and the bastions, the
storerooms and the military barracks were
occupied by hundreds of sufferers and their
families until 1953 when the sanatorium was
closed and the island with its imposing walls
and towers became a tourist attraction.
Climbing up the hills behind Elounda one
has a magnificent view across the red roofs
of the villages of Epano Elounda and Pines,
across the olive trees and the low stone
walls, as far as the bay with its peninsula and
the little rock of Spinalonga.
The island of
Spinalonga was
fortified by the
Venetians in 1579
and was handed
over to the
Ottomans only in
1715 - the last of
Venice's territories
on Crete
39

C H A P T E R 2
Stone as art
Far from the
beaches a
completely
different world
appears with stony
fields and old
abandoned houses.
After the seaside resort of Plaka
we can abandon the beautiful
beaches to search out the quiet of
the hills, the villages and the great
empty spaces where nature has reappropriated
the land. Many people
have abandoned living here, be it
for poverty and hunger, be it for
lack of natural resources or lack of
work. Where once there grew
immense fields of corn and where
olive trees were cultivated with
their small green fruit, to be
savoured with a few drops of lemon
juice and raki, now there often remain only
stony outcrops and the outlines of
windmills that have fallen in on themselves:
they seem spectres, from the past, of a hard
and laborious life, pierced by the lances of
an invisible Cretan Don Quixote doing battle
with time and nature. Great halo-like marks
appear alongside the windmills, like magical
circles from an archaic ritual; these are level
circles of stone raised slightly higher than
the surrounding terrain that served for the
threshing of the grain with mules or oxen.
Between Kato and Epano Loumas the
mills are made of an ochre-coloured stone,
with the remains of steps that follow the
curve of the roofless circular buildings:
40

the sail-arms are broken, the giant wheels
are mute and the cogs rusty. Apart from the
windmills there also survives the occasional
old olive-mill, its huge rooms crowned with
arches and the remains of antique
machinery. Those restorations that have
taken place regard only a few mills close to
the areas frequented by tourists, while the
others are all destined for slow destruction.
In serried ranks like soldiers in arms,
atop a hill there appear the mills of
Marnelides near Lakonia, with traces of
plaster and well-bolted doors because they
are still used by the farmers as storerooms.
Along the road between Petros and Dreros,
two stone giants
protrude among spiny
thistles: they are
monumental mills, fairly
well-preserved, each
with an external
staircase, a doorway
framed with white
blocks of stone and a
small window. The
facade is convex, the
stones are perfectly smooth and the overall
aspect is one of robustness, but peering
inside one notes only a pile of stones, iron
and burnt wooden beams.
Giant windmills are
the silent guardians
of this wild and
archaic landscape
41

C H A P T E R 2
Statues from the
Roman era, when
Dreros was still a
living city, are
conserved in the
Museum of Neapoli
Similarly, ancient Dreros, a Dorian city
of the eighth century B.C. that survived into
the Roman era, is nothing but a mass
of stones and low walls dotted amidst thick
vegetation. One arrives at the site of Dreros
via a path between two hills in an
atmospheric landscape, but it takes a lot
of imagination to believe that here there
once rose up an important archaic city with
grand buildings, a vast agora and an
important seventh-century B.C. temple
dedicated to Apollo Delphinios, of whom
a bronze effigy has been discovered
together with two statues representing
Artemis and Leto.
Stone walls
crossing the hills
and small, fertile
plains: signs of
the farmers' toil
Wandering
among
streets and
paths traced
out by grey
stone walls
that snake
up and
down the
hills, one
encounters
numerous
villages: the
white
Fourni full
of flowers
that seem to
42

grow out of the very mortar of the houses,
or Dories, also white, with its beautiful
church of Ayios Konstatinos, and also
Karydi which has the charm of an authentic
rural village with beautiful stone walling to
protect the vegetable gardens and the sown
fields from the herds of livestock.
The villages are
white and full of
flowers
43

C H A P T E R 2
Not far from the main square of Karydi,
climbing in the direction of the windmills,
we find the ruins of the monastery of
Chardemutsa, constructed like a fort in a
perfect mixture of Venetian and traditional
Cretan styles, with a great paved courtyard,
a vestibule with pointed arches and large
rooms containing old liturgical objects.
The ruins of
monasteries like
Chardemutsa or
Perambela testify
to the religious
devotion of the
population, and
the noble
architecture
continues to
remind us of the
richness of
monastic life
44

Many villages have
been completely
abandoned, like, for
example, Hondrovolaki,
which overlooks
a gorge not far from
Valtos: roofless houses,
black doorways that
look like toothless
mouths, empty window
casements like blind eyes and streets
through which stray dogs run, are all that
remains of a village which survives only in
the memory of inhabitants who will never
return. Just as no one will ever again inhabit
the beautiful compound of a rural villa close
by the village of Ayios Georgios: built of wellcut
dry stone, with various rooms on several
floors with arches, stone steps, oven and
fireplaces and with a spectacular view of
the coast, the house must have belonged
to a fairly well-off family. The large grounds
were terraced almost right down to the sea
and almonds and olive trees still grow there
from which no one gathers the fruit. From
above one sees the ragged coastline with
few isolated houses, the monastery of Ayios
Andreas and the cave church of Ayios
Antonios: it is a strange scenery of ochre,
pink and black rocks, corroded by the wind
and by the tides which render difficult both
landing and embarkation.
Some farm houses
were very big and
inhabited by large
family clans. This
kind of rural
complex was
entirely selfsufficient
and could
provide food,
water, tools and
clothes for
everybody
45

46
C H A P T E R 2

Aretiou Monastery
The religious heart of this little-frequented
territory is the sixteenth-century Aretiou
Monastery (or Monastery of the Holy
Trinity) articulated in various buildings
around an ample courtyard with the
katholikon, the monks' church, which still
contains some precious seventeenthcentury
icons. The founder, Marcos
Papadopoulos, gathered around him many
of the famous artists and intellectuals of the
period, and on his death in 1603 he left
generous donations to the monastery asking
that they be used to continue his charitable
work for the poor, but also to support those
artists of holy images who were worthy and
talented, as was Kosmas Vartzagis, known as
"the Master of Areti". Surrounded by high
walls, the monastery defended itself well
against the continual attacks by the
Ottomans, and survived. Nowadays Aretiou
Monastery is the most important monastic
complex on the Gulf of Mirambelo and is the
destination for many pilgrims and travellers
in search of tranquillity and reflection.
Aretiou
Monastery
is a fortified
monastery and
survived the
Turkish occupation
with no
great damage
47

C H A P T E R 2
The Cave of Milatos
The grotto of
Milatos is formed
of a series of
caverns and
corridors stretching
several miles
Next page:
Turning one's
gaze towards the
mountains, one
notes a low hill
with the white
church of Ayios
Elias: this was the
peak sanctuary
of Malia, in which
the votive
offerings to the
gods were
deposited
Journeying towards the coast one arrives
at the village of Milatos built not far from the
ruins of the ancient Militos (or Miletus),
already inhabited in the Late Minoan period
and mentioned by Homer, Strabo and
Pausanias. Myth tells that the local ruler,
Pindareos, stole Zeus's favourite dog and
gave it to Tantalus. For this impudence
Pindareos and his wife were cruelly
punished by the gods and condemned to
death, while their daughters became slaves
of the Furies. In the third century B.C. Miletus
was destroyed by the inhabitants of
Lyttos: only a few stones and some
tombs carved out of the rock remain
visible.
Even more terrible is the story
of the cave of Milatos, site of a
ferocious massacre at the hands of
the Ottomans. In the February of
1823 around 3600 inhabitants of
the area, men, women and children,
rebels, priests and ordinary citizens, took
refuge in the deep cavern of Milatos to
escape the cruelties of General Hassan
Pasha. Betrayed by a Turkish townsman, the
cave was besieged for a long period and
many died of hunger and thirst. Deceived by
the Turks' false promise that in the case of
surrender they would spare women and
children, the men left the cavern, but to the
cry of "death to the infidels" the massacre of
the fugitives began. Every last one of them
was killed. In a large space inside the grotto
a catafalque has been laid out with
commemorative stones and a small cave
church dedicated to St. Thomas where each
year the martyrs of Milatos are
commemorated.
48

49

C H A P T E R 2
Malia
Golden bee
pendant from
the Chryssolakos
cemetery at Malia
Right on the border between the
Prefectures of Lasithi and Heraklion the vast
archaeological area of Malia stretches out,
with its grand Minoan palace, second only
to Knossos and Phaestos. Tradition has it
that Malia was the residence of Sarpedon,
the younger brother of Minos and
Rhadamanthus, all born of the union of Zeus
and Europa.
Stone kernos for
ritual offerings at
the Palace of Malia
The most ancient part of the palace
dates back to the Middle Minoan period
(circa 2000 B.C.) but of that era there remain
few traces because the site was destroyed by
a violent earthquake and completely rebuilt
in around 1650 B.C.. Smaller than Knossos
and Phaestos, but for this no less interesting
in its structure and functions - religious,
political and economic - the palace complex
ceased to "live" in 1450 B.C. after a
devastating fire. The site was discovered
in 1915 by the Greek archaeologist Joseph
Hadjidakis, while from the 1950s onwards
the excavations have continued with the
French Archaeological School of Athens
under the direction of Henri van Effenterre.
Opening off the great Central Court,
with an altar set into the paving, there are
a series of rooms essential to court life
50

of the Minoans: the Throne Room with stairs
that lead to the upper floor, the banqueting
chamber and the crypt, a monumental
stairway with beside it a kernos (a circular
table with a central hollow and with 34
smaller bowls along the edge for the ritual
offering of the first fruits), the archive and
a vast portico held up by columns alternated
with pilasters which gave access to the great
palace storerooms.
Other courtyards and numerous
corridors lead to the wing reserved for
habitation, to the guest apartments and
to the
artisans'
workshops.
Almost all of
the spaces are
paved with
the typical
local stone, a
bluish
limestone,
and a
sandstone
known as
ammouda.
The necropolis, also known as
Chryssolakos ("the gold mine") for the great
quantity of gold objects discovered in the
tombs, is to be found down by the sea and
is laid out like the palace of the living with
rooms and porticos. The excavations at Malia
have rendered up a vast quantity of splendid
objects, jewels and ceramics dating from
the First Palace period to the Second Palace
period, among which are a sceptre in the
form of a leopard, some very fine jewellery
such as the pendant with two bees and
a gold pommel from a sword-hilt embossed
with the figure of a vaulting acrobat,
preserved in the museums of Heraklion and
Ayios Nikolaos.
Directly beyond
the entrance one
can make out the
huge circular
storerooms,
called kouloures,
which held the
reserves of grain
for the
population that
inhabited the
various quarters
around the Palace
51

C H A P T E R 2
Tales of Neapoli
and surroundings
The small Museum
of Neapoli contains
an important
collection of statues
from Classical and
Roman times
The fountain in
Houmeriakos was
built during the
long Turkish
occupation of
Crete
Travelling back towards Ayios Nikolaos
and passing through a deep gorge crowned
by the Monastery of Ayios Georgios Selinari,
one arrives at Neapoli, a lively agricultural
town beneath the mountain of Mavro Dasos
which has a beautiful little museum with
finds from the excavations of Dreros and
statues from the Roman era. In 1340 at Kares,
the oldest part of Neapoli, a certain Petros
Philargi was born, a young man of great
intelligence who was sent to study in Paris
and in Oxford in order to follow a career in
the priesthood. He became archbishop of
Milan and then cardinal, and finally, at the
time of the schism in the Western Church
(which saw the curia of Rome in opposition
to that of Avignon) Petrus Philatri was made
Pope, taking the name of Alexander V: he
held the position for only a year, from 1409
to 1410 and died poisoned by his
adversaries.
A few kilometres from Neapoli, in the
little village of Houmeriakos there remain
some traces of Venetian influence, among
which a little villa with
an attractive ashlarwork
doorway, which
the Cretans call a
Roman door. The town
chronicles recount
that in this house there
once lived a Turk
called Hussein who
having fallen for the
daughter of the local
priest, kidnapped her with the intention of
making her his lover. But at nightfall the
maiden strangled the pasha, let herself
down from the window disguised as a
52

man, joined the
rebels and fled to
the plain of Lasithi.
Her true identity
was revealed when
the swipe of a
sword slashed
open her clothes,
but she continued
to fight until her
death. The
monument
commemorating
this Cretan "Joan
of Arc" is to be found at the entrance to the
town of Kritsa.
The so-called
"Roman door"
and white steps
at Houmeriakos
Again travelling on from Neapoli,
climbing up in the direction of the Lasithi
plateau, one can visit Kremaston
Monastery, sited on a rocky ridge (hence its
name which means "suspended"), which is
inhabited by a community of monks.
Founded in 1593 and built like a small fort,
the monastery has been rebuilt several
times, and in the twentieth century opened
a school for children and ceded its
agricultural lands to the Agricultural
Commission which turned them into a
model farm.
The monastery
of Kremaston was
recently restored
53

CHAPTER 3
FROM COAST TO COAST
THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS

IERAPETRA
GOURNIA
VASILIKI
EPISKOPI
KAVOUSI
CHAMEZI
ACHLADIA
MOCHLOS
PSIRA

C H A P T E R 3
Where nature is king
Near Istron the
waters of the gulf
of Mirambelo are
a deep turquoise
in contrast with
the grey rocks,
the evergreen
trees and the
rock-plants in
bloom
Between Istron and Ierapetra the island
of Crete narrows like a bottleneck and
stretches a mere 16 kilometres between
the gulf of Mirambelo and the Libyan sea.
The trip will take us through the villages of
the Thryptis and Orno mountains as far as
the gates of Sitia. Here nature reigns, barely
grazed by the hand of man: centuries-old
olive trees, wild figs, shady plane trees,
flower-filled fields, arid open spaces, deep
gorges, small torrents and multicoloured
rocks.
58

59

C H A P T E R 3
From Gournia to Ierapetra
Orthodox
monasteries
are always
hidden
away in silent
places far from
the crowds
A short deviation from the main coastal
road leads us towards the Monastery of
Faneromeni, clinging to the mountain top.
The road meanders amid bushes of thyme
and sage as far as the little cave church of
the monastery which houses a precious icon
of the "Death of the Virgin", believed to have
miraculous powers. Legend tells of a
shepherd who had lost his way during the
night, but was drawn to a light in the
darkness: it came from the holy icon and, in
thanks to the Virgin who had helped him
find his way once more, the first church of
Faneromeni was erected on the site.
Gournia, the
"Minoan Pompei"
Back on the main road, the ancient city
of Gournia appears, luminous, on a low hill,
like a map open to the skies: one can clearly
see the walls of the houses, the streets and
the courtyards, so much so that it is known
as the "Minoan Pompei". Already inhabited
in the Early- and Middle-Minoan era, the
ruins that we see today belong largely to the
Late Minoan era (circa 1600 B.C.) and to the
period of the arrival of the Mycenaeans who
erected a sanctuary here. The inhabitants of
Gournia were artisans, merchants and
fishermen, but they too wanted to erect a
palace and a theatre space of their own
modelled on Knossos, naturally much
inferior in scale.
60

In the Middle
Minoan period
Gournia had its own
local governor who
resided in a palace
high on the hill
The several-floored houses and the
shops, which face onto the lanes, the steps
and around the marketplace, form a
compact urban weave where the walls back
one onto the other and often share roofs.
The excavations between 1901 and 1904 by
the American archaeologist
Harriet Boyd-Hawes, have
yielded up many brightlycoloured
ceramics with
marine motifs and various
everyday objects like mortars,
millstones and jars for oil and
for wine. Continuing on
towards Ierapetra one can see
the remains of the Proto-Minoan settlement
of Vasiliki, almost directly opposite the
clean break made by the Ha gorge which
looks as though it had been cut open
At the foot of
the Ha gorge
archaeologists
have discovered
remains of an
ancient settlement
61

C H A P T E R 3
The inner walls
of the houses
of Vasiliki were
originally
plastered and
painted red
by a giant's sword. Vasiliki too, lying in the
shade of wind-bent olive trees, retains the
perfect outline of the city layout and is
famous for the discovery of a great quantity
of "flame-mottled" pottery with decorations
in red and black, known as Vasiliki Ware. The
corners of the small complex are orientated
towards the four points of the compass, as
was the practice in the constructions of Asia
Minor: the settlement was destroyed.
The town of Episkopi, midway along
our route, has ancient origins as is testified
by the sarcophagi found by pure chance
whilst road works were being done near
the double church of Ayios Georgios and
Ayios Haralambos. The church dates back to
the seventh or eighth century and is
characterised by the double facades
62

with one triangular pediment and one
arched, and by an unusual brick dome with
many niches that were once frescoed.
Ierapetra, the ancient Hierapytna,
is the largest port-town on the southern
coast of Crete. It grew to be an important
centre in the Graeco-Roman era when it was
furnished with temples, baths, an
amphitheatre and two theatres, porticos
and an aqueduct, of which, however, there
remains no trace. In the thirteenth century
the Venetians built an imposing castle with
battlements and ramparts. The Turks also
embellished Ierapetra with mosques and
fountains and there are corners of the city
that retain a decidedly oriental aspect.
The Venetian and
Ottoman ruins are
the most attractive
monuments in
Ierapetra, while
nothing has
survived from the
Minoan, Greek or
Roman periods
On 26 th June 1798 the city had an
illustrious guest in the person of Napoleon
Bonaparte who, returning from the Egyptian
campaign, spent a night here in a small
house (now known as spiti tu Napoleonta or
Napoleon’s House) not far from the church
of Afendi Christou.
Ierapetra has a fine Archaeological
Museum with glass cabinets brimming with
Minoan finds, ceramics, painted sarcophagi
and statues dating from the Classical,
Hellenistic and Roman eras.
63

64
C H A P T E R 3

Kavousi and the
Thryptis and Orno mountains
The road to Kavousi begins with a sea of
dark olive trees. Here one can admire the
oldest olive tree in Crete: how many years
or centuries old it is no one knows, but its
immense trunk, rough and scarred with
hardened swellings like the body of a
prehistoric animal, gives the impression
that this tree/monument has seen more
things than we humans are capable of
imagining. Its branches were used to weave
the crowns for the Athens Olympics in 2004.
On the mountain that overlooks the
village of Kavousi one can make out the
foundations of two archaic settlements from
the Early Bronze Age: a hilltop encampment
and a settlement built around a rocky terrace
with a view across the sea. Following the
Dorian invasion the Eteocretans chose the
sites on which to build their villages with
care: fairly inaccessible, but with an ample
vista that allowed them to control passing
traffic without been seen. Hidden among
luxuriant bushes of yellow-gold broom and
wild sage there are numerous tholos tombs
in which arms, jewellery and armour of the
Geometric period have been found.
The circular tombs
of Kavousi are
partly hidden by
flowering bushes
65

C H A P T E R 3
From ancient Kavousi one can continue
along rough roads (to be braved in a fourwheel-drive)
that wind through the
Thryptis and Orno mountains. One has to
be a lover of wild and archaic landscapes to
appreciate this itinerary which takes us
through bare mountains, passes hazardously
above deep ravines and where the only
signs of life are the birdsong and the
bleating of the goats. Once up in the
Thryptis mountains it is a good idea to make
a excursion on foot as far as the Ha gorge
among perfumed bushes and silvery rocks.
The bare
mountainside
is the reign of
sheep and
goats
The Orno mountains
are formed of many
rocky cones with dark,
solitary trees, where
the white road passes
through a valley with
isolated cultivated
fields, figs, pome -
granates and even
vines which grow at a
surprisingly high
altitude. A single small
village of just a few
houses, Bembonas,
offers the chance for
66

The best way to
discover the beauty
of this countryside
is by travelling
slowly and
whenever possible
on foot
a rest at the little kafeneion which is frequented
by the farmers and shepherds of the area.
Having arrived at Chryssopighi the road
is asphalted once again: further ahead on the
right one comes to the pretty village of Orino
with its myrtle bushes and their white
headily-perfumed flowers, while on the
slopes of the Orno one arrives at Dafni and
Skordillo amid great groves of olives. At that
point a geological peculiarity has created
bright white rocks of limestone and chalk that
thrust up from the dark earth like sharp
blades and calcified bones. In the fissures
there grow anemones and cyclamens that
bring to mind certain details, painted with
brush-tip, in medieval miniatures.
67

C H A P T E R 3
The stones of history
Beyond the tiny hamlet of Riza there lies
the village of Achladia and venturing along
the little roads among olives groves,
orchards and vineyards, one can go in search
of a Minoan villa and a tholos tomb, wellhidden
by the trees. The perfectly preserved
tholos in all probability dates back to 1300
B.C., to the Mycenaean period. A long
dromos, a ramp faced with large dressed
stones, runs down towards a doorway
formed of great monolithic blocks which
leads into a dark chamber roofed with a
dome formed of horizontal courses of stone
[corbelling]. The burial chamber has a false
door which perhaps served to allow
communication between the world of the
dead and that of the living.
The tholos
tomb at
Achladia is the
best preserved
in eastern Crete
Rendered almost invisible by the olive
grove that grows above it, the Minoan villa
at Achladia is a large rural construction with
various rooms built around an expansive
courtyard with a kiln for producing ceramics.
Of the villa there remain only the foundations,
which do however give a good idea of how
Minoan country life was organised.
68

Decidedly more interesting is the
ancient Minoan complex of Hamezi, dating
back to 2000 B.C., which occupies the entire
crest of a bare hill called Souvloti Mouri
("pointed hill"). Built of a rosy stone, and in a
strange elliptical form (the only one of its kind
on Crete) it was long believed to be a peak
sanctuary,
but was more
probably a
rural villa
housing
several
families who
found
themselves
forced to
adapt the
shape of the
house to that
of the hillside
terrain. The
rooms are
arranged in
a circle around a deep cistern which served
to collect rainwater because the hill has no
springs or wells.
The view from the
top of the hill of
Hamezi looks over
large olive groves
and vineyards right
down to the sea's
edge
69

C H A P T E R 3
Nowadays the
traditional
handicrafts of
Crete are to be
found only in
the Folklore
Museum
In the modern village of Hamezi there
is an interesting Folklore Museum with
traditional agricultural instruments and
craftsmens' tools, costumes, furnishings and
finely embroidered cloths shown in various
rooms which recreate the atmosphere of
a real peasant home of the past.
Basket-shaped
vase with
double axes -
the symbol of
Minoan
religion and
power - from
the island of
Psira
70

Psira and Mochlos
Turning back onto the main road towards
Ayios Nikolaon one meanders through the
mountains as far as a panoramic
promontory, after the village of Mirsini, from
which there can be seen two small islands,
Mochlos and Psira, and also a huge gypsum
quarry which over time has taken on the
appearance of a pyramid.
It was once possible
to reach the small
island of Mochlos
on foot, walking
along the isthmus
Mochlos emerges from the water for
only 45 metres, and once formed part of the
mainland, but during the Roman era the
waves began to climb and submerged the
isthmus. Mochlos is one of the most ancient
settlements on Crete, and in its rock tombs,
where the local rulers were buried, there
have been found rich grave-goods: gold
jewellery in filigree, silver cups, alabaster
vases and objects in faience.
Gold diadem from
Early Minoan
period, found at
Mochlos
71

C H A P T E R 3
The bold, dark
profile of the
rocky island of
Psira
The gypsum
quarry once
ruined the
coastline but
now seems part
of the natural
landscape
Psira is larger and further from the
coast and was inhabited from the time of
the Minoans until the Byzantine era. It had
an important port with the houses built
amphitheatre-style around it and was well
sheltered from the winds. Psira controlled
the rich maritime trade between Crete and
the East and the inhabitants must have been
very wealthy merchants: their houses were
frescoed and decorated with reliefs of very
fine workmanship, worthy of a royal palace.
72

73

CHAPTER 4
ETEOCRETANS AND RELICS
OF THE VENETIANS

SITIA
PETRAS
TRIPYTOS
AYIA PHOTIA
ZOU
PRINIAS
ETIA
VOILA
LITHINES
MAKRYYIALOS
KOUFONISSI

C H A P T E R 4
The Venetian castle
of Sitia in an old
engraving. Today
the fortress, known
as kazarma and
which was
destroyed by the
Ottomans, has been
partially restored.
The Venetian
influence in
architecture and
arts is still to be felt
in many places
around Sitia
Starting out from Sitia (the city which has
lent its name to the whole region, in that
Lasithi is simply a distortion of the Venetian
"La Sitia"), our journey takes us into the most
hidden lands of the Eteocretans, the "true
Cretans", who, after the destruction of the
Minoan palaces, preserved the customs, the
language and the religion of the Minoans for
many centuries. Following the end of the
ancient world it was, however, the Venetians
who left a strong imprint on the region, and
their traces can be found in the cities, the
small villages and the ruins dotted about
the territory. In a document of the era, the
Venetians describe the population of Sitia
as "peaceable and respectful of the laws
and lovers of feasts".
The Turkish presence was also strong,
governing the region with an iron fist, and
the occupiers were guilty of innumerable
massacres many of which were the work of
Khaireddin Barbarossa, a pirate in the pay
of the Ottomans.
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79

C H A P T E R 4
Sitia from Minoan times
to Venetian dominion
Clear, light waters
and a wide horizon
characterize the
bay of Sitia
Like a white amphitheatre, Sitia hugs the
bay with its port from which the ships that
sail towards the islands of the Dodecanese
leave. In ancient times the port was called
Eteia and belonged to the city of Pressos
(Praisos), a settlement on the hills inland that
remained important from Minoan times to
the Hellenistic period.
Later the Romans were to occupy Sitia as
an eastern Cretan outpost: the remains of
a large fish tank date back to this period,
whilst all traces of the earlier civilisations
were destroyed by the continual incursions
of pirates and by the numerous earthquakes
that have plagued the area.
80
Before the ninth century an important
diocese was founded in Sitia, to then be
devastated shortly after by the Saracens.
For this reason it was decided to transfer
the bishopric to Episkopi, less exposed to
raids and pillaging. On the Byzantine ruins
the Genoese Enrico Pescatore built a fortress
which the Venetians took possession of in
1280, and which became, together with
Hania, Rethymnon and Heraklion, one of
Crete's most powerful strongholds.

The Venetian Castle
overlooking the
town of Sitia
For many centuries Sitia remained one
of the most important fiefs of the aristocratic
families of the Venetian Republic. The
fortress (commonly known as Kazarma) was
destroyed along with the rest of the city in
1538 by the pirate Khaireddin Barbarossa,
but immediately rebuilt by the Venetians,
although it was then captured by the Turks
at the end of the eighteenth century. The
signs left by the devastation that Barbarossa
wreaked can still be seen in the little fireblackened
church of the monastery of
Faneromeni, few kilometres distant from
Sitia, built above a gorge of white rock and
visible from the sea, therefore easy prey for
the foreign hordes who landed on the coast.
In the period between the end of Venetian
rule and the imminent occupation by the
Turks, one of the island's most famous
writers, Vincenzo Cornaro (or Vincente
Kornaros), was born in Sitia, possibly of
noble Venetian origins or a Cretan aristocrat
who adopted an Italian name as was the
A small hamlet
was built near the
monastery of
Faneromeni
81

C H A P T E R 4
Archaeological Museum
of Sitia
The Minoan
"prince" in gold
and ivory from
Palaekastro is one
of the most
precious finds to
have come out of
eastern Crete
The Museum's rich collection
includes pottery, clay figurines,
votive offerings, tablets with
Minoan inscriptions, tools,
jewellery and fragments of
murals
82

fashion at the time. His epic chivalric poem
"Erotokritos" (he who is tormented by Eros)
is composed of 1680 verses and tells, in
flowery language, of the heroic battle
between princes and warriors for the hand
of the Princess Aretusa, who after terrible
misadventures comes to marry the
protagonist Erotokritos. The romance unites
myth, legend, magic, passion, adventure,
proverbs and folk wisdom and today the old
folk still know the verses by heart, and sing
them as they did in the past.
With the Ottoman occupation the city
fell into ruin until 1870, when an illuminated
Turk, Avni Pasha, drew up the new city plan
and had it rebuilt, in spite of the outbreaks
of rebellion that hinted at the imminent
demise of the Sultans' dominion. Following
the liberation and independence of the
island, Sitia was gradually repopulated and
became the lively and beautiful town,
oriental in character, with narrow streets,
cafes, taverns and open-air markets, that it
is today. One should not miss out on a visit
to the Folklore Museum and above all the
Archaeological Museum which houses
important finds from the Minoan civilisation
- including many votive
offerings from the
nearby peak
sanctuaries and a
splendid Minoan
"prince" in gold and
ivory found at
Palaekastro, along with
numerous daedalic
figurines in the
Egyptian style and
objects from the Greek
and Roman periods.
This engraving
from 1651 shows
the town of Sitia at
the time of the
famous poet
Vincenzo Cornaro,
author of the epic
"Erotokritos"
Daedalic figurines
were very common
in Doric time
83

A white-rock
gorge leads to a
stony beach and
the monastery of
Faneromeni, with
its dark
katholikon, the
monks' Byzantine
church with
beautiful icons
and frescocovered
walls

C H A P T E R 4
Traces of the ancients
around Sitia
The double axe
symbol is found
engraved on
stone and clay
vessels
wherever the
Minoans
founded a
settlement
An inscription on a Minoan tablet bears
the word "se-to-i-ja", the most ancient name
given to the city of Sitia, used right up to our
own times. Its precise location is not known,
but some scholars believe that it may have
lain on the hill at Petras, where Minoan
constructions with enormous blocks of
dressed stone have been discovered. Petras
is also cited by Plato in the Protagoras where
he mentions it as the birthplace of Myson,
one of the Seven Sages of ancient Greece.
Other Minoan ruins have been found at the
gates of Sitia, along the edge of the road
that leads towards the Libyan sea: they are
the remains of a Minoan villa dating from
1600 B.C. with a series of rooms arranged
across terraces, two well - preserved
stairways and a crypt.
Again near Sitia, to be found on a hill
overlooking the sea is Tripytos, a large
settlement with houses, workshops and
storerooms built on the sandstone slope:
86

Hellenistic-Roman period. Continuing along
the road towards the east, after a few
kilometres one comes to Ayia Photia, one
of the largest
Minoan
necropolises
on the island,
with 252
tombs, some
cut into the
rock, some in
the form of
tholoi. Next to the necropolis, on the crest of
a low hill, a large fortified Minoan villa from
the Middle Minoan period has been
Sitia is surrounded
by Minoan
settlements, rural
villas and
cemeteries dating
from the Middle
Minoan period to
the time when the
Eteocretans took
refuge in the
mountain of
eastern Crete
uncovered with 37 rooms and two circular
structures: even if the archaeological
remains are little but outlines, the place has
its own particular fascination, between the
blue of the sea and rocks overrun with a
blanket of succulents with bright purple
flowers.
87

C H A P T E R 4
The Minoans from war and work
to religion
On the road that leads from Sitia to
Makryyialos along the coast of the Libyan
Sea we come across a series of settlements
and sanctuaries of the later generations of
Minoans and Eteocretans who, amid these
hills, sought refuge from the Dorian invaders
in around 1000 B.C.. These sites enable us to
better-understand three of the fundamental
aspects of Minoan culture: country life, town
life and the religious cults.
Minoan country
villas like that of
Zou were very
important in the
Eteocretan period,
since they provided
the population's
sustenance
Near Zou, famous for its springs which
provided fresh water for all of the
surrounding area as far as Sitia, a rural villa
has been discovered dating back to around
1600 B.C., built of dressed stone on a very
steep slope on a sandy and fragile terrain
that threatens to crumble. The house is
composed of various rooms, workshops and
a kiln for ceramics, and a large number of
tools and agricultural instruments have been
found there.
Travelling south one can make out a
small sandstone ridge in the middle of a
dense grove of olives: this is the Minoan
88

Even very small
settlements were
built in the form of
miniature royal
palaces
settlement of Ayios Georgios which, in its
form and structure, is more like a miniature
Gournia than a simple country house. The
entrance is marked by a steep staircase
formed of monolithic blocks which leads to
a myriad of small chambers with the massive
walls of a fortress. From the foot of the hill
the green countryside stretches out
immersed in absolute silence, and it is easy
to believe that the ancients who inhabited
this place loved to surround themselves
with beauty.
More imposing in appearance is
Pressos (Praisos), a Late Minoan city which
was active up until the Roman period, with
a triple acropolis built on a cone-shaped hill
entirely surrounded by fortified walls: from
afar the hill seems built up in a spiral, like
old representations of the tower of Babel.
Pressos lies exactly halfway between the two
coasts and was of strategic importance,
allowing control over the traffic of people
and goods across a vast territory. In the
Greek era it was the most powerful city-state
of eastern Crete, together with Itanos
89

C H A P T E R 4
The dominion
of the powerful
Pressos
extended over
the whole
region of Sitia,
and a treaty
was even made
with the distant
Itanos in order
to avoid
surrender to
the rival city of
Hierapytna
Every Minoan
settlement had its
own mountain-top
sanctuary:
the sanctuary of
Pressos lay on the
peak of Prinias
with which it was
linked by friendship,
and Hierapytna
(Ierapetra), the
eternal rival,
especially as far as
the lucrative trade in
purple dye which was
extracted from a
particular species
of mollusc which
abounded in the
coastal waters was
concerned.
Pressos venerated
Zeus Dikteo and
practiced a strange cult, that of the "sacred
pig", as a result of which the populace was
forbidden to eat pork. Governed by a
democratic aristocracy, Pressos was an
extremely wealthy city that minted coins
with the effigies of Apollo, Hercules, Zeus
and Demeter. In the buildings from the
Greek/Hellenistic period, in the sanctuary
and in the tombs, precious finds have been
made: terracotta figures, painted lions,
helmets, shields and pectorals in bronze and
two Athenian amphorae of the sixth century
B.C. which probably belonged to a local
athlete who had won prizes at the
Panathenian Games.
When Ierapetra openly declared war on
Pressos, the inhabitants turned for
protection to the allied city of Itanos and
also to Ptolemy Philimetor, ruler of Egypt
90

with whom they had commercial dealings,
but, despite their repeated appeals for help,
in 146 B.C. Ierapetra succeeded in destroying
the city. In decline and no longer
independent, in 58 B.C. Pressos was
occupied by the Romans who partially
rebuilt the city. However it had, lost all its
power.
The Minoans and Eteocretans of these
lands chose a "holy mountain" to take their
votive offerings to the gods. The most
imposing of these peak sanctuaries is found
on the mountain of Prinias, which is very
difficult to scale because defended by a very
steep wall of jagged rocks on its western
face and by a
deep gorge on
the east. In the
past shepherds,
farmers and
townsfolk
climbed as far as
the summit
carrying offerings
of figurines and
objects in
terracotta, bronze
and gold which
were deposited in
a sacred enclosure or hidden in the cracks
between the rocks.
The mountain-top sanctuaries were not
always situated on the highest mountain
peaks. Even low hills which were unusual in
form or simply emerged from flat terrain
could function as holy mountains for the
population: for example the little mount
Katrinia at Piskokephala, nowadays
cultivated with olive groves and vineyards,
and the low ridge of Alia, crowned with
a small white church between Sykia and
Papagianades, where many votive offerings
have been found (now exhibited in the
museums of Sitia and Ayios Nikolaos).
At Prinias in
particular there
a large number of
horned scarabs in
clay have been
found, the rinoceros
orytes commonly
known as
"rhinoceros scarab"
and believed, in the
"household" cults,
to be talismanic.
91

C H A P T E R 4
The Venetian feudal
territories
As we wander among the roads that lead
from Sitia to the Libyan sea, history moves
forward in great bounds because in an area
of only a few kilometres we find ourselves
immersed in Minoan remains and then
immediately afterwards in the feudal
possessions of the Venetians.
Kato Episkopi is the village to which,
in the eleventh century, the bishopric of Sitia
was transferred to escape the devastations
wreaked by the Saracens. The three-naved
church of the Ayioi Apostoloi with its cupola
that recalls Islamic architecture, was noted
by Venetian sources for a peculiarity: it had
Under Venetian
rule Kato and
Epano Episkopi
were seats of
the Catholic
bishopric, but in
the churches
both Orthodox
and Catholic
rites were
celebrated
two altars, one dedicated to the Latin rite
and one to the Greek, and often the liturgies
of the respective priests were celebrated
simultaneously. Another beautiful old
church, Panayia, is to be found at Epano
Episkopi and is worth a visit.
A small sign indicates the road to Forte
castle, which is recognisable from far off
thanks to its stern outline above a rocky spur
rising up in front of the Orno mountain
range. The road winds through cultivated
fields and sweet-scented meadows with
92

eautiful panoramas, as far as the ruins of
the castle which was once property of the
Genoese and later recovered by the
Venetians who called it Monforte. Climbing
to the crest one has a splendid view over the
easternmost part of Crete as far as the
Libyan sea. In the sixteenth century the
fortress was abandoned and fell into ruin for
lack of care. Later the site became a refuge
for the peoples persecuted by the Ottomans
and it is said that up to 3000 people could
take shelter within its walls.
To visit some of the most important
lands of the noble families of Venice one
must push on through narrow roads
between vineyards and orchards in the
direction of Ziros. One of the most
fascinating sites is Etia, property of the
powerful Venetian De Mezzo family, who
built their residence here in the sixteenth
century, a large palace, well-conserved and
restored, with two churches alongside it,
Ayia Ekaterina and Ayios Ioannis. Atop the
main door is the family crest of two
mermaids, while inside it opens onto a large
hall with barrel-vaulting and a stairway
which once led to the now non-existent
upper floor.
Castles, churches
and palaces testify
to the power of
Venetian rule which
lasted for over four
centuries
93

The palace at Etia
with its two small
churches has
been carefully
restored and is
now listed as a
national
monument
The mansion house at
Etia is one of the most
representative
examples of Venetian
architecture in
eastern Crete. There
was originally a
second floor but the
building fell in at the
beginning of the
nineteenth century

Continuing on towards Armeni and
Handras (two agricultural villages famous
for their wine and the production of
sultanas, which are left to dry on great
sheets stretched out in the sun), one arrives
at Voila, another important Venetian feudal
estate belonging to the Zeno family who,
following the Turkish conquest, converted
to Islam: their sons became fanatical
janissaries, transforming the Italian surname
into Tzin-Ali. Of the Venetian/Turkish village
there remains the imposing tower of the
palace/fortress with crests and relief
sculptures carved on the entrances.
The fertile valley
near Armeni e
Handras was once
Venetian territory,
but after the feud of
Voila was ruled by a
Turkish-Venetian
janissary
Alongside the palace we can see the
ruins of the church of Ayios Panteleimonas
and some stone houses with blackened
ovens and fireplaces that attest to their
sporadic use by shepherds and local farmers.
Coming back down past scattered rocks and
boulders, one arrives at a beautiful fountain
in the Turkish style with an enclosed garden.
Overhead is the church of Ayios Georgios
which houses the tomb of the Cretan
95

C H A P T E R 4
Salomons, the family which
was to give Greece one of
her famous theologians,
Jacopo, and the poet
Diorisi.
Another village,
Katelionas (which would
be almost camouflaged
among the rocks were it
not for two white churches
that shine in the sunlight) contains traces
of the Venetian presence of the sixteenth
century, when it was a large town with a
population of thousands. The Ottomans
forced the residents to convert to Islam or
risk expulsion. Katelionas slowly emptied
and was never repopulated.
96

Returning towards Armeni, where on
the crest of the hill the blades of a wind farm
spin dizzyingly, on the plain below one can
make out the ruins of the monastery of Ayia
Sofia, of which there remain some Venetianera
rooms surmounted by wide arches and
blocks from columns and capitals. Used for
a short time as a school during the Turkish
occupation, but ever since with neither
students nor vocation, the grey stone
monastery has fallen into total abandon.
Ruins and small
churches are
reminders of the
past centuries,
often troubled and
rife with
intolerance
Lifting one's eyes up from the
monastery to the high wall of rock that
faces onto a narrow gorge, one can see two
small cave churches dedicated to Ayio
Pneuma. Both little churches are modest,
dug into the rock, and their iconostases too
are simple screens between the altar and the
space reserved for the faithful, with a few
icons of the saints, but it is worthwhile
climbing up this far to sit on the stone
benches and meditate, on the beauty of
the nature here and of the sky amid the
great silence.
97

C H A P T E R 4
In the silent villages
Time seems to stop
in the archaic and
unsullied landscape
around Perivolakia
To better understand the spirit of this
region we would suggest a visit to the
villages that tourism has forgotten, like
Perivolakia and Drongari, set into a
landscape both wild and sensual and
approachable via a narrow path along the
gorge that lies halfway down the slope
beneath the little churches of Ayio Pneuma.
Where the gorge ends one encounters a
small plateau with thistles and thorny
bushes amid farmhouses, all deserted, save
one which appears to be inhabited by
someone fairly eccentric who has decorated
the house with odds and ends that vary from
old pieces of iron to ox-horns and empty tin
cans. The place is called Epano Perivolakia
and was abandoned after a terrible
earthquake.
98
Further down, settled among the olive
trees, Kato Perivolakia appears, a group of
low white houses with flat roofs and
terracotta chimney pots. In Venetian times it
was a rich agricultural village, but now the
life in its streets seems to have stopped still
and the few remaining inhabitants gaze

in wonder at the rare visitors who come this
far. Yet more desolate is the old stone
hamlet on a ridge at the beginning of the
Perivolakia gorge, which descends between
great boulders and open tree trunks towards
Kapsa Monastery on the southern coast. The
site has the rough beauty of a fortified
village and it is with amazement that one
notices that behind those impenetrable
walls some homes have been rebuilt with
tiny gardens in which there grow almonds
and pomegranates.
Continuing along a dirt road in the
direction of Apidia one can visit the ruins
of the medieval village of Drongari, which
emerges amid hay fields and olive trees with
its grey stones that once formed homes,
shops, stables and storehouses. Over the last
few years it has all but completely fallen in,
Great silence and
the scent of wild
flowers are this
spot's only riches
but one can still make out arched doorways
and rooms with stairs, niches and stone
seats. On the platform that marks the
entrance to the ruins, a bare white church
has been erected with a wooden iconostasis
with brightly-coloured paintings.
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C H A P T E R 4
Along the coast of
the Libyan sea
From outside the
church seems
rather poor, but
inside it boasts
surprisingly
beautiful frescoes
and holy icons
Back on the main road leading to the sea,
the white town of Lithines comes into view,
and merits a stop: it is a lively and well-kept
place with restored houses, flower-filled
gardens and labyrinthine streets. The site
was know as far back as pre-Hellenistic
times, but acquired real importance only in
the Byzantine and Venetian eras when it
took the name of the aristocratic Lithini
family who, in 1591, built the church of Ayios
Athanasios in the town square. Here was
buried the Venetian patrician Gerolamo
Vlasto, fighter for the freedom of Crete and
refined man of letters. Of the small castle
which was once to be found in the middle
of the village there remain only a few
fragments of reliefs which are now
incorporated into the church.
100

101

C H A P T E R 4
The Venetian
style of
architecture
and decoration
continued to be
adopted by
local craftsmen
even after
Venetian rule
ended
Mysteriously dark, the church of
Panayia Hodegetria ("the Virgin who shows
the true path") is entirely frescoed.
Blackened with smoke from the candles, it
houses a precious icon of the Madonna from
the fourteenth century:
from the image there
hang hundreds of silver
ex votos - eyes, hands,
feet, figures of men,
women and children
invoking mercy - held by
fine chains so that they
form a wide, tiered skirt
of metal right down to
the floor.
The third church of Lithines is dedicated
to the Ayia Triada and to Ayios Haralambos.
It has two apses and dates back to 1886. Its
beautiful portals with relief sculptures were
probably salvaged from an older Venetian
building.
102
After Lithines the road drops steeply
towards the Libyan sea where we find the
coastal village of Makryyialos with a small
fishing port. Two ancient constructions have
been found here, a Roman villa facing the
sea and a Minoan villa on a flat area of land
higher up, both hidden among the modern
houses.

The Roman villa dates back to the first
century A.D. and has a regular plan with a
central courtyard surrounded by many
rooms including small baths and a semicircular
pool - possibly a fish pond. Judging
from the precious pavement mosaics and
the fragments of marble that decorated the
walls, this was a luxury abode.
The large Minoan villa belongs to the
Second Palace period, it has a surrounding
wall and is divided into numerous rooms
with traces of cobbled flooring. The villa had
strong links with the religious cults of the
Minoans because inside there have been
found stone altars, a chamber for ritual
banquets and a magnificent seal on which
there is inscribed a ship with a sanctuary
floating on the waves, symbol of the sea
gods.
Turning instead towards the line of
coast that leads eastwards, we encounter
the fifteenth-century monastery of Kapsa,
clinging to the high rocks and dedicated to
St John the Baptist. In the mid 1800s the
monastery became the property of the
adventurer Yerontoyiannis, a decidedly
controversial character: repenting of a life
of dissolution he became a monk, dedicating
himself to the poor, healing the sick and
working miracles. Ever since Yerontoyiannis
has been venerated as a saint and every 29 th
August a great feast is dedicated to him at
the monastery.
The ancient
settlements, villas
and monasteries
were rarely built on
exposed stretches
of coast because
the population
feared foreign
invaders coming
from the sea
103

C H A P T E R 4
The island of Koufonissi:
a very special outing
Murex shells are
still to be found
on the sandy
beaches of the
island of
Koufonissi
In the summer when the sea is calm, a
passenger ferry sets out from the port of
Makryyialos for the uninhabited island of
Koufonissi (the ancient Lefki). White
beaches, crystalline, turquoise waters and
ancient remains make this island an
uncontaminated little paradise, and
exploring it on foot leaves one feeling as free
as the birds that wheel between its sea and
the sky. Koufonissi has not always been so
silent: in the Graeco-Roman period the
island had a flourishing industry producing
the red-purple dye that is extracted from the
muscles of the murex shellfish that are to be
caught in the surrounding sea, a dye which
was sold on at great price. The inhabitants of
Koufonissi had commercial dealings with the
city states of Hierapytna, Itanos and Pressos
and also with Athens and Rome where use
of the colour purple was reserved for the
clothing of the aristocracy.
A twelve-tiered Roman theatre of the
fourth century A.D., a temple dedicated to
104

Zeus, an aqueduct and the remains of a
Roman villa with columns of porphyry and
mosaic floors all attest to the wealth of the
past. Koufonissi was inhabited up until the
Byzantine era, as is demonstrated by the
walls beside the sea. Sailing around the
island, one notes graffiti on the rocks
representing sailing-ships, smaller boats and
holy images: they were scratched there by
the shipwrecked and by sailors and pirates
whom the wind had driven onto the rocks.
105

107

CHAPTER 5
PLACES OF WORSHIP
UNDER A VAST SKY

PEAK SANCTUARIES
MONI TOPLOU
ITANOS
PALAEKASTRO
KARYDI
ZAKROS
ETIA
AMBELOS

C H A P T E R 5
Mountain-top sanctuaries
In the easternmost part of Crete we find
the traces of one of the most important and
mysterious religious manifestations of the
Minoan Civilization: the rites of worship that
took place on the mountain peaks. The peak
sanctuaries originated in the Middle
Minoan period, around 2000 B.C., and
remained functional up to the time of the
Eteocretans. According to the Greek
archaeologist Costis Davaras, in the area
between Itanos and Goudouras alone there
are concentrated a full nine sacred
mountains, the best-known of which are
Petsofas and Modi above Palaekastro,
Traostalos and Vigla on the road to Zakros,
Kalamaki near Itanos, and Prinias and
Piskokephalo which are found just outside
Sitia.
110
Our knowledge of
Minoan religion is
still very limited.
The finds from
peak-sanctuaries,
caves, domestic
shrines and tombs
seem to indicate
that the natural
world played an
important part in
magical
ceremonies
The traveller notes nothing in
particular, if not the mountain peaks with
irregular rock formations which contrast
with the surrounding landscape and catch
the eye: a conical summit, jagged boulders,
rings of rock or majestic ridges. Many of
these sanctuaries did not even have a sacred
enclosure (only on the mountain of Petsofas
do the walls of a temenos remain), and for
this reason scholars believe that the devout
made their way to the mountain tops simply
to pray close to the sky, where the gods

111

C H A P T E R 5
The peak
sanctuary on
Mount Petsofas
is one of the few
sacred sites
with remains of
a shrine
A quantity of
clay scarabs
have been
found at the
peak sanctuary
of Prinias
could more easily manifest themselves. The
mountain belonged to the gods, and to
indicate the sacredness of the place was
unnecessary.
The Minoans brought precious
offerings to the gods - objects in gold, ivory
and bronze, or spontaneous gifts modelled
in clay: domestic animals such as goats,
oxen, bulls and sheep, but also birds, snakes,
tortoises and insects and many figurines,
both male and female, in the gesture of
worship with both arms raised above the
head or with a closed fist held to the
forehead. They invoked the benevolence
of the gods, for a good year, for an abundant
harvest or for the healing of their physical
ills: many feet, hands, arms, legs and little
heads have been found in the crevasses
between the rocks, along with miniature
vases and objects of domestic and
agricultural use.
Votive
offerings were
hidden in
fissures and
cracks in the
rocks
112

Which deities were
worshipped at the
peak sanctuaries is
still unknown, but
sacred figures -
especially female -
are often
identifiable
engraved on seals
or painted on
pottery and clay
sarcophagi
For the Minoans nature was sacred and
had no need of manipulation. Many plant
symbols appear on their seals and in their
painting: olive trees, fig trees, palms, oaks,
pillars
crowned with
treetops,
flowers, fruit
and scattered
leaves, and
water was
present too:
the waves of
the sea on
which there
sailed the
boats with
their sacrificial
altars.
Many of the
discoveries made relating to these peak
sanctuaries are owed to the French scholar,
and tireless traveller, Paul Faure who, in the
mid twentieth century scoured the
mountains and grottos of Crete on foot in
search of the traces of the civilian and
religious life of the Minoans. Many
archaeologists have used Faure's travel
notes and books as the basis of in-depth
studies of the sites that he indicated.
Figurines in the
shape of bulls were
a symbol of
strength,
independence and
fertility
The reconstruction
of the peak
sanctuary of
Petsofas
includes a fairly
large temenos
built into the
rocks
113

At the Museum of
Ayios Nikolaos all
sorts of votive
offerings from the
peak sanctuaries
are on show: small
clay animals,
pottery, and legs
and arms, used to
ask the gods for
good health or a
rich harvest
The small clay
figurines - both
male and female -
are in the typical
worshiping pose
of the Minoans

Archaeologists
have also found
bronze figurines
and animals and
objects in gold.
The peak
sanctuaries first
appear in the
Middle Minoan
period and some
remained in use up
until the Late
Minoan period
The female
figurines have
elaborate
hairstyles and
wide skirts, while
the male figures
wear only the
sacred knot and
a dagger

C H A P T E R 5
Travelling towards the
“deserted city”
From Sitia the road continues along the
coast towards the easternmost point of
Crete in a harsh, bare landscape, its few trees
bent by the wind which blows angrily here.
In the midst of this wild nature there rises
the fortress-like monastery of Toplou, which
takes its name from the Turkish word top,
cannon, because the Venetians had
equipped the complex with a powerful
artillery. Dedicated to the Panayia Akrotiriani
("the Virgin of the ridge"), the monastery was
founded in the fourteenth century by the
noble Venetian Cornaro family, but thanks
to armed conflicts and earthquakes, Toplou
Monastery has been damaged and rebuilt
many times.
Toplou
Monastery is one
of the most
important
monasteries on
Crete, erected in
the middle of a
fertile plateau
halfway to
Palaekastro. In
the past the
monastery held
land from Capo
Sideros all the
way to the south
coast - mainly
received as gifts
from the rich and
devoted families
of Sitia
116

Inside the monastery the monks have
organised an interesting museum with
antique engravings, illuminated
manuscripts, historical documents and holy
icons, an outstanding example of which is
the work painted by the eighteenth-century
artist Ioannis Kornaros when he was only
twenty-five years old. The icon is inspired by
the psalm "Lord, thou art great", and
represents 61 biblical scenes (in particular,
the creation) with hundreds of figures in the
style of the miniaturists.
The monastery's
museum has a rich
collection of
ancient documents
and icons: the most
famous is the
painting by Ioannis
Kornaros
The monastery of Toplou also possesses
a precious stone tablet with Greek
inscriptions dating from 146 B.C., this is the
treaty between the city states of Itanos and
Hierapytna concerning the ownership of
and trading rights regarding the purple dye
that was produced on the island of
Koufonissi. The arbitrator in this dispute was
the governor of the Roman city of Magnesia
in Asia Minor where an identical copy of the
ancient treaty has been found. The
inscription was discovered in 1834 at Itanos
by the British diplomat and traveller Robert
Pashley, who brought it to Toplou where it
was reused as an altar table and later walled
into the facade of the chapel.
The inscription on
the stone tablet
tells of the treaty
made between the
city states of Itanos
and Hierapytna in
the year 146 B.C.
117

118
C H A P T E R 5

The landscape appears increasingly
parched and desolate as we continue along
the road towards the bay of Grandes,
passing semi-abandoned farmhouses, great
swathes of shrubs toughened by the sun
and the sea salt, enclosed pastures for the
herds of long-haired goats, and fields
cultivated with melons, grapes and bananas
which belong to the monastic community
of Toplou. On a promontory overhanging
the sea one can make out the ruins of
ancient Itanos, later called Erimoupolis,
the deserted city. Legend tells that
Itanos belonged to the Kouretes, the young
warriors who danced and beat their arms
hard on their shields to cover the noise of
the whimpering baby Zeus, born in the
grotto of Mount Dikti (or perhaps on Mount
Ida).
The ruins of
Itanos - later
called
Erimoupolis, the
deserted city -
are spread wide
over the coastal
area, with traces
of Minoan,
Hellenistic and
Roman
constructions
and also early
Christian
remains
Inhabited by the Minoans and later
becoming a Phoenician trading post, Itanos
was considered one of the most powerful
city states of the Graeco-Roman era, it held
the right to mint coins and controlled the
maritime trade between the Orient, Egypt
and the Mediterranean. The only dangerous
rival was Hierapytna which had
demonstrated its bellicose intentions in
destroying the city-state of Pressos, ally of
Itanos. The relationship with Egypt was so
strong that in the third century B.C. the
119

C H A P T E R 5
The Christian
basilica has
fallen into ruin,
but contains the
columns of the
central nave,
salvaged from
Roman and
Greek buildings
populace could request the help of Ptolemy
Philadelphos to bring down the aristocratic
government that oppressed them.
In the ninth century the city, already badly
damaged by an
earthquake, was razed to
the ground by pirates and,
after some attempts at
rebuilding it, was
definitively abandoned in
the fifteenth century,
becoming the "deserted
city". At Itanos we can see
the ruins of each of the
city's periods of glory - the
walls of the Greek houses,
the Hellenistic fortifications, the Roman
storerooms dug into the rock, the necropolis
and the remains of a three-naved early
Christian basilica constructed with materials
salvaged from the older buildings.
A stone's throw from Itanos, the famous
sandy beach of Vai stretches out in the
shade of a vast palm grove. Legend has it
that it was the Saracens who brought the
palm to this area: pitching their tents near
the shoreline and living off dates, the dense
palm grove is thought to have grown from
the date-pits that they dropped there.
120

121

C H A P T E R 5
Palaekastro and the
mountain villages
Overlooking a
natural harbour
near the bay of
Kouremenos, in
the Middle
Minoan period
there flourished
a town today
called
Roussolakos - the
red hole -
because of the
area's purple soil
122
The immense arc of the bay of
Kouremenos (where nowadays the
students of a windsurfing school whisk past)
was inhabited by an important Minoan
community right from the dawn of that
civilization. Among the olive groves of
Palaekastro, in the area known as
Roussolakos at the foot of Mount Petsofas
(which watched over one of the most
frequented peak sanctuaries of ancient
times) a vast rosy-stoned Minoan settlement
has been
brought
back to
light. The
real name
of this city
is not
known, but
we do
know that later on the Greeks were to call it
Heleia for its marshy terrain. Rectangular in
plan with paved streets, steps and a dense
weave of houses built one up against the
other to form small districts, the city enjoyed
great prestige in the Middle Minoan period.
Following the natural disaster of around
1450 B.C. which destroyed all the palaces
and cities of Crete, Palaekastro also

crumbled and the few survivors withdrew
to the promontory of Kastri overlooking
the bay.
The city came to life again during the
Late Minoan period, and was still inhabited
in the Greek era when a great sanctuary
dedicated to Zeus was erected at some time
during the eighth to sixth centuries B.C.
When the archaeologists of the British school
in Athens arrived, the temple appeared to
have been completely demolished, and yet
among its ruins it concealed some important
archaeological remains including a frieze
representing a chariot, and a terracotta lion,
The peak
sanctuaries of
Petsofas and Modi,
with their stark
conical profiles,
were sacred to the
ancient population
of Palaekastro and
were places of
worship up until
the Roman period
Every afternoon
the fishing boats
leave the small
harbour of
Palaekastro
but above all here there was discovered a
stele carved with the famous "Hymn to Zeus
Kouros", to Zeus the youth, the perfect image
of the idealized hero, sung by the Kouretes
and by the men who worshipped the "divine
Zeus, native of Crete".
123

124
C H A P T E R 5

Turning right just before the entrance
to the modern village of Palaekastro, one
can follow a dirt road which leads right to the
base of the sacred mountain of Modi, the
conical outline of which stands out against
the sky from a long way off. To reach the
summit, where the Minoans worshipped the
gods of nature, and from which one enjoys
a magnificent view over the whole of the
eastern coast, one must pick one's way
through rocks and brushwood, ideally
following the winding goat tracks.
From the sacred
mountain of Modi a
dirt track leads to
small villages now
partly abandoned,
but with
interesting
traditional houses
The route continues past a forest
formed by the mills of a wind-farm and
groups of houses with modest gardens that
are swept by the perennial winds, as far as
Mitato and Vrysidi, two tiny hamlets with
few inhabitants. The soil takes on a rosy hue
as the path reaches Karydi with its low,
125

C H A P T E R 5
A deep, dark
hole marks the
entrance to the
large grotto of
Peristeria
situated
between Karydi
and Adravasti
square houses (most of which are no longer
inhabited) with doors and windows that bang
with every gust of the wind - the only master
in this ancient village. In the bare hills
surrounding Karydi the deep grotto of
Peristeria is to be found, opening its
immense
crater-like
mouth
amid the
thistles. At
this point
the
landscape
becomes
almost
lunar,
among
pointed rocks that take on the form of
animals or little stone monsters curled up
between the bushes: venturing on foot over
the uneven terrain, clambering over the
ridges of the hills and looking down towards
the dark precipices, the silence of this land
becomes almost unbearable.
The white
village of
Sitanos
126

Turning back towards Karydi and
following the road to Ziros, the snow-white
village of Sitanos awaits us, built on the
slope of hill with labyrinthine alleyways and
flat roofs on which onions, figs and pulses
are laid out to dry in the sun. Underground
watercourses have rendered this strip of land
more fertile and the landscape is softer here
among vast fields, vineyards and isolated
cypresses.
The area around
Sitanos and
Armeni is
famous for its
grapes and good
wine
127

C H A P T E R 5
Zakros and the Valley
of the Dead
From the top of
the sacred peak
of Traostalos
you can see the
grottoes that
mark the
entrance to the
Hochlakies
gorge
As one leaves the village of Palaekastro a
sign indicates the road for Zakros, one of the
great Minoan palaces of Crete. The land
between the two mountain chains that flank
the valley is fertile and is cultivated by the
farmers who live in the small traditional
villages of the area. Just past the houses of
Hochlakies a narrow gorge begins: the way
is almost blocked by
gigantic boulders
and a dense
vegetation, but at
the end it opens
suddenly onto a
great marshy
meadow with beds
of reeds which are
used for making
matting and baskets.
Further on, a lonely
beach of round
pebbles stretches
128

out before an eternally calm sea sheltered
by the cliffs on either side.
Behind a little cemetery with a small
white church that is level with the village of
Azokeramos, the climb towards the Minoan
peak sanctuary of Traostalos begins. The
path of pink soil contrasts with the dark
green bushes of thyme and sage, with their
scented flowers that feed the bees whose
honey has an intense and aromatic flavour.
At the summit a group of lighter-coloured
rocks marks out a natural sacred enclosure,
and the terrain is scattered with tiny
fragments of terracotta, chippings from the
votive offerings of the Minoans.
Once past the modern village of Zakros,
a small clearing marks the beginning of the
descent towards a deep gorge that runs out
into the creek of Kato Zakros where
the Minoan palace lies. Following
the twisted path of the gorge past
stones, pools of water and oleander
bushes, on the rock walls one notes
numerous caves cut into the stone:
these are Minoan graves, rock
tombs that have given the gorge
its name of "Valley of Death".
129

C H A P T E R 5
The gorge known
as the Valley of
Death descends
from the stoney
heights of Kato
Zakros as far as the
Minoan palace by
the sea
The asphalted road
drops rapidly down towards
the bay of Kato Zakros, with
fishing boats at anchor along
the shore and a row of
taverns that offer fresh fish.
The ancient palace of Zakros,
with its city that extends
across terracing on the hill
above, dates back to the
Second Palace period from
1600 to 1500 B.C. and was
discovered by chance in 1901
by the British archaeologist
David Hogarth, while intense
excavation was begun in
1962 by Nikolaos Platon.
Zakros's ancient masters lived
opulently thanks to the
flourishing maritime trade
that arrived from Egypt, Syria, Cyprus and
Asia Minor. Even though it was the smallest
of Crete's four Minoan palaces, the Zakros
residence had around 200 rooms, with
banqueting halls, purificatory baths, shrines,
130

the treasury, the megaron of the king and
the megaron of the queen, and an immense
archive-room in which hundreds of tablets
inscribed with the Linear A script were found,
still preserved in their boxes. In the various
rooms more than two-hundred vases were
discovered including real masterpieces
such as a rhyton in rock crystal, as well as
innumerable objects in bronze (axes, swords,
knives, hammers and various forms of vessel),
a very beautiful bull's head and many objects
in ivory, faience and gold.
The Minoan
palace and town
of Zakros
possessed one
of Crete's most
important
harbours and
became the
main gateway
for trade with
the Orient
131

C H A P T E R 5
The coast of the wild lilies
The rough and
stony land of
easternmost Crete
is still untouched
by the modern
construction
industry and mass
tourism
Just after the village of Zakros, a turning
beside the roadside remains of a Minoan
country villa indicates the way to
Xerokampos on the coast of the Libyan sea.
Amid olive groves, winding gorges and high
mountains, at last the coast comes into view,
little-inhabited and with wide beaches of
sand and pebbles. Immediately to the right
just before arriving at the village of
Xerokampos, one finds a small sandy bay
with emerald-green water and one of the
most beautiful beaches on Crete: right up to
the water's edge there grow snow-white lilies
and rare succulents that come into flower
under the baking midsummer sun.
132

Following the shoreline, one notes
a solitary small, white church built over
an ancient Minoan settlement called
Ambelos. Reoccupied in the Hellenistic
period, it was later conquered by the
Romans. The cut of the stones has nothing
of the monumental to it, but it is nonetheless
interesting to observe the remains of the
ancient site which probably belonged to
the kings of Zakros. Ambelos had a peak
sanctuary of its own on the promontory that
looks out over the two little islands in the
middle of the sea known as Kavali.
The coast near
Ambelos gives a
good idea of what
the island must
have been like in
ancient times
Leaving
Ambelos
behind us,
the landscape
becomes everwilder
and
more arid
while the sea
glitters in the
sunlight, inviting one to take continual dips
in its refreshing waters. We would
recommend a walk up to the far promontory
of Xerokampos which offers a magnificent
view over the entire coast as far as Koufonissi.
In one wall of rock the wind and the saltwater
have carved a giant face with a wide-open
mouth: it could easily be the face of the
gorgon Medusa,
The sea cliffs have
been eroded by
water, wind and
salt which have
sculpted strange
images into the
rock
133

C H A P T E R 5
sculpted by nature, ready to defend the
island. Nothing could be better than the
dizzying climb along the snaking road that
leads towards the few houses of the
traditional hamlet of Hametoulo and,
eventually, to Ziros, with its breathtaking
panorama, for taking our leave of eastern
Crete; wild, mysterious, secretive, austere
and at the
same time
warm and
hospitable,
rich in
magnificent
monuments
and jealous
of her many
hidden
beauties.
134

135

137

140

Chronology
7000 B.C. Stone Age, arrival of the first settlers
6500-2800 B.C. Neolithic Age and the beginning of the
Bronze Age
2800-2100 B.C. Arrival of the Minoans, pre-Palace period
2100-2000 B.C. Beginning of the First Palace period
2000-1700 B.C. Palace civilization, construction of the First
Palaces
1700 B.C. Destruction of the First Palaces by an
earthquake
1650-1500 B.C. Construction of the Second Palaces,
Second Palace period
1500-1450 B.C. Eruption of the volcano Thera and destruction
of the Second Palaces
1450-1200 B.C. Beginning of the post-Palace period,
arrival of the Mycenaeans
1200-1100 B.C. Beginning of the Iron Age
1100-900 B.C. Invasion of the Dorians
900-69 B.C. Geometric, Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic
periods. Creation of the city states, extensive
trade with the Near East and Egypt.
69 B.C.-330 A.D. Roman conquest and the beginning
of the Early Christian period
330-830 A.D. First Byzantine period
830-961 A.D. Invasion of the Arabs
961-1204 A.D. Second Byzantine period
1204-1669 A.D. Venetian dominion and the first stirrings
of Cretan resistance
1669-1898 A.D. Turkish occupation and very active
Cretan resistance
1898-1912 A.D. Liberation from Turkish occupation and
creation of the Autonomous Cretan State
under the protection of the European powers
1913 A.D. Official union of Crete with Greece
141

Glossary
Acropolis -
Ashlar-work -
Ayios -Ayia
Eteocretan -
Dromos -
Hestiatorion -
Iconostasis -
Kafeneion -
Kastro -
Katholikon -
Kernos -
Janissaries -
Megaron -
Mitate -
Paleos -
Panayia -
ancient citadel
square-hewn stone masonry or facing
‘saint’ or ‘holy’
'true Cretan', the last of the Minoan peoples
in eastern Crete
'street', the unroofed passage leading
into a tholos tomb
banqueting chamber in ancient buildings
screen between the altar and the nave
of the (Orthodox) church
coffeehouse
castle or fortified area
church or chapel within a monastery
vessel used for religious rituals
young Ottoman soldiers, guards selected
from Christian families and forced to
convert to Islam
the great hall of Minoan and Mycenaean
palaces
small stone house
'old'
the Virgin Mary
Peak sanctuary - ancient mountain-top shrine
Pithos - large storage jar
Polis -
town
Prytaneion - council chamber
Raki -
strong alcoholic drink produced on Crete
Rhyton - drinking horn, often in the form of an
animal-head
Spiti -
house
Temenos - sacred precinct
Tholos - conical or beehive-shaped tomb
142

TEXT
JUDITH LANGE
PHOTOGRAPHS
JUDITH LANGE - MARIA STEFOSSI
DESIGN - LAYOUT
MARIA STEFOSSI
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
JULIA MACGIBBON
PROOFREADING
JOHN O’ SHEA
COLOR SEPARATION - PRINTING - BINDING
BIBLIOSYNERGATIKI S.A.
The authors
Judith Lange is a journalist, photographer and painter,
Maria Stefossi is a photographer, graphic artist and editor.
Both are great travellers. They have published numerous books together,
among the most recent of which are: Ancient Theatres, Ancient Stadia, Crete,
Mani, Drama and Humble Beauty.
143

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