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 MamidakisPresident

G. & A. Mamidakis Foundation

JUDITH LANGE MARIA STEFOSSI

awake your senses

DISCOVER THE UNKNOWN CRETEEastern Crete - Book One

Publication of this book has been made possible thanks to GinaMamidakis, President of the G.& A. Foundation and bluegr MamidakisHotels group, and long-time patron of culture and the arts. The book isdedicated to those ever-curious travellers who wish to learn more ofthe 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 writtenpermission from the authors.

4 5

Crete is the island of which Homer sang, "Along the wine-

dark 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.

6 7

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.

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.

M I N O S B E A C H a r t h o t e l M I N O S B E A C H a r t h o t e l

8 9

C A N D I A P A R K V I L L A G EC A N D I A P A R K V I L L A G E

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.

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.

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.

C H A P T E R 1

S A C R E D A N D P R O F A N E

I N T H E S H A D O W

O F M O U N T D I K T I

A Y I O S N I K O L A O S

K R I T S A

P A N A Y I A Y K E R A

L A T O

K A T H A R O

L A S S I T H I

K A R P H I

C H A P T E R 1

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It is hard to imagine that a century and a half ago Ayios Nikolaos - one of Crete'srichest and liveliest cities - was, as an olddocument attests, only a tiny village of just95 souls. Ayios Nikolaos, capital of thePrefecture of Lasithi, has the appearance of a relatively new city, but its history is veryancient, even if the evidence of its turbulentpast is now buried under modern buildings.

Thanks to its splendid positionoverlooking the gulf of Mirambelo (or as theVenetian has it, Mirabello or "beautiful view")the site was chosen by the ancient Dorians(ninth to seventh centuries B.C.) for the portof Lato, an important fortified settlementbetween the mountains near Kritsa. The citywas then called Lato pros Kamara and wasfamous for its safe harbour. One of thewonders of the place was considered to bethe small lake of Voulismeni - today linkedto the sea by a narrow canal and surroundedby restaurants and cafes - a lake of dark andunfathomable waters, also known as

Xepatomeni (bottomless), sacred to Athenaand Artemis who, as the legend goes,bathed their divine bodies here.

The city declined after the Romanconquest but acquired new importanceduring the Byzantine period, when itbecame the seat of the bishopric of Kamara:of that era there remains the little church ofAyios Nikolaos of the tenth or eleventhcentury, with rare frescoes from theiconoclast period when the ecclesiasticalauthorities forbad the physicalrepresentation of sacred images.

At the beginning of the thirteenthcentury the Genoese and Venetians foughtfor possession of the coast and initially theGenoese, led by the gentleman-pirate EnricoPescatore, prevailed. Pescatore erected thecastle of Mirambelo, promptly destroyed bythe Venetians to whom the island of Cretewas assigned by the treaty of Adrianoupoliin 1204.

Hurriedly reconstructed, the castle wasbriefly occupied by the Turks in 1645, then

Ayios Nikolaos

An engravingrepresenting theVenetian castle ofAyios Nikolaos:today nothingremains of thisfortress

The small church ofAyios Nikolaosdating from thetenth or eleventhcentury

Lake Voulismeni

The excavations ofthe ancient town inthe city

A R C H A E O L O G I C A L M U S E U M O F A Y I O S N I K O L A O S

C H A P T E R 1

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taken back by the Venetians who, however,decided to destroy it once more themselvesfor the sake of not leaving it in Turkishhands: not one stone remains of the

celebrated fort atop the highesthill of Ayios Nikolaos.

The city was entirelyabandoned when, during thesecond half of the nineteenthcentury, groups of exiledsfakiotes arrived from themountains of western Crete,and the place slowly began tocome to life again. From thatmoment onwards the reborncity would be called AyiosNikolaos, taking its name fromthe little ninth-centuryByzantine church which was theonly surviving testimony tohave resisted all the turbulenceof this history. Every 6thDecember there is a great feastdedicated to St. Nicholas,

patron saint of fishermen. One must is a visit to the city's

Archaeological Museum which possessesbeautiful finds from the past forty years ofexcavations in eastern Crete: ceramics, gold,idols (among which there are a large numberof votive offerings from the Minoan peaksanctuaries), sarcophagi and glass.

A medievalarcher from theregion of Sfakia:during thenineteenthcentury manysfakiotes arrivedin Ayios Nikolaos

Skull with a wreath of gold leavesfrom the Roman cemetery atPotamos, first century A.D. andLate Minoan clay sarcophagi orlarnakes

Late Minoanfemaleworshipperfrom thecemetery atMyrsini

Pottery datingfrom the LateMinoan period

Clay vesselfrom thefourteenthcentury B.C.found in thePalace of MaliaandDaedalicfigurines fromthe eighth andseventhcenturies B.C.

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Kritsa and Panayia y Kera

Kritsa stretches out like a white lizardabove a sea of olive trees at the mouth of adark gorge beneath the mountain heights ofthe Dikti that surround two high plains, theimmense Lasithi plateau and the moremodest Katharo plateau.

Kritsa, with its narrow alleyways, the lowhouses jumbled one over another, its verycolourful traditional costumes, its numerouskafeneion 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 JulesDassin chose Kritsa and its inhabitants forthe setting of the film He, who must diebased on Nikos Kazantzakis' famous novelThe Greek Passion which told a modernversion of the passion of Christ. Every yearon Good Friday there is a sumptuousprocession through Kritsa during which theepitaphios, a catafalque covered withflowers, is carried through the town, amidstprayers, laments and song.

However, before arriving at Kritsa oneshould pay a visit to one of the mostbeautiful and important Byzantine churcheson Crete: the Panayia y Kera (the Madon-

na of the Creation) dating from thethirteenth or fourteenth century, with threenaves and an unusual three-pointed facade,surrounded by tall cypresses.The arrangement of thepaintings that cover each ofthe internal walls observes therigid hierarchy required in thatperiod: first God and theangels, then the life of Jesusand Mary, followed byrepresentations of Paradise and the LastJudgement, biblical stories, saints and,finally, images of men known for their faith.The saturated colours (the dark red of ripepomegranates, the green of the leaves ofancient olive trees, the ochre and darkbrown of the earth) and the close-packedsequence of images, each different, eachpowerful and vigorous, immersed in thesemi-darkness, rather dizzy the viewer, andthis was, perhaps, precisely what the artistintended.

The white villageof Kritsa above agreen valley ofolive trees

Among the narrowalleyways of Kritsa

The Byzantinechurch of Panayia yKera with itsbeautiful frescoes

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Lato

As everywhere in Greece, on Crete thesacred and the profane live side-by-side, andif on one hand churches and monasteriesrecord the profound religiousness of thepopulation, numerous ancient ruins evokethe foreign powers, wars and conflicts thathave tormented the island over thecenturies. Some kilometres before arriving atKritsa a turning off the main road leads toLato, one of the island's best-preservedancient cities, enclosed between two hillsbelow Mount Thylakas. The city-state, whichtook its name from the goddess Leto,mother of Apollo and Artemis, was foundedin the eighth century B.C. by Dorians hailingfrom the Greek mainland, who invadedCrete in around 1000 B.C., chasing the nativeinhabitants from their lands: they spoke adialect similar to Greek and proclaimedthemselves descendents of the offspring ofHercules. Strengthened by their absoluteauthority over the island after the fall of theMinoan and Mycenaean kingdoms, they

made new laws, minted coins with theeffigies of Artemis and Hermes and imposeda new social order on the population of thearea.

Lato was born as a fortified citystretching across six terraces with a doubleacropolis, a vast agora and a prytaneion,which functioned as administrative centreand banqueting hall for the guests ofhonour who dined here sitting on the stonebenches of the hestiatorion. A monumentalstairway marks the entrance to theprytaneion, while another, not far from alarge temple (perhaps dedicated to Apollo)has been identified as the "theatre space".The city flourished up until the Hellenisticperiod and the ancient writers affirm thatthis was the birthplace of Niarchos, valorousgeneral and friend of Alexander the Great.

A careful observation of the structure andthe materials that form the buildings, theroads and the doors is worthwhile: theancient system of construction has beenhanded down through the centuries, andsome of the same architectural details canstill be seen in the old stone-built countryhouses dotted among the mountainsaround Kritsa.

Lato, once animportant Doriancity-state, amidst a beautifulmountainouslandscape

These smalldaedalic figurinesare typical of theDoric style ofsculpture thatflourished duringthe eighth andseventh centuriesB.C.

With its strongwalls andmonumentalbuildings, Latois the best-preserved of theCretan cities ofthe Doric/ Clas-sical period

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The Katharo Plateau

Less well-known, smaller and more hiddenthan Lasithi, the plateau of Katharo isreached via a road (all curves) that begins atthe crest of the town of Kritsa. Climbing upamidst silver-grey rocks that glitter in thesunlight in contrast with the red soil, andamong low tough-leaved shrubs that formanthropomorphic and zoomorphic figureslike little sculptures, one has the sensation oftravelling through an archaic land, fixed andsolid, as though it were petrified. The fewtrees have dark hat-shaped crowns that giveshade to the roots and offer relief to sheepand goats in search of some cool.

Halfway along the route towards theplateau (where there is a magnificent viewacross the gulf of Mirambelo) a small roadsign indicates the existence of a grottowhich is to be found about three-hundredmetres further along the slope, not difficultto reach. The triangular mouth of the grottoallows a glimpse of a steep descent throughtwo galleries into the dark bowels of theearth amid grey and pink-ochre stripedrocks.

Continuing along the road and lookingattentively towards the hills, one notes themitates - now in ruins and camouflaged inthe landscape, but with a very interestingarchitectural structure: these are the

small stone houses of the shepherds andpeasants who took refuge here during themonths of mountain pasture. Almost alwaysrectangular in form - but also, at times,circular like the tholos (beehive) tombs - thebuilding of the mitates involved choosingwith care the individual stones, evaluatingthe shape and dimensions in order to laythem expertly one on top of another until aperfect wall was formed through whichthere filtered neither sun, nor wind nor rain.At the centre of the single room a robusttree trunk with a forked top functions as acolumn, holding up the roof of branches andcanes, whilst the entrance is marked by twovertical pilasters surmounted by a stone slab,a modest version of the monumental portalsof the ancient cities or of megalithic houses.

Now abandoned and used onlysporadically, the mitates contain small signsof an austere life: a blackened hearth, theoccasional cooking pot with a hole in it,frayed ropes for tying up the animals, ortroughs cut into the stone. Observing theselifeless houses it is natural to wonder howmuch longer they will resist sun, wind andrain before crumbling definitively.

A dark grotto onthe way to theKatharo plateau

The remains ofold stone housesor mitates arepart of thelandscape asmuch as therocky hills andwithered trees

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22

Curve after curve, between oaks andcarobs with their tormented outlines thatseem born from the rock, the mountainsuddenly opens out offering a spectacularview over the entire Katharo plateau,surrounded by the bare mountains of theDikti. Fields cultivated with grain andvegetables, fruit trees (in particular pears,apples, figs and pomegranates) and greatstretches of meadows for pasture, fewhouses, few men and the odd little whitechurch form a unified and compact pattern.The plateau, which in springtime is full offlowers and green grasses, in summer iscoloured yellow with stubble and theploughed soil that becomes as fine anddusty as face-powder. Katharo is the summerreserve of the people of Kritsa and at givenperiods all the flocks of sheep in the zoneconverge here for shearing: imagine thesound produced by the bleating ofthousands of animals echoing through the mountains!

From Katharo a stony trail (to followonly in a robust car or on foot) climbs backdown towards the coast in the direction ofKroustas, initially crossing through desolatelandscapes with strange cumuli of darkgreen stones that glitter in the sunlight likeshards of glass. The road follows the courseof an underground river, dry on the surface,which creates little oases of green amidst thestones. Along the highest pass there opensup extraordinary scenery: the simultaneousvista of the northern coast of Crete lookingtowards Europe and of the southern coastthat looks towards Africa at the point atwhich the island is narrowest, on one sidethe gulf of Mirambelo and on the other theLibyan Sea. A panorama from which oneunderstands the wonders of Cretangeography.

From this point one can continue eastalong a road that is asphalted only in partstowards Kroustas and Kritsa or to Istron onthe coast. Near Kritsa we encounter thechurch of Ayios Ioannis Theologos withthree apses and very beautiful iconostasiswhile near Kroustas one can visit the smallwhite church of Ayios Ioannis, decoratedwith rare paintings dating from 1347, withimages of severe saints and fathers of thechurch.

Every seasonhas its owncolours at theKataharoplateau: greenfields inspringtime,yellow earth insummer

Ayios Ioannisand AyiosIoannisTheologos: twochurches withinterestingfrescoes and oldicons

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The Lasithi Plateau

"Situated above the mountain summits,flat and very beautiful, and an almostmiraculous work of nature," this is how a Venetian document of 1600 describes theLasithi plateau. The plain appears like animmense shell, not unlike a spent crater,amid the mountain crags of the Dikti, at a height of around 850 metres: patternedwith the rigid and regular geometries of thefields, its divisions recall the city plan ofancient Miletus. Here there grow fruit treesof every kind, vegetables, potatoes, grainand walnuts, and in the spring millions ofpoppies blossom creating a red carpet thatstretches out between the mountains.Isolated houses, small villages and themonasteries of Vidianis and Kroustaleniascrown the plateau which, althoughremaining essentially agricultural, has givenover to an intense tourism.

Not many years ago,when the place wasstill only accessibleon mule-back,around 10,000windmills ornatewith white canvassails pumped up thewater that served forthe crops, but nowvery few remain.

Monastery Vidianisand MonasteryKroustalenia:places of worship

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Once an inaccessible region, theplateau has been inhabited since theNeolithic period, around 7,000 years ago, as testified by the bone fragments and toolsdiscovered in the grotto of Trapeza, whichremained sacred for the Minoans, as adwelling place of the gods of theunderworld. Because of its protectedposition amid the mountains, Lasithibecame a place of refuge for the nativepopulations from the period of the Dorianinvasions to the Venetian and Turkishoccupations, and even during the SecondWorld War. For fear of the rebel groups, in1263 the Venetians deported all theinhabitants of the plateau down towards thevalley, prohibiting any form of cultivation for 200 years. Without its fruits, this fertileland suffered terrible famine and in the mid1400 s it was decided to repopulate theplain, which in the meantime had become aswampland requiring large-scalereclamation. During the Turkish dominiontoo, Lasithi was continuously besieged, butnever completely taken.

There are numerous grottos andcaverns in the rocky walls around the plain,ideal hiding places from the most ancient of times. The most famous cave is Psychroor Diktaion Antron which contends withanother grotto (that on Mount Ida in

western Crete) the honour of being thebirthplace of the Greeks on supreme god,Zeus. In Hesiod's Theogony we read thatCronus, king of the Titans and husband of hisown sister Rhea, devoured his children(among whom Demeter, Hades, Poseidon,Hestia and Hera) because a prophecy hadforetold that one of them would dethronehim. At the birth of Zeus, Rhea trickedCronus, having him swallow a rock wrappedin swaddling bands in the place of the child,and immediately afterwards she escapedwith the newborn into the grotto of Psychro.Fed on the honey of the bees and the milk ofthe goat Amalthea and defended by thewarlike Kouretes who beat their shields hardto cover the sound of the infant's cries, Zeuswas saved. Once grown, he killed his cruelfather (not before having forced him tovomit up his siblings), taking on the role ofchief 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 themost varied forms and colours, the Englisharchaeologist David Hogarth even had touse dynamite to make a route for himselfthrough the narrow undergroundpassageways: there he found idols, ceramics,cult objects, gold and ivory, seals and jewels,altars for sacrifices and a niche that wasidentified as the "crib of Zeus".

The grotto ofTrapeza was asite of cultactivity up tothe EarlyMinoan period

The DiktaionAntron ofPsychro isbelieved to havebeen thebirthplace ofZeus

For many centuriesthe grotto ofPsychro was a placeof worship, fromthe Middle Minoanperiod to Romantimes, and richvotive offeringshave been found bythe archaeologists

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The Diktaion Antron was also a sacred sitefor King Minos of Knossos, who every nineyears descended into the cavern to receivelaws directly from Zeus.

All around the plateau, amid lowvegetation and scented bushes of broomand thyme there are to be found smallvillages, some inhabited, others abandoned,lying beneath the slope of the mountainslike birds' nests. An excursion on the Dikti,starting from the village of Katofigi, leavesone breathless: lunar landscapes of silverrocks, isolated trees with majestic crownsand rough, stony outcrops alternate with

steppe-like terrain and lowvegetation from whichsheepfolds spring up. At timesone's way is barred by fencingand gates tied shut with knottedropes to keep in the livestock:they can be opened on thecondition that one is scrupulousin closing them again to preventthe animals from wandering.

One particular attraction is an enormousrocky mass that rises above Lasithi to analtitude of 1,100 metres, visible from far off.The place came to be called Karphi (nail) forits strange cylindrical shape. Below theragged peaks of the mountain there ishidden a Late Minoan settlement completelycamouflaged amid the stone and inhabitedfrom 1150 to 1000 B.C. by the last groups ofMinoans - also known as Eteocretans (trueCretans) - in flight from the Dorian invaders.The city, which could hold up to 3500inhabitants, was regular in plan like Gournia,with the houses built one up against another

and with steep streets and flights of stepsamong the rocky terracing. Exploredbetween 1937 and 1939 by thearchaeologist J. D. S. Pendlebury, the site hasyielded numerous cult objects (female idolswith raised arms, bull horns, bird heads,rhytons) which testify to the survival ofMinoan culture and religion even after thefall of the palace kingdoms.

Karphi

Because of itsparticular shape,this mountain iscalled karphi,meaning nail

The Eteocretan citywas built on theslope of the giant"nail"

C H A P T E R 2

T H E A U S T E R I T Y O F S T O N E

A N D T H E S P L E N D O U R S O F M A L I A

O L O U S

S P I N A L O N G A

D R E R O S

K A R Y D I

F O U R N I

M O N I A R E T I O U

M I L A T O S

M A L I A

N E A P O L I

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The austerity of stone andthe splendours of Malia

On Crete there are apparently-forgottenlands, ignored by the normal tourist guides,but which nevertheless possess a particularbeauty, "quieter" and hard to define. One ofthese is the silent and almost uninhabitedhinterland above Ayios Nikolaos, Neapoliand Malia, in complete contrast with theovercrowded beaches that stretch out infront of Spinalonga. Following this itinerary,it is a good idea to travel without a precisedestination, losing oneself in the hillylandscape, among small, partly-abandonedvillages, mills and tumble-down houses,monasteries and white churches. The verystones of this place recall dramatic andpainful stories, stories of sieges and ofconquests, of the battle against hunger andillnesses of a population in continual revoltagainst foreign invaders - Dorians, Romans,Saracens, Venetians and Turks.

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Spinalonga

Linked to the mainland by a narrowisthmus, the Spinalonga peninsulaextends as far as a small rocky islet, it toocalled Spinalonga. A natural harbour suitablefor small boats, Spinalonga has been knownsince the time of the Minoans, and legendhas it that Daedalus, the brilliant architect ofKnossos, created for the inhabitants a verybeautiful statue of Britomartis (the CretanArtemis - protectress of hunters andfishermen). Documents from the fourthcentury B.C. attest to the existence of a city,

Olous, which controlled the maritime trafficof ships coming from Rhodes and Cyprusand which honoured herself in the fightagainst the pirates who infested that stretchof coast. In the ninth century Olous wasoccupied by the Saracens, but not longafterwards the entire city crumbled thanksto a terrible earthquake which was followedby the sinking of the isthmus. There are fewtraces of Olous still visible on the surface:most of the city was swallowed by thewaters. On the partly-swampy terrain thefoundations of an early Christian basilica ofthe seventh century with precious mosaicpaving, with floral and geometric motifs,dolphins and inscriptions in Greek havebeen discovered.

The history of the island of Spinalongais equally dramatic, famous for the imposingVenetian fort which was erected in 1579 andconsidered unassailable because equippedwith one of the most powerful batteries ofcannon in allCrete. Not eventhe Turks couldsucceed in takingit. Only during thefirst half of theeighteenthcentury, by whichtime Venice hadlost all authority over Crete, did the Turkstake possession of the little island whichthen became a smugglers' haunt. In 1903,after Greece's liberation from foreigndominion, Spinalonga was transformed intoa leper colony, and the bastions, thestorerooms and the military barracks wereoccupied by hundreds of sufferers and theirfamilies until 1953 when the sanatorium wasclosed and the island with its imposing wallsand towers became a tourist attraction.Climbing up the hills behind Elounda onehas a magnificent view across the red roofsof the villages of Epano Elounda and Pines,across the olive trees and the low stonewalls, as far as the bay with its peninsula andthe little rock of Spinalonga.

Olous was a city-state in ClassicalGreek times andlater became animportant Christiancult centre. Of theBasilica thereremains only thefloor with its blackand white mosaicdecoration

The island ofSpinalonga wasfortified by theVenetians in 1579and was handedover to theOttomans only in1715 - the last ofVenice's territorieson Crete

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Stone as art

After the seaside resort of Plakawe can abandon the beautifulbeaches to search out the quiet ofthe hills, the villages and the greatempty spaces where nature has re-appropriated the land. Many peoplehave abandoned living here, be itfor poverty and hunger, be it forlack of natural resources or lack ofwork. Where once there grewimmense fields of corn and whereolive trees were cultivated withtheir small green fruit, to besavoured with a few drops of lemon

juice and raki, now there often remain onlystony outcrops and the outlines ofwindmills that have fallen in on themselves:they seem spectres, from the past, of a hardand laborious life, pierced by the lances ofan invisible Cretan Don Quixote doing battlewith time and nature. Great halo-like marksappear alongside the windmills, like magicalcircles from an archaic ritual; these are levelcircles of stone raised slightly higher thanthe surrounding terrain that served for thethreshing of the grain with mules or oxen.

Between Kato and Epano Loumas themills are made of an ochre-coloured stone,with the remains of steps that follow thecurve of the roofless circular buildings:

the sail-arms are broken, the giant wheelsare mute and the cogs rusty. Apart from thewindmills there also survives the occasionalold olive-mill, its huge rooms crowned witharches and the remains of antiquemachinery. Those restorations that havetaken place regard only a few mills close tothe areas frequented by tourists, while theothers are all destined for slow destruction.

In serried ranks like soldiers in arms,atop a hill there appear the mills ofMarnelides near Lakonia, with traces ofplaster and well-bolted doors because theyare still used by the farmers as storerooms.Along the road between Petros and Dreros,two stone giantsprotrude among spinythistles: they aremonumental mills, fairlywell-preserved, eachwith an externalstaircase, a doorwayframed with whiteblocks of stone and asmall window. Thefacade is convex, thestones are perfectly smooth and the overallaspect is one of robustness, but peeringinside one notes only a pile of stones, ironand burnt wooden beams.

Far from thebeaches acompletelydifferent worldappears with stonyfields and oldabandoned houses.

Giant windmills arethe silent guardiansof this wild andarchaic landscape

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Similarly, ancient Dreros, a Dorian cityof the eighth century B.C. that survived intothe Roman era, is nothing but a mass of stones and low walls dotted amidst thickvegetation. One arrives at the site of Drerosvia a path between two hills in anatmospheric landscape, but it takes a lot of imagination to believe that here thereonce rose up an important archaic city withgrand buildings, a vast agora and animportant seventh-century B.C. templededicated to Apollo Delphinios, of whom a bronze effigy has been discoveredtogether with two statues representingArtemis and Leto.

Wanderingamongstreets andpaths tracedout by greystone wallsthat snakeup anddown thehills, oneencountersnumerousvillages: thewhiteFourni fullof flowersthat seem to

grow out of the very mortar of the houses, or Dories, also white, with its beautifulchurch of Ayios Konstatinos, and alsoKarydi which has the charm of an authenticrural village with beautiful stone walling toprotect the vegetable gardens and the sownfields from the herds of livestock.

Statues from theRoman era, whenDreros was still aliving city, areconserved in theMuseum of Neapoli

Stone wallscrossing the hillsand small, fertileplains: signs of the farmers' toil

The villages arewhite and full offlowers

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Not far from the main square of Karydi,climbing in the direction of the windmills,we find the ruins of the monastery ofChardemutsa, constructed like a fort in aperfect mixture of Venetian and traditionalCretan styles, with a great paved courtyard, a vestibule with pointed arches and largerooms containing old liturgical objects.

Many villages havebeen completelyabandoned, like, forexample, Hondro-volaki, which overlooksa gorge not far fromValtos: roofless houses,black doorways thatlook like toothlessmouths, empty window

casements like blind eyes and streetsthrough which stray dogs run, are all thatremains of a village which survives only inthe memory of inhabitants who will neverreturn. Just as no one will ever again inhabitthe beautiful compound of a rural villa closeby the village of Ayios Georgios: built of well-cut dry stone, with various rooms on severalfloors with arches, stone steps, oven andfireplaces and with a spectacular view of the coast, the house must have belonged to a fairly well-off family. The large groundswere terraced almost right down to the seaand almonds and olive trees still grow therefrom which no one gathers the fruit. Fromabove one sees the ragged coastline withfew isolated houses, the monastery of AyiosAndreas and the cave church of AyiosAntonios: it is a strange scenery of ochre,pink and black rocks, corroded by the windand by the tides which render difficult bothlanding and embarkation.

The ruins ofmonasteries likeChardemutsa orPerambela testifyto the religiousdevotion of thepopulation, andthe noblearchitecturecontinues toremind us of therichness ofmonastic life

Some farm houseswere very big andinhabited by largefamily clans. Thiskind of ruralcomplex wasentirely self-sufficient and couldprovide food,water, tools andclothes foreverybody

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Aretiou Monastery

The religious heart of this little-frequentedterritory is the sixteenth-century AretiouMonastery (or Monastery of the HolyTrinity) articulated in various buildingsaround an ample courtyard with thekatholikon, the monks' church, which stillcontains some precious seventeenth-century icons. The founder, MarcosPapadopoulos, gathered around him manyof the famous artists and intellectuals of theperiod, and on his death in 1603 he leftgenerous donations to the monastery askingthat they be used to continue his charitablework for the poor, but also to support thoseartists of holy images who were worthy andtalented, as was Kosmas Vartzagis, known as"the Master of Areti". Surrounded by highwalls, the monastery defended itself wellagainst the continual attacks by theOttomans, and survived. Nowadays AretiouMonastery is the most important monasticcomplex on the Gulf of Mirambelo and is thedestination for many pilgrims and travellersin search of tranquillity and reflection.

AretiouMonasteryis a fortifiedmonastery andsurvived theTurkish occupa-tion with nogreat damage

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The Cave of Milatos

Journeying towards the coast one arrives at the village of Milatos built not far from theruins of the ancient Militos (or Miletus),already inhabited in the Late Minoan periodand mentioned by Homer, Strabo andPausanias. Myth tells that the local ruler,Pindareos, stole Zeus's favourite dog andgave it to Tantalus. For this impudencePindareos and his wife were cruellypunished by the gods and condemned todeath, while their daughters became slavesof the Furies. In the third century B.C. Miletus

was destroyed by the inhabitants ofLyttos: only a few stones and sometombs carved out of the rock remainvisible.

Even more terrible is the storyof the cave of Milatos, site of aferocious massacre at the hands ofthe Ottomans. In the February of1823 around 3600 inhabitants of the area, men, women and children,

rebels, priests and ordinary citizens, tookrefuge in the deep cavern of Milatos toescape the cruelties of General HassanPasha. Betrayed by a Turkish townsman, thecave was besieged for a long period andmany died of hunger and thirst. Deceived bythe Turks' false promise that in the case ofsurrender they would spare women andchildren, the men left the cavern, but to thecry of "death to the infidels" the massacre ofthe fugitives began. Every last one of themwas killed. In a large space inside the grottoa catafalque has been laid out withcommemorative stones and a small cavechurch dedicated to St. Thomas where eachyear the martyrs of Milatos arecommemorated.

Next page:Turning one'sgaze towards themountains, onenotes a low hillwith the whitechurch of AyiosElias: this was thepeak sanctuary of Malia, in whichthe votiveofferings to thegods weredeposited

The grotto ofMilatos is formed of a series ofcaverns andcorridors stretchingseveral miles

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Malia

Right on the border between thePrefectures of Lasithi and Heraklion the vastarchaeological area of Malia stretches out,with its grand Minoan palace, second only to Knossos and Phaestos. Tradition has itthat Malia was the residence of Sarpedon,the younger brother of Minos andRhadamanthus, all born of the union of Zeusand Europa.

of the Minoans: the Throne Room with stairsthat lead to the upper floor, the banquetingchamber and the crypt, a monumentalstairway with beside it a kernos (a circulartable with a central hollow and with 34smaller bowls along the edge for the ritualoffering of the first fruits), the archive and a vast portico held up by columns alternatedwith pilasters which gave access to the greatpalace storerooms.

Other courtyards and numerouscorridors lead to the wing reserved forhabitation, to the guest apartments and to theartisans'workshops.Almost all ofthe spaces arepaved withthe typicallocal stone, abluishlimestone,and asandstoneknown asammouda.

The necropolis, also known asChryssolakos ("the gold mine") for the greatquantity of gold objects discovered in thetombs, is to be found down by the sea and is laid out like the palace of the living withrooms and porticos. The excavations at Maliahave rendered up a vast quantity of splendidobjects, jewels and ceramics dating from the First Palace period to the Second Palaceperiod, among which are a sceptre in theform of a leopard, some very fine jewellerysuch as the pendant with two bees and a gold pommel from a sword-hilt embossedwith the figure of a vaulting acrobat,preserved in the museums of Heraklion andAyios Nikolaos.

The most ancient part of the palacedates back to the Middle Minoan period(circa 2000 B.C.) but of that era there remainfew traces because the site was destroyed bya violent earthquake and completely rebuiltin around 1650 B.C.. Smaller than Knossosand Phaestos, but for this no less interestingin its structure and functions - religious,political and economic - the palace complexceased to "live" in 1450 B.C. after adevastating fire. The site was discovered in 1915 by the Greek archaeologist JosephHadjidakis, while from the 1950s onwardsthe excavations have continued with theFrench Archaeological School of Athensunder 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

Directly beyondthe entrance onecan make out thehuge circularstorerooms,called kouloures,which held thereserves of grainfor thepopulation thatinhabited thevarious quartersaround the Palace

Golden beependant fromthe Chryssolakoscemetery at Malia

Stone kernos forritual offerings atthe Palace of Malia

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Tales of Neapoli and surroundings

Travelling back towards Ayios Nikolaos and passing through a deep gorge crownedby the Monastery of Ayios Georgios Selinari,one arrives at Neapoli, a lively agriculturaltown beneath the mountain of Mavro Dasoswhich has a beautiful little museum withfinds from the excavations of Dreros andstatues from the Roman era. In 1340 at Kares,the oldest part of Neapoli, a certain PetrosPhilargi was born, a young man of greatintelligence who was sent to study in Parisand in Oxford in order to follow a career inthe priesthood. He became archbishop ofMilan and then cardinal, and finally, at thetime of the schism in the Western Church(which saw the curia of Rome in oppositionto that of Avignon) Petrus Philatri was madePope, taking the name of Alexander V: heheld the position for only a year, from 1409to 1410 and died poisoned by hisadversaries.

A few kilometres from Neapoli, in thelittle village of Houmeriakos there remainsome traces of Venetian influence, among

which a little villa withan attractive ashlar-work doorway, whichthe Cretans call aRoman door. The townchronicles recountthat in this house thereonce lived a Turkcalled Hussein whohaving fallen for thedaughter of the local

priest, kidnapped her with the intention ofmaking her his lover. But at nightfall themaiden strangled the pasha, let herselfdown from the window disguised as a

man, joined therebels and fled tothe plain of Lasithi.Her true identitywas revealed whenthe swipe of asword slashedopen her clothes,but she continuedto fight until herdeath. Themonumentcommemoratingthis Cretan "Joan

of Arc" is to be found at the entrance to thetown of Kritsa.

Again travelling on from Neapoli,climbing up in the direction of the Lasithiplateau, one can visit KremastonMonastery, sited on a rocky ridge (hence itsname which means "suspended"), which isinhabited by a community of monks.Founded in 1593 and built like a small fort,the monastery has been rebuilt severaltimes, and in the twentieth century openeda school for children and ceded itsagricultural lands to the AgriculturalCommission which turned them into amodel farm.

The small Museumof Neapoli containsan importantcollection of statuesfrom Classical andRoman times

The fountain inHoumeriakos wasbuilt during thelong Turkishoccupation ofCrete

The so-called"Roman door" and white steps at Houmeriakos

The monastery of Kremaston wasrecently restored

C H A P T E R 3

F R O M C O A S T T O C O A S T

T H R O U G H T H E M O U N T A I N S

I E R A P E T R A

G O U R N I A

V A S I L I K I

E P I S K O P I

K A V O U S I

C H A M E Z I

A C H L A D I A

M O C H L O S

P S I R A

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Where nature is king

Between Istron and Ierapetra the island of Crete narrows like a bottleneck andstretches a mere 16 kilometres between the gulf of Mirambelo and the Libyan sea.The trip will take us through the villages ofthe Thryptis and Orno mountains as far asthe gates of Sitia. Here nature reigns, barelygrazed by the hand of man: centuries-oldolive trees, wild figs, shady plane trees,flower-filled fields, arid open spaces, deepgorges, small torrents and multicolouredrocks.

Near Istron thewaters of the gulfof Mirambelo area deep turquoisein contrast withthe grey rocks,the evergreentrees and therock-plants inbloom

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From Gournia to Ierapetra

A short deviation from the main coastalroad leads us towards the Monastery ofFaneromeni, clinging to the mountain top.The road meanders amid bushes of thymeand sage as far as the little cave church ofthe monastery which houses a precious iconof the "Death of the Virgin", believed to havemiraculous powers. Legend tells of ashepherd who had lost his way during thenight, but was drawn to a light in thedarkness: it came from the holy icon and, inthanks to the Virgin who had helped himfind his way once more, the first church ofFaneromeni was erected on the site.

Back on the main road, the ancient cityof Gournia appears, luminous, on a low hill,like a map open to the skies: one can clearlysee the walls of the houses, the streets andthe courtyards, so much so that it is knownas the "Minoan Pompei". Already inhabitedin the Early- and Middle-Minoan era, theruins that we see today belong largely to theLate Minoan era (circa 1600 B.C.) and to theperiod of the arrival of the Mycenaeans whoerected a sanctuary here. The inhabitants ofGournia were artisans, merchants andfishermen, but they too wanted to erect apalace and a theatre space of their ownmodelled on Knossos, naturally muchinferior in scale.

The several-floored houses and theshops, which face onto the lanes, the stepsand around the marketplace, form acompact urban weave where the walls backone onto the other and often share roofs.The excavations between 1901 and 1904 bythe American archaeologistHarriet Boyd-Hawes, haveyielded up many brightly-coloured ceramics withmarine motifs and variouseveryday objects like mortars,millstones and jars for oil andfor wine. Continuing ontowards Ierapetra one can seethe remains of the Proto-Minoan settlementof Vasiliki, almost directly opposite theclean break made by the Ha gorge whichlooks as though it had been cut open

Orthodoxmonasteriesare alwayshidden away in silentplaces far fromthe crowds

In the MiddleMinoan periodGournia had its ownlocal governor whoresided in a palacehigh on the hill

At the foot of the Ha gorgearchaeologists have discoveredremains of anancient settlement

Gournia, the"Minoan Pompei"

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by a giant's sword. Vasiliki too, lying in theshade of wind-bent olive trees, retains theperfect outline of the city layout and isfamous for the discovery of a great quantityof "flame-mottled" pottery with decorationsin red and black, known as Vasiliki Ware. Thecorners of the small complex are orientatedtowards the four points of the compass, aswas the practice in the constructions of AsiaMinor: the settlement was destroyed.

The town of Episkopi, midway alongour route, has ancient origins as is testifiedby the sarcophagi found by pure chancewhilst road works were being done near the double church of Ayios Georgios andAyios Haralambos. The church dates back tothe seventh or eighth century and ischaracterised by the double facades

On 26th June 1798 the city had anillustrious guest in the person of NapoleonBonaparte who, returning from the Egyptiancampaign, spent a night here in a smallhouse (now known as spiti tu Napoleonta orNapoleon’s House) not far from the churchof Afendi Christou.

Ierapetra has a fine ArchaeologicalMuseum with glass cabinets brimming withMinoan finds, ceramics, painted sarcophagiand statues dating from the Classical,Hellenistic and Roman eras.

The inner walls of the houses of Vasiliki wereoriginallyplastered andpainted red

The Venetian andOttoman ruins arethe most attractivemonuments inIerapetra, whilenothing hassurvived from theMinoan, Greek orRoman periods

with one triangular pediment and onearched, and by an unusual brick dome withmany niches that were once frescoed.

Ierapetra, the ancient Hierapytna, is the largest port-town on the southerncoast of Crete. It grew to be an importantcentre in the Graeco-Roman era when it wasfurnished with temples, baths, anamphitheatre and two theatres, porticos and an aqueduct, of which, however, thereremains no trace. In the thirteenth centurythe Venetians built an imposing castle withbattlements and ramparts. The Turks alsoembellished Ierapetra with mosques andfountains and there are corners of the citythat retain a decidedly oriental aspect.

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Kavousi and the Thryptis and Orno mountains

The road to Kavousi begins with a sea ofdark olive trees. Here one can admire theoldest olive tree in Crete: how many years or centuries old it is no one knows, but itsimmense trunk, rough and scarred withhardened swellings like the body of aprehistoric animal, gives the impressionthat this tree/monument has seen morethings than we humans are capable ofimagining. Its branches were used to weavethe crowns for the Athens Olympics in 2004.

On the mountain that overlooks thevillage of Kavousi one can make out thefoundations of two archaic settlements fromthe Early Bronze Age: a hilltop encampmentand a settlement built around a rocky terracewith a view across the sea. Following theDorian invasion the Eteocretans chose thesites on which to build their villages withcare: fairly inaccessible, but with an amplevista that allowed them to control passingtraffic without been seen. Hidden amongluxuriant bushes of yellow-gold broom andwild sage there are numerous tholos tombsin which arms, jewellery and armour of theGeometric period have been found.

The circular tombsof Kavousi arepartly hidden byflowering bushes

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From ancient Kavousi one can continuealong rough roads (to be braved in a four-wheel-drive) that wind through theThryptis and Orno mountains. One has tobe a lover of wild and archaic landscapes toappreciate this itinerary which takes usthrough bare mountains, passes hazardouslyabove deep ravines and where the onlysigns of life are the birdsong and thebleating of the goats. Once up in theThryptis mountains it is a good idea to makea excursion on foot as far as the Ha gorgeamong perfumed bushes and silvery rocks.

The Orno mountainsare formed of manyrocky cones with dark,solitary trees, wherethe white road passesthrough a valley withisolated cultivatedfields, figs, pome -granates and evenvines which grow at asurprisingly highaltitude. A single smallvillage of just a fewhouses, Bembonas,offers the chance for

a rest at the little kafeneion which is frequen-ted by the farmers and shepherds of the area.

Having arrived at Chryssopighi the roadis asphalted once again: further ahead on theright one comes to the pretty village of Orinowith its myrtle bushes and their whiteheadily-perfumed flowers, while on theslopes of the Orno one arrives at Dafni andSkordillo amid great groves of olives. At thatpoint a geological peculiarity has createdbright white rocks of limestone and chalk thatthrust up from the dark earth like sharpblades and calcified bones. In the fissuresthere grow anemones and cyclamens thatbring to mind certain details, painted withbrush-tip, in medieval miniatures.

The baremountainsideis the reign ofsheep andgoats

The best way todiscover the beautyof this countrysideis by travellingslowly andwhenever possibleon foot

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Beyond the tiny hamlet of Riza there liesthe village of Achladia and venturing alongthe little roads among olives groves,orchards and vineyards, one can go in searchof a Minoan villa and a tholos tomb, well-hidden by the trees. The perfectly preservedtholos in all probability dates back to 1300B.C., to the Mycenaean period. A longdromos, a ramp faced with large dressedstones, runs down towards a doorwayformed of great monolithic blocks whichleads into a dark chamber roofed with adome formed of horizontal courses of stone[corbelling]. The burial chamber has a falsedoor which perhaps served to allowcommunication between the world of thedead and that of the living.

The stones of history

Rendered almost invisible by the olivegrove that grows above it, the Minoan villa at Achladia is a large rural construction withvarious rooms built around an expansivecourtyard with a kiln for producing ceramics.Of the villa there remain only the foundations,which do however give a good idea of howMinoan country life was organised.

Decidedly more interesting is theancient Minoan complex of Hamezi, datingback to 2000 B.C., which occupies the entirecrest of a bare hill called Souvloti Mouri("pointed hill"). Built of a rosy stone, and in astrange elliptical form (the only one of its kindon Crete) it was long believed to be a peak

sanctuary,but was moreprobably arural villahousingseveralfamilies whofoundthemselvesforced toadapt theshape of thehouse to thatof the hillsideterrain. Therooms arearranged in

a circle around a deep cistern which served to collect rainwater because the hill has nosprings or wells.

The tholostomb atAchladia is thebest preservedin eastern Crete

The view from thetop of the hill ofHamezi looks overlarge olive grovesand vineyards rightdown to the sea'sedge

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In the modern village of Hamezi there is an interesting Folklore Museum withtraditional agricultural instruments andcraftsmens' tools, costumes, furnishings andfinely embroidered cloths shown in variousrooms which recreate the atmosphere of a real peasant home of the past.

Psira and Mochlos

Turning back onto the main road towardsAyios Nikolaon one meanders through themountains as far as a panoramicpromontory, after the village of Mirsini, fromwhich there can be seen two small islands,Mochlos and Psira, and also a huge gypsumquarry which over time has taken on theappearance of a pyramid.

Mochlos emerges from the water foronly 45 metres, and once formed part of themainland, but during the Roman era thewaves began to climb and submerged theisthmus. Mochlos is one of the most ancientsettlements on Crete, and in its rock tombs,where the local rulers were buried, therehave been found rich grave-goods: goldjewellery in filigree, silver cups, alabastervases and objects in faience.

Nowadays thetraditionalhandicrafts ofCrete are to befound only inthe FolkloreMuseum

Basket-shapedvase withdouble axes -the symbol ofMinoanreligion andpower - fromthe island ofPsira

It was once possibleto reach the smallisland of Mochloson foot, walkingalong the isthmus

Gold diadem fromEarly Minoanperiod, found atMochlos

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Psira is larger and further from thecoast and was inhabited from the time of the Minoans until the Byzantine era. It hadan important port with the houses builtamphitheatre-style around it and was wellsheltered from the winds. Psira controlledthe rich maritime trade between Crete andthe East and the inhabitants must have beenvery wealthy merchants: their houses werefrescoed and decorated with reliefs of veryfine workmanship, worthy of a royal palace.

The bold, darkprofile of therocky island ofPsira

The gypsumquarry onceruined thecoastline butnow seems partof the naturallandscape

C H A P T E R 4

E T E O C R E T A N S A N D R E L I C S

O F T H E V E N E T I A N S

S I T I A

P E T R A S

T R I P Y T O S

A Y I A P H O T I A

Z O U

P R I N I A S

E T I A

V O I L A

L I T H I N E S

M A K R Y Y I A L O S

K O U F O N I S S I

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Starting out from Sitia (the city which haslent its name to the whole region, in thatLasithi is simply a distortion of the Venetian"La Sitia"), our journey takes us into the mosthidden lands of the Eteocretans, the "trueCretans", who, after the destruction of theMinoan palaces, preserved the customs, thelanguage and the religion of the Minoans formany centuries. Following the end of theancient world it was, however, the Venetianswho left a strong imprint on the region, andtheir traces can be found in the cities, thesmall villages and the ruins dotted about the territory. In a document of the era, theVenetians describe the population of Sitia as "peaceable and respectful of the lawsand lovers of feasts".

The Turkish presence was also strong,governing the region with an iron fist, andthe occupiers were guilty of innumerablemassacres many of which were the work ofKhaireddin Barbarossa, a pirate in the pay of the Ottomans.

The Venetian castleof Sitia in an oldengraving. Todaythe fortress, knownas kazarma andwhich wasdestroyed by theOttomans, has beenpartially restored.The Venetianinfluence inarchitecture andarts is still to be feltin many placesaround Sitia

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Sitia from Minoan timesto Venetian dominion

Like a white amphitheatre, Sitia hugs thebay with its port from which the ships thatsail towards the islands of the Dodecaneseleave. In ancient times the port was calledEteia and belonged to the city of Pressos(Praisos), a settlement on the hills inland thatremained important from Minoan times tothe 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 civilisationswere destroyed by the continual incursionsof pirates and by the numerous earthquakesthat have plagued the area.

Before the ninth century an importantdiocese was founded in Sitia, to then bedevastated shortly after by the Saracens. For this reason it was decided to transfer the bishopric to Episkopi, less exposed toraids and pillaging. On the Byzantine ruinsthe Genoese Enrico Pescatore built a fortresswhich the Venetians took possession of in1280, and which became, together withHania, Rethymnon and Heraklion, one ofCrete's most powerful strongholds.

For many centuries Sitia remained oneof the most important fiefs of the aristocraticfamilies of the Venetian Republic. Thefortress (commonly known as Kazarma) wasdestroyed along with the rest of the city in1538 by the pirate Khaireddin Barbarossa,but immediately rebuilt by the Venetians,although it was then captured by the Turksat the end of the eighteenth century. Thesigns left by the devastation that Barbarossawreaked can still be seen in the little fire-blackened church of the monastery ofFaneromeni, few kilometres distant fromSitia, built above a gorge of white rock andvisible from the sea, therefore easy prey forthe foreign hordes who landed on the coast.

In the period between the end of Venetianrule and the imminent occupation by theTurks, one of the island's most famouswriters, Vincenzo Cornaro (or VincenteKornaros), was born in Sitia, possibly ofnoble Venetian origins or a Cretan aristocratwho adopted an Italian name as was the

Clear, light watersand a wide horizoncharacterize thebay of Sitia

The Venetian Castleoverlooking thetown of Sitia

A small hamlet was built near themonastery ofFaneromeni

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fashion at the time. His epic chivalric poem"Erotokritos" (he who is tormented by Eros)is composed of 1680 verses and tells, inflowery language, of the heroic battlebetween princes and warriors for the handof the Princess Aretusa, who after terriblemisadventures comes to marry theprotagonist Erotokritos. The romance unitesmyth, legend, magic, passion, adventure,proverbs and folk wisdom and today the oldfolk still know the verses by heart, and singthem as they did in the past.

With the Ottoman occupation the cityfell into ruin until 1870, when an illuminatedTurk, Avni Pasha, drew up the new city planand had it rebuilt, in spite of the outbreaks of rebellion that hinted at the imminentdemise of the Sultans' dominion. Followingthe liberation and independence of theisland, Sitia was gradually repopulated andbecame 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 visitto the Folklore Museum and above all theArchaeological Museum which housesimportant finds from the Minoan civilisation- including many votiveofferings from thenearby peaksanctuaries and asplendid Minoan"prince" in gold andivory found atPalaekastro, along withnumerous daedalicfigurines in theEgyptian style andobjects from the Greek and Roman periods.

Archaeological Museumof Sitia

The Minoan"prince" in gold and ivory fromPalaekastro is oneof the mostprecious finds tohave come out ofeastern Crete

This engravingfrom 1651 showsthe town of Sitia atthe time of thefamous poetVincenzo Cornaro,author of the epic"Erotokritos"

Daedalic figurineswere very commonin Doric time

The Museum's rich collectionincludes pottery, clay figurines,votive offerings, tablets withMinoan inscriptions, tools,jewellery and fragments ofmurals

A white-rockgorge leads to astony beach andthe monastery ofFaneromeni, withits darkkatholikon, themonks' Byzantinechurch withbeautiful iconsand fresco-covered walls

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Traces of the ancientsaround Sitia

An inscription on a Minoan tablet bearsthe word "se-to-i-ja", the most ancient namegiven to the city of Sitia, used right up to ourown times. Its precise location is not known,but some scholars believe that it may havelain on the hill at Petras, where Minoanconstructions with enormous blocks ofdressed stone have been discovered. Petrasis also cited by Plato in the Protagoras wherehe mentions it as the birthplace of Myson,one of the Seven Sages of ancient Greece.Other Minoan ruins have been found at thegates of Sitia, along the edge of the roadthat leads towards the Libyan sea: they arethe remains of a Minoan villa dating from1600 B.C. with a series of rooms arrangedacross terraces, two well - preservedstairways and a crypt.

Again near Sitia, to be found on a hilloverlooking the sea is Tripytos, a largesettlement with houses, workshops andstorerooms built on the sandstone slope:

Hellenistic-Roman period. Continuing alongthe road towards the east, after a fewkilometres one comes to Ayia Photia, one

of the largestMinoannecropoliseson the island,with 252tombs, somecut into therock, some inthe form of

tholoi. Next to the necropolis, on the crest ofa low hill, a large fortified Minoan villa fromthe Middle Minoan period has been

uncovered with 37 rooms and two circularstructures: even if the archaeologicalremains are little but outlines, the place hasits own particular fascination, between theblue of the sea and rocks overrun with ablanket of succulents with bright purpleflowers.

The double axesymbol is foundengraved onstone and clayvesselswherever theMinoansfounded asettlement

Sitia is surroundedby Minoansettlements, ruralvillas andcemeteries datingfrom the MiddleMinoan period tothe time when theEteocretans tookrefuge in themountain ofeastern Crete

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The Minoans from war and workto religion

On the road that leads from Sitia toMakryyialos along the coast of the LibyanSea we come across a series of settlementsand sanctuaries of the later generations ofMinoans and Eteocretans who, amid thesehills, sought refuge from the Dorian invadersin around 1000 B.C.. These sites enable us tobetter-understand three of the fundamentalaspects of Minoan culture: country life, townlife and the religious cults.

Near Zou, famous for its springs whichprovided fresh water for all of thesurrounding area as far as Sitia, a rural villahas been discovered dating back to around1600 B.C., built of dressed stone on a verysteep slope on a sandy and fragile terrainthat threatens to crumble. The house iscomposed of various rooms, workshops anda kiln for ceramics, and a large number oftools and agricultural instruments have beenfound there.

Travelling south one can make out asmall sandstone ridge in the middle of adense grove of olives: this is the Minoan

settlement of Ayios Georgios which, in itsform and structure, is more like a miniatureGournia than a simple country house. Theentrance is marked by a steep staircaseformed of monolithic blocks which leads to a myriad of small chambers with the massivewalls of a fortress. From the foot of the hillthe green countryside stretches outimmersed in absolute silence, and it is easyto believe that the ancients who inhabitedthis place loved to surround themselves with beauty.

More imposing in appearance isPressos (Praisos), a Late Minoan city whichwas active up until the Roman period, with a triple acropolis built on a cone-shaped hillentirely 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 twocoasts and was of strategic importance,allowing control over the traffic of peopleand goods across a vast territory. In theGreek era it was the most powerful city-stateof eastern Crete, together with Itanos

Minoan countryvillas like that ofZou were veryimportant in theEteocretan period,since they providedthe population'ssustenance

Even very smallsettlements werebuilt in the form ofminiature royalpalaces

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with which it waslinked by friendship,and Hierapytna(Ierapetra), theeternal rival,especially as far asthe lucrative trade inpurple dye which wasextracted from aparticular species of mollusc whichabounded in thecoastal waters wasconcerned.

Pressos veneratedZeus Dikteo andpracticed a strange cult, that of the "sacredpig", as a result of which the populace wasforbidden to eat pork. Governed by ademocratic aristocracy, Pressos was anextremely wealthy city that minted coinswith the effigies of Apollo, Hercules, Zeusand Demeter. In the buildings from theGreek/Hellenistic period, in the sanctuaryand in the tombs, precious finds have beenmade: terracotta figures, painted lions,helmets, shields and pectorals in bronze andtwo Athenian amphorae of the sixth centuryB.C. which probably belonged to a localathlete who had won prizes at thePanathenian Games.

When Ierapetra openly declared war onPressos, the inhabitants turned forprotection to the allied city of Itanos andalso to Ptolemy Philimetor, ruler of Egypt

with whom they had commercial dealings,but, despite their repeated appeals for help,in 146 B.C. Ierapetra succeeded in destroyingthe city. In decline and no longerindependent, in 58 B.C. Pressos wasoccupied by the Romans who partiallyrebuilt the city. However it had, lost all itspower.

The Minoans and Eteocretans of theselands chose a "holy mountain" to take theirvotive offerings to the gods. The mostimposing of these peak sanctuaries is foundon the mountain of Prinias, which is verydifficult to scale because defended by a verysteep wall of jagged rocks on its western

face and by adeep gorge onthe east. In thepast shepherds,farmers andtownsfolkclimbed as far asthe summitcarrying offeringsof figurines andobjects interracotta, bronzeand gold whichwere deposited in

a sacred enclosure or hidden in the cracksbetween the rocks.

The mountain-top sanctuaries were notalways situated on the highest mountainpeaks. Even low hills which were unusual inform or simply emerged from flat terraincould function as holy mountains for thepopulation: for example the little mountKatrinia at Piskokephala, nowadayscultivated with olive groves and vineyards,and the low ridge of Alia, crowned with a small white church between Sykia andPapagianades, where many votive offeringshave been found (now exhibited in themuseums of Sitia and Ayios Nikolaos).

At Prinias inparticular there a large number ofhorned scarabs inclay have beenfound, the rinocerosorytes commonlyknown as"rhinoceros scarab"and believed, in the"household" cults,to be talismanic.

The dominionof the powerfulPressosextended overthe wholeregion of Sitia,and a treatywas even madewith the distantItanos in orderto avoidsurrender tothe rival city ofHierapytna

Every Minoansettlement had itsown mountain-topsanctuary: the sanctuary ofPressos lay on thepeak of Prinias

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The Venetian feudalterritories

As we wander among the roads that leadfrom Sitia to the Libyan sea, history movesforward in great bounds because in an areaof only a few kilometres we find ourselvesimmersed in Minoan remains and thenimmediately afterwards in the feudalpossessions of the Venetians.

Kato Episkopi is the village to which,in the eleventh century, the bishopric of Sitiawas transferred to escape the devastationswreaked by the Saracens. The three-navedchurch of the Ayioi Apostoloi with its cupolathat recalls Islamic architecture, was notedby Venetian sources for a peculiarity: it had

two altars, one dedicated to the Latin riteand one to the Greek, and often the liturgiesof the respective priests were celebratedsimultaneously. Another beautiful oldchurch, Panayia, is to be found at EpanoEpiskopi and is worth a visit.

A small sign indicates the road to Fortecastle, which is recognisable from far offthanks to its stern outline above a rocky spurrising up in front of the Orno mountainrange. The road winds through cultivatedfields and sweet-scented meadows with

beautiful panoramas, as far as the ruins ofthe castle which was once property of theGenoese and later recovered by theVenetians who called it Monforte. Climbingto the crest one has a splendid view over theeasternmost part of Crete as far as theLibyan sea. In the sixteenth century thefortress was abandoned and fell into ruin forlack of care. Later the site became a refugefor the peoples persecuted by the Ottomansand it is said that up to 3000 people couldtake shelter within its walls.

To visit some of the most importantlands of the noble families of Venice onemust push on through narrow roadsbetween vineyards and orchards in thedirection of Ziros. One of the mostfascinating sites is Etia, property of thepowerful Venetian De Mezzo family, whobuilt their residence here in the sixteenthcentury, a large palace, well-conserved andrestored, with two churches alongside it,Ayia Ekaterina and Ayios Ioannis. Atop themain door is the family crest of twomermaids, while inside it opens onto a largehall with barrel-vaulting and a stairwaywhich once led to the now non-existentupper floor.

Under Venetianrule Kato andEpano Episkopiwere seats ofthe Catholicbishopric, but inthe churchesboth Orthodoxand Catholicrites werecelebrated

Castles, churchesand palaces testifyto the power ofVenetian rule whichlasted for over fourcenturies

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Continuing on towards Armeni andHandras (two agricultural villages famousfor their wine and the production ofsultanas, which are left to dry on greatsheets stretched out in the sun), one arrivesat Voila, another important Venetian feudalestate belonging to the Zeno family who,following the Turkish conquest, converted to Islam: their sons became fanaticaljanissaries, transforming the Italian surnameinto Tzin-Ali. Of the Venetian/Turkish villagethere remains the imposing tower of thepalace/fortress with crests and reliefsculptures carved on the entrances.

Alongside the palace we can see theruins of the church of Ayios Panteleimonasand some stone houses with blackenedovens and fireplaces that attest to theirsporadic use by shepherds and local farmers.Coming back down past scattered rocks andboulders, one arrives at a beautiful fountainin the Turkish style with an enclosed garden.Overhead is the church of Ayios Georgioswhich houses the tomb of the Cretan

The mansion house atEtia is one of the mostrepresentativeexamples of Venetianarchitecture ineastern Crete. Therewas originally asecond floor but thebuilding fell in at thebeginning of thenineteenth century

The palace at Etiawith its two smallchurches hasbeen carefullyrestored and isnow listed as anationalmonument

The fertile valleynear Armeni eHandras was onceVenetian territory,but after the feud ofVoila was ruled by aTurkish-Venetianjanissary

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Salomons, the family whichwas to give Greece one ofher famous theologians,Jacopo, and the poetDiorisi.

Another village,Katelionas (which wouldbe almost camouflagedamong the rocks were itnot for two white churches

that shine in the sunlight) contains traces of the Venetian presence of the sixteenthcentury, when it was a large town with apopulation of thousands. The Ottomansforced the residents to convert to Islam orrisk expulsion. Katelionas slowly emptiedand was never repopulated.

Returning towards Armeni, where onthe crest of the hill the blades of a wind farmspin dizzyingly, on the plain below one canmake out the ruins of the monastery of AyiaSofia, of which there remain some Venetian-era rooms surmounted by wide arches andblocks from columns and capitals. Used for a short time as a school during the Turkishoccupation, but ever since with neitherstudents nor vocation, the grey stonemonastery has fallen into total abandon.

Lifting one's eyes up from themonastery to the high wall of rock that faces onto a narrow gorge, one can see twosmall cave churches dedicated to AyioPneuma. Both little churches are modest,dug into the rock, and their iconostases tooare simple screens between the altar and thespace reserved for the faithful, with a fewicons of the saints, but it is worthwhileclimbing up this far to sit on the stonebenches and meditate, on the beauty of the nature here and of the sky amid thegreat silence.

Ruins and smallchurches arereminders of thepast centuries,often troubled andrife withintolerance

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In the silent villages

To better understand the spirit of thisregion we would suggest a visit to thevillages that tourism has forgotten, likePerivolakia and Drongari, set into alandscape both wild and sensual andapproachable via a narrow path along thegorge that lies halfway down the slopebeneath the little churches of Ayio Pneuma.Where the gorge ends one encounters asmall plateau with thistles and thornybushes amid farmhouses, all deserted, saveone which appears to be inhabited bysomeone fairly eccentric who has decoratedthe house with odds and ends that vary fromold pieces of iron to ox-horns and empty tincans. The place is called Epano Perivolakiaand was abandoned after a terribleearthquake.

in wonder at the rare visitors who come thisfar. Yet more desolate is the old stonehamlet on a ridge at the beginning of thePerivolakia gorge, which descends betweengreat boulders and open tree trunks towardsKapsa Monastery on the southern coast. Thesite has the rough beauty of a fortifiedvillage and it is with amazement that onenotices that behind those impenetrablewalls some homes have been rebuilt withtiny gardens in which there grow almondsand pomegranates.

Continuing along a dirt road in thedirection of Apidia one can visit the ruins of the medieval village of Drongari, whichemerges amid hay fields and olive trees withits grey stones that once formed homes,shops, stables and storehouses. Over the lastfew years it has all but completely fallen in,

but one can still make out arched doorwaysand rooms with stairs, niches and stoneseats. On the platform that marks theentrance to the ruins, a bare white churchhas been erected with a wooden iconostasiswith brightly-coloured paintings.

Further down, settled among the olivetrees, Kato Perivolakia appears, a group oflow white houses with flat roofs andterracotta chimney pots. In Venetian times itwas a rich agricultural village, but now thelife in its streets seems to have stopped stilland the few remaining inhabitants gaze

Time seems to stopin the archaic andunsullied landscapearound Perivolakia

Great silence andthe scent of wildflowers are thisspot's only riches

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Along the coast ofthe Libyan sea

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-keptplace with restored houses, flower-filledgardens and labyrinthine streets. The sitewas know as far back as pre-Hellenistictimes, but acquired real importance only inthe Byzantine and Venetian eras when ittook the name of the aristocratic Lithinifamily who, in 1591, built the church of AyiosAthanasios in the town square. Here wasburied the Venetian patrician GerolamoVlasto, fighter for the freedom of Crete andrefined man of letters. Of the small castlewhich was once to be found in the middle of the village there remain only a fewfragments of reliefs which are nowincorporated into the church.

From outside thechurch seemsrather poor, butinside it boastssurprisinglybeautiful frescoesand holy icons

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Mysteriously dark, the church ofPanayia Hodegetria ("the Virgin who showsthe true path") is entirely frescoed.Blackened with smoke from the candles, ithouses a precious icon of the Madonna from

the fourteenth century:from the image therehang hundreds of silverex votos - eyes, hands,feet, figures of men,women and childreninvoking mercy - held byfine chains so that theyform a wide, tiered skirtof 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. Itsbeautiful portals with relief sculptures wereprobably salvaged from an older Venetianbuilding.

After Lithines the road drops steeplytowards the Libyan sea where we find thecoastal village of Makryyialos with a smallfishing port. Two ancient constructions havebeen found here, a Roman villa facing thesea and a Minoan villa on a flat area of landhigher up, both hidden among the modernhouses.

The Roman villa dates back to the firstcentury A.D. and has a regular plan with acentral courtyard surrounded by manyrooms including small baths and a semi-circular pool - possibly a fish pond. Judgingfrom the precious pavement mosaics andthe fragments of marble that decorated thewalls, this was a luxury abode.

The large Minoan villa belongs to theSecond Palace period, it has a surroundingwall and is divided into numerous roomswith traces of cobbled flooring. The villa hadstrong links with the religious cults of theMinoans because inside there have beenfound stone altars, a chamber for ritualbanquets and a magnificent seal on whichthere is inscribed a ship with a sanctuaryfloating on the waves, symbol of the seagods.

Turning instead towards the line ofcoast that leads eastwards, we encounterthe fifteenth-century monastery of Kapsa,clinging to the high rocks and dedicated toSt John the Baptist. In the mid 1800s themonastery became the property of theadventurer Yerontoyiannis, a decidedlycontroversial character: repenting of a life of dissolution he became a monk, dedicatinghimself to the poor, healing the sick andworking miracles. Ever since Yerontoyiannishas been venerated as a saint and every 29th

August a great feast is dedicated to him atthe monastery.

The Venetianstyle ofarchitectureand decorationcontinued to beadopted bylocal craftsmeneven afterVenetian ruleended

The ancientsettlements, villasand monasterieswere rarely built onexposed stretchesof coast becausethe populationfeared foreigninvaders comingfrom the sea

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The island of Koufonissi:a very special outing

In the summer when the sea is calm, apassenger ferry sets out from the port ofMakryyialos for the uninhabited island ofKoufonissi (the ancient Lefki). Whitebeaches, crystalline, turquoise waters andancient remains make this island anuncontaminated little paradise, andexploring it on foot leaves one feeling as freeas the birds that wheel between its sea andthe sky. Koufonissi has not always been sosilent: in the Graeco-Roman period theisland had a flourishing industry producingthe red-purple dye that is extracted from themuscles of the murex shellfish that are to becaught in the surrounding sea, a dye whichwas sold on at great price. The inhabitants ofKoufonissi had commercial dealings with thecity states of Hierapytna, Itanos and Pressosand also with Athens and Rome where use of the colour purple was reserved for theclothing of the aristocracy.

A twelve-tiered Roman theatre of thefourth century A.D., a temple dedicated to

Zeus, an aqueduct and the remains of aRoman villa with columns of porphyry andmosaic floors all attest to the wealth of thepast. Koufonissi was inhabited up until theByzantine era, as is demonstrated by thewalls beside the sea. Sailing around theisland, one notes graffiti on the rocksrepresenting sailing-ships, smaller boats andholy images: they were scratched there bythe shipwrecked and by sailors and pirateswhom the wind had driven onto the rocks.

Murex shells arestill to be foundon the sandybeaches of theisland ofKoufonissi

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P L A C E S O F W O R S H I P

U N D E R A V A S T S K Y

P E A K S A N C T U A R I E S

M O N I T O P L O U

I T A N O S

P A L A E K A S T R O

K A R Y D I

Z A K R O S

E T I A

A M B E L O S

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Mountain-top sanctuaries

In the easternmost part of Crete we find the traces of one of the most important andmysterious religious manifestations of theMinoan Civilization: the rites of worship thattook place on the mountain peaks. The peaksanctuaries originated in the MiddleMinoan period, around 2000 B.C., andremained functional up to the time of theEteocretans. According to the Greekarchaeologist Costis Davaras, in the areabetween Itanos and Goudouras alone thereare concentrated a full nine sacredmountains, the best-known of which arePetsofas and Modi above Palaekastro,Traostalos and Vigla on the road to Zakros,Kalamaki near Itanos, and Prinias andPiskokephalo which are found just outsideSitia.

The traveller notes nothing inparticular, if not the mountain peaks withirregular rock formations which contrastwith the surrounding landscape and catchthe eye: a conical summit, jagged boulders,rings of rock or majestic ridges. Many ofthese sanctuaries did not even have a sacredenclosure (only on the mountain of Petsofasdo the walls of a temenos remain), and forthis reason scholars believe that the devoutmade their way to the mountain tops simplyto pray close to the sky, where the gods

Our knowledge ofMinoan religion isstill very limited.The finds frompeak-sanctuaries,caves, domesticshrines and tombsseem to indicatethat the naturalworld played animportant part inmagicalceremonies

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could more easily manifest themselves. Themountain belonged to the gods, and toindicate the sacredness of the place wasunnecessary.

The Minoans brought preciousofferings to the gods - objects in gold, ivoryand bronze, or spontaneous gifts modelledin 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 ofworship with both arms raised above thehead or with a closed fist held to theforehead. They invoked the benevolence of the gods, for a good year, for an abundantharvest or for the healing of their physicalills: many feet, hands, arms, legs and littleheads have been found in the crevassesbetween the rocks, along with miniaturevases and objects of domestic andagricultural use.

For the Minoans nature was sacred andhad no need of manipulation. Many plantsymbols appear on their seals and in theirpainting: olive trees, fig trees, palms, oaks,

pillarscrowned withtreetops,flowers, fruitand scatteredleaves, andwater waspresent too:the waves ofthe sea onwhich theresailed theboats withtheir sacrificialaltars.Many of the

discoveries made relating to these peaksanctuaries are owed to the French scholar,and tireless traveller, Paul Faure who, in themid twentieth century scoured themountains and grottos of Crete on foot insearch of the traces of the civilian andreligious life of the Minoans. Manyarchaeologists have used Faure's travelnotes and books as the basis of in-depthstudies of the sites that he indicated.

The peaksanctuary onMount Petsofasis one of the fewsacred siteswith remains ofa shrine

A quantity ofclay scarabshave beenfound at thepeak sanctuaryof Prinias

Votiveofferings werehidden infissures andcracks in therocks

Which deities wereworshipped at thepeak sanctuaries isstill unknown, butsacred figures -especially female -are oftenidentifiableengraved on sealsor painted onpottery and claysarcophagi

Figurines in theshape of bulls werea symbol ofstrength,independence andfertility

The reconstruc-tion of the peaksanctuary ofPetsofasincludes a fairlylarge temenosbuilt into therocks

At the Museum ofAyios Nikolaos allsorts of votiveofferings from thepeak sanctuariesare on show: smallclay animals,pottery, and legsand arms, used toask the gods forgood health or arich harvest

Archaeologistshave also foundbronze figurinesand animals andobjects in gold.The peaksanctuaries firstappear in theMiddle Minoanperiod and someremained in use upuntil the LateMinoan period

The femalefigurines haveelaboratehairstyles andwide skirts, whilethe male figureswear only thesacred knot and a dagger

The small clayfigurines - bothmale and female -are in the typicalworshiping poseof the Minoans

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Travelling towards the “deserted city”

From Sitia the road continues along thecoast towards the easternmost point ofCrete in a harsh, bare landscape, its few treesbent by the wind which blows angrily here.In the midst of this wild nature there risesthe fortress-like monastery of Toplou, whichtakes its name from the Turkish word top,cannon, because the Venetians hadequipped the complex with a powerfulartillery. Dedicated to the Panayia Akrotiriani("the Virgin of the ridge"), the monastery wasfounded in the fourteenth century by thenoble Venetian Cornaro family, but thanks to armed conflicts and earthquakes, ToplouMonastery has been damaged and rebuiltmany times.

Inside the monastery the monks haveorganised an interesting museum withantique engravings, illuminatedmanuscripts, historical documents and holyicons, an outstanding example of which isthe work painted by the eighteenth-centuryartist Ioannis Kornaros when he was onlytwenty-five years old. The icon is inspired bythe psalm "Lord, thou art great", andrepresents 61 biblical scenes (in particular,the creation) with hundreds of figures in thestyle of the miniaturists.

The monastery of Toplou also posses-ses a precious stone tablet with Greekinscriptions dating from 146 B.C., this is thetreaty between the city states of Itanos andHierapytna concerning the ownership of and trading rights regarding the purple dyethat was produced on the island ofKoufonissi. The arbitrator in this dispute wasthe governor of the Roman city of Magnesiain Asia Minor where an identical copy of theancient treaty has been found. Theinscription was discovered in 1834 at Itanosby the British diplomat and traveller RobertPashley, who brought it to Toplou where itwas reused as an altar table and later walledinto the facade of the chapel.

ToplouMonastery is oneof the mostimportantmonasteries onCrete, erected inthe middle of afertile plateauhalfway toPalaekastro. Inthe past themonastery heldland from CapoSideros all theway to the southcoast - mainlyreceived as giftsfrom the rich anddevoted familiesof Sitia

The monastery'smuseum has a richcollection ofancient documentsand icons: the mostfamous is thepainting by IoannisKornaros

The inscription onthe stone tablettells of the treatymade between thecity states of Itanosand Hierapytna inthe year 146 B.C.

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The landscape appears increasinglyparched and desolate as we continue alongthe road towards the bay of Grandes,passing semi-abandoned farmhouses, greatswathes of shrubs toughened by the sunand the sea salt, enclosed pastures for theherds of long-haired goats, and fieldscultivated with melons, grapes and bananaswhich belong to the monastic community of Toplou. On a promontory overhangingthe sea one can make out the ruins ofancient Itanos, later called Erimoupolis, the deserted city. Legend tells that Itanos belonged to the Kouretes, the youngwarriors who danced and beat their armshard on their shields to cover the noise ofthe whimpering baby Zeus, born in thegrotto of Mount Dikti (or perhaps on MountIda).

Inhabited by the Minoans and laterbecoming a Phoenician trading post, Itanoswas considered one of the most powerfulcity states of the Graeco-Roman era, it heldthe right to mint coins and controlled themaritime trade between the Orient, Egyptand the Mediterranean. The only dangerousrival was Hierapytna which haddemonstrated its bellicose intentions indestroying the city-state of Pressos, ally ofItanos. The relationship with Egypt was sostrong that in the third century B.C. the

The ruins ofItanos - latercalledErimoupolis, thedeserted city -are spread wideover the coastalarea, with tracesof Minoan,Hellenistic andRomanconstructionsand also earlyChristianremains

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populace could request the help of PtolemyPhiladelphos to bring down the aristocraticgovernment that oppressed them.In the ninth century the city, already badly

damaged by anearthquake, was razed tothe ground by pirates and,after some attempts atrebuilding it, wasdefinitively abandoned inthe fifteenth century,becoming the "desertedcity". At Itanos we can seethe ruins of each of thecity's periods of glory - thewalls of the Greek houses,

the Hellenistic fortifications, the Romanstorerooms dug into the rock, the necropolisand the remains of a three-naved earlyChristian basilica constructed with materialssalvaged from the older buildings.

A stone's throw from Itanos, the famoussandy beach of Vai stretches out in theshade of a vast palm grove. Legend has itthat it was the Saracens who brought thepalm to this area: pitching their tents nearthe shoreline and living off dates, the densepalm grove is thought to have grown fromthe date-pits that they dropped there.

The Christianbasilica hasfallen into ruin,but contains thecolumns of thecentral nave,salvaged fromRoman andGreek buildings

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Palaekastro and the mountain villages

The immense arc of the bay ofKouremenos (where nowadays thestudents of a windsurfing school whisk past)was inhabited by an important Minoancommunity right from the dawn of thatcivilization. Among the olive groves ofPalaekastro, in the area known asRoussolakos at the foot of Mount Petsofas(which watched over one of the mostfrequented peak sanctuaries of ancienttimes) a vast rosy-stoned Minoan settlementhas beenbroughtback tolight. Thereal nameof this cityis notknown, butwe doknow that later on the Greeks were to call itHeleia for its marshy terrain. Rectangular inplan with paved streets, steps and a denseweave of houses built one up against theother to form small districts, the city enjoyedgreat prestige in the Middle Minoan period.Following the natural disaster of around1450 B.C. which destroyed all the palacesand 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 theLate Minoan period, and was still inhabited in the Greek era when a great sanctuarydedicated to Zeus was erected at some timeduring the eighth to sixth centuries B.C.When the archaeologists of the British schoolin Athens arrived, the temple appeared tohave been completely demolished, and yetamong its ruins it concealed some importantarchaeological remains including a friezerepresenting a chariot, and a terracotta lion,

but above all here there was discovered astele carved with the famous "Hymn to ZeusKouros", to Zeus the youth, the perfect imageof the idealized hero, sung by the Kouretesand by the men who worshipped the "divineZeus, native of Crete".

Overlooking anatural harbournear the bay ofKouremenos, inthe MiddleMinoan periodthere flourisheda town todaycalledRoussolakos - thered hole -because of thearea's purple soil

The peaksanctuaries ofPetsofas and Modi,with their starkconical profiles,were sacred to theancient populationof Palaekastro andwere places ofworship up untilthe Roman period

Every afternoonthe fishing boatsleave the smallharbour ofPalaekastro

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Turning right just before the entrance to the modern village of Palaekastro, onecan follow a dirt road which leads right to thebase of the sacred mountain of Modi, theconical outline of which stands out againstthe sky from a long way off. To reach thesummit, where the Minoans worshipped thegods of nature, and from which one enjoys a magnificent view over the whole of theeastern coast, one must pick one's waythrough rocks and brushwood, ideallyfollowing the winding goat tracks.

The route continues past a forestformed by the mills of a wind-farm andgroups of houses with modest gardens thatare swept by the perennial winds, as far asMitato and Vrysidi, two tiny hamlets withfew inhabitants. The soil takes on a rosy hueas the path reaches Karydi with its low,

From the sacredmountain of Modi adirt track leads tosmall villages nowpartly abandoned,but withinterestingtraditional houses

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square houses (most of which are no longerinhabited) with doors and windows that bangwith every gust of the wind - the only masterin this ancient village. In the bare hillssurrounding Karydi the deep grotto ofPeristeria is to be found, opening itsimmensecrater-likemouthamid thethistles. Atthis pointthelandscapebecomesalmostlunar,amongpointed rocks that take on the form ofanimals or little stone monsters curled upbetween the bushes: venturing on foot overthe uneven terrain, clambering over theridges of the hills and looking down towardsthe dark precipices, the silence of this landbecomes almost unbearable.

Turning back towards Karydi andfollowing the road to Ziros, the snow-whitevillage of Sitanos awaits us, built on theslope of hill with labyrinthine alleyways andflat roofs on which onions, figs and pulses are laid out to dry in the sun. Undergroundwatercourses have rendered this strip of landmore fertile and the landscape is softer hereamong vast fields, vineyards and isolatedcypresses.

A deep, darkhole marks theentrance to thelarge grotto ofPeristeriasituatedbetween Karydiand Adravasti

The area aroundSitanos andArmeni isfamous for itsgrapes and goodwine

The whitevillage ofSitanos

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Zakros and the Valleyof the Dead

As one leaves the village of Palaekastro asign indicates the road for Zakros, one of thegreat Minoan palaces of Crete. The landbetween the two mountain chains that flankthe valley is fertile and is cultivated by thefarmers who live in the small traditionalvillages of the area. Just past the houses ofHochlakies a narrow gorge begins: the wayis almost blocked bygigantic bouldersand a densevegetation, but atthe end it openssuddenly onto agreat marshymeadow with bedsof reeds which areused for makingmatting and baskets.Further on, a lonelybeach of roundpebbles stretches

out before an eternally calm sea sheltered by the cliffs on either side.

Behind a little cemetery with a smallwhite church that is level with the village ofAzokeramos, the climb towards the Minoanpeak sanctuary of Traostalos begins. Thepath of pink soil contrasts with the darkgreen bushes of thyme and sage, with theirscented flowers that feed the bees whosehoney has an intense and aromatic flavour. At the summit a group of lighter-colouredrocks marks out a natural sacred enclosure,and the terrain is scattered with tinyfragments of terracotta, chippings from thevotive offerings of the Minoans.

Once past the modern village of Zakros,a small clearing marks the beginning of thedescent towards a deep gorge that runs outinto the creek of Kato Zakros wherethe Minoan palace lies. Followingthe twisted path of the gorge paststones, pools of water and oleanderbushes, on the rock walls one notesnumerous caves cut into the stone:these are Minoan graves, rocktombs that have given the gorge its name of "Valley of Death".

From the top ofthe sacred peakof Traostalosyou can see thegrottoes thatmark theentrance to theHochlakiesgorge

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The asphalted roaddrops rapidly down towardsthe bay of Kato Zakros, withfishing boats at anchor alongthe shore and a row oftaverns that offer fresh fish.The ancient palace of Zakros,with its city that extendsacross terracing on the hillabove, dates back to theSecond Palace period from1600 to 1500 B.C. and wasdiscovered by chance in 1901by the British archaeologistDavid Hogarth, while intenseexcavation was begun in1962 by Nikolaos Platon.Zakros's ancient masters livedopulently thanks to theflourishing maritime trade

that arrived from Egypt, Syria, Cyprus andAsia Minor. Even though it was the smallestof Crete's four Minoan palaces, the Zakrosresidence had around 200 rooms, withbanqueting halls, purificatory baths, shrines,

the treasury, the megaron of the king and the megaron of the queen, and an immensearchive-room in which hundreds of tabletsinscribed with the Linear A script were found,still preserved in their boxes. In the variousrooms more than two-hundred vases werediscovered including real masterpieces

such as a rhyton in rock crystal, as well asinnumerable objects in bronze (axes, swords,knives, hammers and various forms of vessel),a very beautiful bull's head and many objectsin ivory, faience and gold.

The gorge knownas the Valley ofDeath descendsfrom the stoneyheights of KatoZakros as far as theMinoan palace bythe sea

The Minoanpalace and townof Zakrospossessed oneof Crete's mostimportantharbours andbecame themain gatewayfor trade withthe Orient

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The coast of the wild lilies

Just after the village of Zakros, a turningbeside the roadside remains of a Minoancountry villa indicates the way toXerokampos on the coast of the Libyan sea.Amid olive groves, winding gorges and highmountains, at last the coast comes into view,little-inhabited and with wide beaches ofsand and pebbles. Immediately to the rightjust before arriving at the village ofXerokampos, one finds a small sandy baywith emerald-green water and one of themost beautiful beaches on Crete: right up tothe water's edge there grow snow-white liliesand rare succulents that come into flowerunder the baking midsummer sun.

Following the shoreline, one notes a solitary small, white church built over an ancient Minoan settlement calledAmbelos. Reoccupied in the Hellenisticperiod, it was later conquered by theRomans. The cut of the stones has nothing of the monumental to it, but it is nonethelessinteresting to observe the remains of theancient site which probably belonged to the kings of Zakros. Ambelos had a peaksanctuary of its own on the promontory thatlooks out over the two little islands in themiddle of the sea known as Kavali.

LeavingAmbelosbehind us, the landscapebecomes ever-wilder andmore aridwhile the seaglitters in the

sunlight, inviting one to take continual dipsin its refreshing waters. We wouldrecommend a walk up to the far promontoryof Xerokampos which offers a magnificentview over the entire coast as far as Koufonissi.In one wall of rock the wind and the saltwaterhave carved a giant face with a wide-openmouth: it could easily be the face of thegorgon Medusa,

The rough andstony land ofeasternmost Creteis still untouchedby the modernconstructionindustry and masstourism

The coast nearAmbelos gives agood idea of whatthe island musthave been like inancient times

The sea cliffs havebeen eroded bywater, wind andsalt which havesculpted strangeimages into therock

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sculpted by nature, ready to defend theisland. Nothing could be better than thedizzying climb along the snaking road thatleads towards the few houses of thetraditional hamlet of Hametoulo and,eventually, to Ziros, with its breathtakingpanorama, for taking our leave of easternCrete; wild, mysterious, secretive, austere and at thesame timewarm andhospitable,rich inmagnificentmonumentsand jealous of her manyhidden beauties.

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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

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Glossary

Acropolis - ancient citadel

Ashlar-work - square-hewn stone masonry or facing

Ayios -Ayia ‘saint’ or ‘holy’

Eteocretan - 'true Cretan', the last of the Minoan peoples

in eastern Crete

Dromos - 'street', the unroofed passage leading

into a tholos tomb

Hestiatorion - banqueting chamber in ancient buildings

Iconostasis - screen between the altar and the nave

of the (Orthodox) church

Kafeneion - coffeehouse

Kastro - castle or fortified area

Katholikon - church or chapel within a monastery

Kernos - vessel used for religious rituals

Janissaries - young Ottoman soldiers, guards selected

from Christian families and forced to

convert to Islam

Megaron - the great hall of Minoan and Mycenaean

palaces

Mitate - small stone house

Paleos - 'old'

Panayia - 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

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.

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