Agioklima Rural Tourism

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Support

antonisf — Thu, 04 Jun 2020 10:21:28 +0000

Dear visitors

As you may already know, the island of Crete had very few covid-19 cases.
We would like however to let you know, for the safety of all of us, both ours and yours, about our obligations as hosts and also yours as guests of “Agioklima” in this difficult time we are all facing.
Before you step foot inside “Agioklima”, we would like to insure you that everything has been cleaned very carefully, including surfaces like tables and knobs and door handles etc, with bleach. We will give you lots of hand soap and plastic gloves and mini bottles of antiseptic that you can have with you in your excursions in Crete. We do not have masks because many people bring their own washable reusable ones.

After your arrival and our meeting in “Agioklima”, keeping distances, using masks and gloves and all, in order to keep both us and you safe, and because know one can tell for sure if one of the parties is a carrier of the virus without symptoms, the cleaning of the house is your responsibility. In “Agioklima” you will find amongst others, bleach for floors and surfaces.
We will make sure you have a nice and calm vacation staying in the isolated house of “Agioklima”.
We hope -with your help- to remain healthy and strong, all of us.

Best regards
Agioklima Traditional House

Nikos Kazantzakis

antonisf — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 22:04:58 +0000

England through the eyes and the pen of Nikos Kazantzakis

One name: Nikos Kazantzakis. One date: 1927. One book: Travelling. According to scholars of our literature this is the starting point of Greek travel literature; the moment, the fact, the book by which the travelling impression was consciously trans-mutated into pure literature. He himself would say it in another way, his own way, even more clearly: “Travel and confession (and creation is the noblest and truest form of confession) have been the two greatest joys of my life.”
N. K. knows very well the journeys of Ulysses, he knows the European writers, pilgrims of the one time Roman Empire and the Levante in the 18th and mainly the 19th century; he feels the home-sickness (“nostos”), seeking at the same time the ceaseless departure, the escape – better – “Crete is good, but only to take a run-up, he wrote. He has the dream and the supreme ambition to become a big author; he takes a run-up precisely from his travels in order to catch the dream. Pantelis Prevelakis will write later that “Travelling, Russia” will establish him as an author.

Kazantzakis travels continuously and particularly in the 20’ies and 30’ies of the 20th century systematically as correspondent of big newspapers of Athens: “Neon Asty”, “Eleftheros Logos”, “Eleftheros Typos”, “Ermis” (Hermes; a newspaper from Alexandria, Egypt), “Kathimerini”, “Proia”, “Akropolis”; magazines: “Anagennisis”, “Neoellinika Grammata”, “Neolea”, “Nea Estia”. The renowned Giorgos Katsibalis records 317 travelling texts from October 1907 to January 1946. Kazantzakis distinguishes himself from dozens of of colleagues of travelling literature, being on the top of the “trinity” together with I.M.Panayotopoulos and Costas Ouranis – travelling literature having a significant tradition in our part of the world, the same as short stories do. Kazantzakis himself formulates this as follows:
“(…) to see, to touch as yet unknown earth, to swim in unknown seas, to travel all over the earth, to see…new lands…, and peoples and ideas”. It is not enough for him, that is, to describe places, he is not interested in placing landscapes as heroes; he wants to immerse into the anxiety of his time, since travelling constitutes an urgent inner need of him; he wants to answer the tormenting questions “where do we go?”, “where do we come from?”, “what is the destiny of this or that county?” And how about the World? How about Europe? His need to interpret the so many different forms of life he encounters during his journeys in the crucial years of the first half of the 20th century – isn’ t this the hallmark of any true literary text?

As the war planes cross the sky, July to November 1939, on the eve of the Big Carnage (that ‘s how he calls the Second World War) he is in England upon invitation of the British Council. Hence the last volume of his travel texts – published in 1941 by the Pyrsos publishing house in Athens. And sitting in Hyde Park, observing the passers-by in a free country he will mentally pass through the British history.
Waves came from the north and the south, first the Iberian who left their huge standing – cyclopean – stones; then came the Celts who brought their legends and their descendants Arthur and Tristan; the Romans brought aqueducts and water supply reservoirs and of course Londinium, where the long and straight roads meet all along the place, London. The Vikings of Denmark sail along the Thames to protect the peasants and here comes feudalism. And as we reach the 11th century and the Normans do not have enough space in France on the opposite coast, they cross, ironclad, the Channel with William as their leader. Conquerors and conquered, they fight for centuries, they compromise, mingle in love and create Great Britain each time with new blood in its veins – to reach vigorous its colonial peak. Kazantzakis writes accurately: “The history of England, the commerce, politics, art, its glory, all dripping seawater”.

His tour starts from the workers’ cities: Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield. Factories, warehouses, shops, coal dust “sooty blackness on the walls”, the face of industrial civilization. He calls them “blotted”, depressing, while the faces of the workers cause him “a strange emotion, an unexpected tenderness”.
And from there, the absolute reversal: Eton, Oxford, Cambridge! Or, otherwise, typography, centuries before, the translation of the Bible and the restriction of the power of the Papal Church, the awakening of the middle class, the machines, the famous industrial revolution and the need of educated political and economic leadership. See here! The famous English schools, better even what Wellington said: “The battle of Waterloo was won at the terrains of Eton”.

And as he writes about the eminent figures of the more recent English history, while he talks about the English novel and while he weaves the praise of the meaning of “gentleman”, suddenly a strange leap, you would think, brings him to Friedrich Nietzsche. He puts on stage in writing a meeting with the shadow of Nietzsche at the bank of the Thames under a chestnut tree, converses with Nietzsche’ s Superman about moral principles, the war, the will to rule. And when he rises from the bench he was sitting on, 13 pages further on in the book, a bomber plane passes growling over London. Here is the dialogue: (…) “ Superman has arrived…”, I murmured to him. “Is this what you wanted? ” (…) “This! (…)” – “You sowed and now see the harvest. Do you like it?” – “I like it.” The calendar writes August 25, 1939, the anniversary of Nietzsche’ s death; Hitler’ s ironclad army is already marching in the streets of Europe. It is difficult, believe me, to find a more accurate and profound commentary on what happened. History will encounter him in front of number 10 Downing Street, the declaration of war, and some of the nicest pages of the book concern the preparation of London for the war: the first day when sirens sound alarm for the impending bombardment, September 3rd, his descent to a shelter, the pastor, the newly-wed couple, the policeman, the youngsters wearing masks, the plump lady eating her apple, an old Tiperery song coming out of the mouths of everybody in the shelter and the slip of paper with the name of each one in his pocket, ticket to death and to life. The faces, the pain, the fear, the endurance, but also the organization of the wily fox, as he calls England. The value of travel literature, anyway, and of that of Kazantzakis lies ALSO here: his literature is ALSO a testimony.
And now comes the time to talk about the great bard, Shakespeare. Now, here, at the beginning of the war, great Art is a support, strength; creation as hope and spell in the dark side of man. If this is precisely the order of the journey or not, Kazantzakis passes from war to the Spirit, the Art, the civilization – these are what remain from wars.

In Stratford upon Avon in front of him, he is at last at the birth place of Shakespeare, the apples shining like a girl’ s breasts, the pears sweet as honey, the road to Shakespere’ s house, the house of his big brother. He will be sleeping in the house of Shakespeare’ s daughter Susanne, roam about the same places as He did, converse with him in the night. And he becomes affectionate,captivating lyrical, praising and at the same time reflective, fair and just, faithful worshipper of Macbeth and Othello, of Hamlet and King Lear, he does not turn his face away from the diabolical Richard the Third, he falls in love with Desdemona, Juliette, Ophelia; and he connects intelligently cause and effect: Shakespeare did not fall from the sky; the era he lives and creates is the era when Galileo “moves” the Earth, books are printed, ideas travel, the souls, excited, are mirrored in the great creators and the citizens throng in improvised stages, often in the mud, in order to see and hear men’ s passions, their own passions. He manages here as well to give us pages of a clearly essay character in a simple, intelligible, imaginative way. Because travel literature has to be also an essay.

He leaves London behind, the heart of colonialism, in the third month of the war, November. The city has acquired the nobleness of a city sunken in the mist, like a thick dream; he has spent hours and days in the British Museum and the City. His gaze, accurate and often caustic: “….But one day I fell into another nightmare – a modern and vivid one – in the City; in the labyrinthine, self-interested, gold -filled veins of London. Narrow, winding back streets, congestive overstrain, the big temples of contemporary religion – the Stock Exchange, the Bank of England, the Town Hall. And close by, at the banks of the river, (…) warehouses, where the goods of the whole earth are amassed. (…) The five continents carry their gifts to the master: Canada and Russia the grain, the Scandinavian countries the wood, Australia the wool and fruits, Egypt, the Indies, China the cotton, the rice, the tea, Africa the sugar, coffee, tobacco. (…) And the various European countries their kings: Normandy, France, Holland and Hannover. And Greece, tobacco, raisins, sponges and its marble gods…
In the whole book Kazantzakis does not conceal his admiration and esteem for the country but he is not afraid to express frankly his thoughts. Accurate his critical historical and political observations, they are based each time on the knowledge of history, without underestimating his own sense of things. Years later, in September 1954, the Cyprus problem in its peak, he publishes in Nea Estia an article without mincing his words, an article hard about the British politics of the time. This precisely is the addendum to the book.
We all know how Kazantzakis died: August 1957, the plane flies over the North Pole returning from China. His last trip. How was it up there in the sky? Who visited him through the clouds and the snow, who did he greet and to who he bid farewell to in the bright atmosphere of the Pole – this he never put down in writing for us. Sick from the trip he will very soon die. If we may say: travel gave him life, travel took it away.

Niki Troullinoú, 2017
Translation: Mihail Koukakis

Cretan Raki, Tsikoudia Drink

antonisf — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 20:50:51 +0000

The history of Cretan Raki

If you’ve ever been to Crete, you probably have had at least one shot of the spirit called Raki. In other parts of Greece, it’s known as Tsikoudia or Tsipouro. Cretans are eager to send travelers home with their homemade Raki. They put it in clear water bottles so that it can be easily transported.

Raki Comes From Grapes

Raki comes from byproducts created from the wine making process. The name comes from the ancient Greek word rax which means grapes. After the grapes are pressed (traditionally by feet pressing) and the juice is stored so that it can begin fermenting, there’s a lot of leftover plant material, which is stored for around six weeks before it is distilled into Raki.
There is always a big fest during this procedure each autumn. Every raki distiller invites his family and friends and they all eat and drink while waiting for the first drops of Protoraki (the first even stronger raki), usually there are traditional Cretan musicians around the table too. These are the famous Kazania in every Cretan village.

History of Raki

This spirit dates all the way back to Ancient times! Evidence of it has been found in ancient pottery from the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations. It seems that they enjoyed a beverage similar to Raki with their meals and was also made from grapes.
During the Turkish occupation of Greece, particularly on Crete, the Turks began calling the local spirit Raki because it was similar to their own version of this beverage. However, Turkish Raki is flavored with anise while Greek Raki has a clear and clean taste.

Tradition of Hospitality

To the Cretans, it represents hospitality. When visiting a local restaurant, they’ll often bring out a small pot of homemade Raki, made in their own distillery and restaurant owners will join you while you drink! To express their gratitude for your visit, they may send you home with a plastic bottled filled the clear liquid. They goal is for you to share it with friends and family back home so that you can always remember the island.

Raki with Honey – A Recipe

If you don’t like the taste of pure Raki due to its strong flavour, you can always drink Rakomelo, which is traditional Raki mixed with honey (meli). You can make it yourself. All you need to do is mix two cups of raki with three tablespoons honey in a saucepan and gently heat until the honey is melted. You can either serve it hot or chill. Cretans and Greeks mostly drink it during wintertime to avoid sore throats and all sorts of diseases.

Marathopites, a traditional Cretan recipe

antonisf — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 19:07:50 +0000

Marathopites, traditional Cretan pies

There are some Cretan flavors that take a while to prepare but it is worth your time and effort. One of those is marathopita from the Cretan herb Marathos (whose aroma is incredible) made into a pie.
For Cretans, local herbs and greens are valuable food in everyday dinner table, so women of Crete came up with hundreds of ways of making pies. With thick or thin pie sheets, round or squared pies, sweet or sour pies, in the oven or fried ones with Cretan olive oil.
But what matters the most is the procedure of collecting the herbs by yourself: a small knife, a bag and a walk in the fields outside of the village is enough to find anything you need and more to make a green pie! It does not bother the Cretans to do so, it is amusing and fun and worthwhile our time. The big advantage of the Greek soil is that during winter till summer a variety of herbs appear.

You need

600-700 grams flour
200 ml water
50 ml Cretan olive oil
30 ml Cretan raki
The juice of 1 lemon
3 bunches marathos
500 grams of other greens and herbs like spinach, wild leeks or wild celery, mironia or seskoula)
1 big red onion
100 ml Cretan olive oil
Salt and pepper

Execution

In a bowl mix the flour with the salt, the olive oil, the raki and the lemon juice. Add water slowly and make the pastry, it must not be sticky, it has to be soft not hard. Leave it to rest for a while. Rinse all the greens and cut them in small pieces and leave them to dry out. In a deep frying pan heat up the olive oil and put the onion in small pieces with the celery and leeks. After a few minutes add the marathos and the rest of your herbs with salt and pepper. 10 minutes after that turn it off and put them in a strainer to remove all the moisture.

Make 20 small balls with the pastry. Each one of them must be made into a thin round pie sheet. Put some of the herbs from the strainer inside and cover it with another round pie sheet and stick the edges of the two pie sheets together using your fingers. Put it in a frying pan with hot olive oil and turn it around again and again till it has this beautiful golden colour we all know and love.

Day trips from Agioklima

antonisf — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 16:12:38 +0000

Day trips from Agioklima traditional houses

Things to do while staying in Agioklima Traditional House

If you are staying in Agioklima Traditional House, there are many day trips to follow, all around the area, but also in the rest of the island. Agioklima Traditional House is in the center of Crete, in Petrokefalo, so you can easily visit every part of the island which has a historical significance.

Day Trip #1 on foot. From Agioklima traditional house, to Pentamodi village

Day Trip #2 by car. To Kroussonas village and saint Irina monastery

Day Trip #3 by car. To Messara valley, Phaistos Minoan palace and Kommos antiquities through some very beautifull traditional villages.

Day Trip #4 by car. A walk around the most interesting places in the city of Heraklion Crete.

Day Trip #5 by car. Spend some hours at the fantastic CretAquarium (Thalassokosmos) and Natural History Museum of Crete. It΄s magic!

Day Trip #6 by car. Another idea is a day trip to Knossos Minoan Palace and Archaeological Museum of Heraklion Crete. Don΄t miss it.

Day Trip #7 #8 by car. What to say about old towns of Chania and Rethymnon in the west Crete! Just hurry up. One (or… two) day trip(s) will absolutely satisfied you.

Agioklima – Rethymnon – Chania

antonisf — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 13:41:58 +0000

Day Trip #7 & #8 (by car)

If you are staying in Agioklima Traditional House in Petrokefalo, you are in the middle of the island, which gives you the biggest motivation to travel all around the island!

Driving west can lead you to the magnificent cities of Rethymno and Chania with much to see. In Rethymno, the Venetian and Turkish occupation have left their mark on the old town, which has many Venetian mansions and churches, several small Turkish-era mosques, and a 16th-century fortress. Laid out on a grid system, the mix of architectural styles reflects the town’s history. You’ll see attractions such as the 16th-century Venetian loggia, the 17th century Rimondi Fountain with water gushing from the mouths of three stone lions and a towering Ottoman minaret from 1890. Between 1573 and 1580, the Venetians built an enormous fortress, Fortezza, to protect the island against Turkish invasion. On Paleokastro Hill, west of the old harbor, the view over the old town and to the sea is amazing. On the highest point the mosque was sited, originally a church, but converted into an Islamic place of worship by the Turks when they conquered the town in 1646.

Chania is a two hour and a half drive from Agioklima Traditional House, so leave early to have enough time to visit the sights worth seeing there. The area has been inhabited since the Bronze Age, when the Minoans founded the ancient city-state of Kydonia almost 5,000 years ago. Chania gained its present layout in the 13th century under the Venetians (1204-1645), who fortified it and made it the island’s capital. Under the Ottoman Turks (1645-1898), the Turkish governor of Crete resided here. In 1971, the island’s capital was moved to Heraklion. Chania was of significant historic importance due to its port, the deep, curving harbor, which gained its present appearance under the Venetians in the 14th century. Until today it is the main tourist attraction. To the east of the old harbor, a mosque is sited, erected by the Ottoman Turks after they conquered the city in 1645. Beyond the mosque, stand the arsenals, where the Venetians repaired their galleys, and a yachting marina. This entire stretch of coast is protected by a breakwater, and on its tip stands a lighthouse which was designed by an Egyptian architect in 1839. The Archeological Museum of Chania which is in the old harbor holds archeological finds from western Crete dating from Neolithic times through to the Roman period. There’s a wealth of Minoan ceramics, gold jewelry, and clay tablets with inscriptions. Other notable exhibits include peculiar clay figurines of bird-faced women, votive ceramic bulls, a third-century Roman mosaic floor, and an impressive marble bust of Roman Emperor Hadrian.

Agioklima – Knossos Minoan Palace – Archaeological Museum

antonisf — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 13:23:37 +0000

Day Trip #6 (by car)

From Agioklima Traditional House, Petrokefalo, is easy to go to Knossos. And visiting Crete without seeing Knossos would be a terrible miss out! The archaeological site of Knossos is 5 klms southeast of the city. This location was inhabited during the Neolithic times (6000 B.C.) and on the ruins of the Neolithic settlement was built the first Minoan palace (1900 B.C.), where the dynasty of Minus ruled. This was destroyed in 1700 B.C and a new palace was built in its place. The palace covered an area of 22,000sq.meters, it was multi- storied and had an intricate plan. That’s the reason why it’s connected with myths like the Labyrinth and the Minotaur. Between 1.700-1.450 BC, the Minoan civilization was at its peak and Knossos was the most important city-state. During these years the city was destroyed twice by earthquakes (1.600 BC, 1.450 BC) and rebuilt.

The city of Knossos had 100.000 citizens and it continued to be an important city-state until the early Byzantine period. The site was discovered in 1878 by Minus Kalokairinos. The excavations in Knossos began in 1900 by Sir Arthur Evans, and lasted 35 years. The most important monuments of Knossos: The Great Palace, the largest of the preserved Minoan palatial centers. Four wings are arranged around a central courtyard, containing the royal quarters, workshops, shrines, storerooms and the throne room. Dated to 2000-1350 B.C. The Little Palace is located west of the Great Palace and is the second bigger building of Knossos. In one of its chambers was found the wonderful Bull’s Head. The House of the High Priest is named like this due to the stone altar that was found there. The altar is surrounded with double axes stands. The Caravan Serai is located opposite to the Great Palace and it was the official entrance to the palace. It served as public baths with running water, where the traveler of Knossos should bath before visiting the King.

Many of the artifacts of Knossos are exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion, so after visiting the archeological site, it is a great idea to also see the museum. It is in the center of the city. But leave early in the morning from Agioklima Traditional House, because the sun, especially during summer time, is really hot and the temperature high!

Knossos Minoan Palace – goto

Agioklima – Natural History Museum – CretAquarium

antonisf — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 12:16:50 +0000

Day Trip #5 (kids’ time!)

If you have small children with you, there are many things to do that they’d love, in Petrokefalo and around the villages near Agioklima Traditional House. But there are also great places to visit in the city, such as the Natural History Museum of Crete (which is near the castle Koules), the perfect choice for little explorers! It has various sections such as the Zoological (animals and plants of the east Mediterranean), the Paleontological (Deinotherium, Dinosaurs, Earthquakes) and other exhibitions. Founded in 1980, it constantly renews the exhibits and collections to attract the interest of young and older visitors. Do not forget to see the Deinotherium, the third largest mammal ever found on Earth and the largest mammal ever lived in Crete. This giant animal that lived in Crete 7-9 million years ago lives again in the museum in its real life dimensions -reaching a height of 4.5 meters and a length of 6.5 meters. The Erevnotopos (Exploring Space), an area of 250sqm, specially designed for children, where you and your children can discover fossils in the sand, spend a night in camp, drive a small boat and explore the various ecosystems of the Mediterranean, is worth visiting.

Near the airport, approximately 30 klms from Agioklima Traditional House, is the CretAquarium Thalassokosmos. The biggest aquarium of the eastern Mediterranean, hosts over 60 tanks and 2.000 marine creatures from Nemo the clown fish to sharks! The tanks were constructed using natural sea rocks and sea water. The result is truly amazing, it’s like you are walking on the bottom of the sea!

Agioklima – Heraklion interesting places

antonisf — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 12:04:42 +0000

Day Trip #4 (by car)

Heraklion city has many sights to visit, so leave Petrokefalo and Agioklima Traditional House early. You can drive to the city and park your car next to the port and then visit everything on foot, the distances from sight to sight are small. After all, Heraklion is busy during daytime and it won’t be easy to find parking space in the center of the city.

If you park near Koules, the Venetian Castle (1523-1540), it is truly worth visiting after its restoration, the view of the city and of the harbor from the top of the castle is magnificent. Koules was built to protect the port and the city. On the ground floor are 26 rooms that housed captains and stored food. On the upper floor there are battlements for placing canons. The upper parts of the castle are Turkish changes. Outside, on the main side of the castle, you can see the lion of St. Mark, the symbol of Venice. During the Turkish period, the Turks used it also for imprisoning the Cretan revolutionaries.
The main road to the center of the city, after you exit Koules, is in front of you: it is a touristic, wide pedestrian road called 25th August that leads you to Lions Square, in the middle of which you will see the famous Venetian fountain. The street is named after the massacre of 700 Cretan citizens from a Turkish mob in 25 August 1898, because the Turkish troops refused to leave Crete after the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Greek liberation.
On this street you can see the church of Saint Titus which was built when the seat of the bishopric was transferred from Gortys to Chandakas (Heraklion) by Nikiforos Fokas in 961. The new cathedral, which is the largest in the city, was dedicated to the Apostle Titus. When the Venetians took over Crete, they installed in the orthodox bishop the Latin archbishop. In the middle of the 15th century, destructions, caused by earthquakes and fire, resulted to the rebuilding of the church from the start in 1557. The church was a basilica, almost square in shape, with a dome in the middle and a bell-tower in the southwest corner. During the Turkish period, the church was given to Fazil Ahmet Kioprouli and it was changed into a mosque and the bell-tower into a minaret. The big earthquake of 1856 destroyed the temple and it was rebuilt once again. After the exchange of populations, the Church of Crete repaired it, and in 1925 it was dedicated again to Apostle Titus.

After Saint Titus Church is Heraklion City Hall (Loggia). It is one of the most characteristic buildings of Venetian architecture on Crete. It was built in 1626-28 (the one we see today) by Francesco Morosini, the same man who built the Lion fountain. It was a public building for the aristocrats and Lords of the city, to confer and reach decisions on financial and commercial matters and also a place for their entertainment (something like a Gentlemen’s Club). Its architecture combines the Dorian and the Ionian style.
Basilica of Saint Mark, one of the most important Venetian monuments in Heraklion, is a few meters away from Loggia. Saint Mark was the patron of Venice. The basilica in his honor was constructed in 1239, it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1303, in 1669 it was converted into a mosque and in 1956 it returned to its current state. Nowadays it is used as the City’s Art Gallery with many different exhibitions from time to time. Many of the original features have been restored. The high arches and thin columns are typical of Venetian architecture.
Exiting the Basilica of Saint Mark you will see the famous Venetian Lion Fountain. You are now standing on Lions Square. It was the largest slave market in the Eastern Mediterranean in 9th-10th century. During the Byzantine period, up to 13th century, the Lions Square was the site of the residence of the Byzantine governor of the city. In Venetian times, until 17th century, the Palace of the Venetian Duke of Crete stood here, on the north side of the Lions Square (where the souvlaki shops are today). The Ducal Palace was a two-storey building with verandas on the ground floor which were rented out as shops. Unfortunately, the earthquake of 1856 destroyed everything except the fountain.

The Morosini Fountain, the famous Lion Fountain, was the work of Capitan Generale Francesco Morosini and his engineers. The fountain was constructed to bring unlimited drinking water to the city which had no springs, and its citizens used mostly wells. It was watered by Karidaki spring from Archanes village on Mountain Yuchtas and the water traveled about 15kms to get to the fountain. The work took 14 months to complete (1628). The fountain is composed of eight lobes, making it easier for 40 people to fill their water-jars at the same time. The lobes of the fountain are decorated with scenes from Greek mythology and marine figures. At the centre of the fountain sit four lions (the symbol of Venice) with water gushing from their mouths. At the top of the fountain was a large statue of Poseidon, we don’t know whether it was removed or destroyed. In 1847, by decision of the Turkish administration, marble columns enclosed the fountain and an inscription honoring the Sultan was added. By decision of the Municipal Council in 1900, the fountain has been restored to its original condition. Nowadays water runs from the lions’ mouths once more and there have been efforts to reveal the Venetian underground ducts which supplied the fountain with water, making them visible to people walking on Lions Square.
If you cross the road, you will see the local market. You can buy traditional Cretan products, fruit and vegetables, herbs and spices, cheese and meat, and maybe grab a bite.

When you leave the port with your car, going to Petrokefalo and Agioklima Traditional House, 200 meters away from Koules Castle, you will see the church of Saints Peter and Paul amongst ruins of buildings of the Byzantine period. This large single-aisled Basilica was constructed by the Venetians as a Monastery of the Dominican Order and is one of the two churches of Crete that has some parts of gothic architecture. After 1669, it was transformed into a mosque. Today its initial form has been restored and it’s truly breath taking.
Next to the church of Saints Peter and Paul you will find the Historical Museum of Crete. It is housed in a neoclassical building dating to 1903 which was owned by Andreas Kalokairinos. He granted it to the Society of Cretan Historical Studies to be turned into a museum in 1952. Valuable historical relics of Crete, from the First Byzantine period (330 AD) to World War II, are displayed in its 22 rooms, covering an area of 1,500 square meters.

Agioklima – Messara – Phaistos – Kommos day trip

antonisf — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 11:33:02 +0000

Day Trip #3 (by car)

If you leave early in the morning from Agioklima Traditional House and follow the road south of Petrokefalo for 2 klms, you can visit the village of Saint (Agios) Myron.
The ancient name of the village is Rafkos and in the Archaeological Museum of Heraklio you can see some of the artifacts found there from approximately 1900 b.C. In the early 19thcentury (a.C.) archeologists found Minoan Seals in the area and in 1940s a post-Minoan tomb with four sarcophaguses. In 1966 a whole graveyard was brought to light by mr.Alexiou, one of the most known and respected archeologists of Crete.

The tomb and remains of Saint Myron can be found inside the church of the village which is named after him. He was after all the bishop of Crete in the late 4th century a.C. If you walk in the village you will come across some beautiful stone built houses. The Cretan architecture is still surviving in the area.
After Agios Myron you can easily visit the village Pirgu. There were found remains from the Minoan Times also here, in Kazola, and great artifacts and pottery. Between the 13th and 16th century a.C. the village was well known for its wine according to historical sources. There is the church of Saint John with the emblem of the Franciscan lords (1601) inside the village.

Kato Asites is your next stop. There are 9 churches in the village, most of them renovated. The most famous is the church of Saint Paraskevi which was built in 1745 and its stone architecture is still magnificent. There are three very old trees in the village that you can rest beneath them, it is now illegal for someone to cut them down due to their historical presence, a platan, a cypress and an oak tree. During the Ottoman Period the area was the scenery of great battles between the Turks and the Cretans fighting for their freedom.

Ano Asites is the village after Kato Asites. There are many caves in the area with major speleological interest. Also the excavation of the ancient town of Rezinia is breath taking and its cemetery with 680 tombs dated from the end of Minoan Times till the Roman Period of the island.
At the village of Prinias one can easily find the hill of Patella. There lie two ancient temples of the 7th century b.C. with sculptures that remind us of the first samples of Daedalos’s Plastic School. There is also a cemetery on the hill and a beautiful castle of the 4th-5th century b.C.

Once you arrive to Agia (saint) Varvara, after Prinias, you can follow on your right the road down to the South. It will lead you to the valley of Messara with amazing beaches like Matala and Kommos with the great ancient remains of the city. The Minoan town of Kommos was the harbor of Phaistos from 1650 to around 1250 b.C. In the 19th century, the Italian archaeologist Taramelli identified Kommos as the place where King Menelaus was shipwrecked on his way home from Troy after the end of the Trojan War. Today part of the ancient town has been excavated. The Kommos archaeological site is not open to the public, but you can see a bit from the side of the fenced-off area as you walk down to the beach or from above, stopping at the crossroads after Pitsidia before heading down to Kommos Beach.

Very well-preserved buildings came to light during the excavation, revealing the advanced state of olive cultivation in Minoan times. Slabs from the olive press were found here, also tools and fittings such as collection basins and vessels used to store the oil produced. The olive press installation shows that the Minoans built platforms on which the olive press bed was set. The olives were crushed into paste and ground on the press bed by stone weights, which were also found during the course of the excavations. Today most of the olive oil production finds from Kommos, as well as many other stone, clay and metal objects, are housed in Heraklion Archeological Museum. Unfortunately Kommos was extensively destroyed many centuries ago. The houses and public buildings of the town were destroyed by earthquake and later rebuilt from the foundations up. In Messara you can also visit the Minoan Palace of Phaistos and the ancient city of Gortys. It is truly worth it, but be aware of the sun and the heat especially if it’s summer time, be prepared.