CRETE TRAVEL GUIDE

Crete Travel Guide
and protected, and the beach becomes overrun with
visitors in high season. Nevertheless, it is beautiful,
especially if visited outside the busiest summer months
of June, July and August.
➤ Map R4
Zakros Gorge
The Zakros Gorge is
known locally as the Valley
of the Dead because the
numerous caves in its
limestone walls were used
as tombs in Roman times.
The gorge runs from the
peaceful village of Ano (“upper”) Zakros to Kato (“lower”)
Zakros on the sea, near an ancient Minoan palace site
rediscovered in 1961. It is a beautiful and not too
challenging 8-km (5-mile) hike (see Zakros Gorge).
Taverna, Kato Zakros
➤ Map Q5
5 Elounda
Elounda, on the Gulf of
Mirabello, is Crete’s most
expensive resort area, with
several exclusive villa and
hotel complexes in
landscaped grounds. Several
of these even have private
beaches. The village itself is less upmarket, with a clutter
of shops and restaurants surrounding a small fishing
harbour from which boats depart daily in summer on
trips to Spinalonga, the Venetian fortress-island and
former leper colony not far offshore.
➤ Map N4
6 Makrygialos is the most popular holiday resort on
the southeast coast, with a long, straggling array of small
pensions, hotels and tavernas stretching along a crescent
of rather windswept, gently shelving sand and pebble
beach, which is the best in this part of the island.
➤ Map P5
7 Spinalonga
The fortifications
covering this small, rocky
island in the Gulf of Mirabello
were built by the Venetians
in 1579 to control the
approaches to this superb
natural harbour. Superior sea
power allowed Venice to hang onto Spinalonga for half
a century after the fall of the rest of Crete to the Turks,
and it was surrendered only in 1715. Used as a leper
colony in the first half of the 20th century, its buildings
are now very dilapidated, but the grim walls may still
give the visitor an eerie thrill.
➤ Map N4
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8 Ierapetra
Ierapetra is the largest
town on the southeast coast.
Its buildings are rather dull,
but it has a good, long beach
of grey sand and the
distinction of receiving more
hours of sunshine per year
than anywhere else in Europe. Huge crops of tomatoes
are raised all year round in the surrounding farmlands.
Ierapetra became an important Dorian Greek settlement
as early as the 8th century BC, and by the 2nd century
BC it was the largest city-state on the island after
defeating its Eteocretan neighbours, Praisos and Itanos.
Under the Romans it was an important seaport; the
Venetians built a fortress to defend the harbour.
➤ Map N6
9 Lato
Modern-day Agios Nikolaos was once no more than
the seaport annex of this Dorian Greek city which
flourished between the 7th and 3rd centuries BC. Built
around two neighbouring hills, 8 km (5 miles) west of
Agios Nikolaos, Lato is the best preserved Dorian site in
Crete, with walls built of massive stone blocks. There
are fine views over the Gulf of Mirabello from its agora
(marketplace) in a saddle between the twin summits.
➤ Map M4 • 8:30am–3pm Tue–Sun • Adm
10 Mochlos
Mochlos, 32 km (20 miles) east of Agios Nikolaos
on the coast road, is a tiny fishing hamlet with a handful
of tavernas. Just offshore is the island of Mochlos, which
in ancient times was connected to the mainland by an
isthmus. This has been eroded by earthquakes and
waves. On the island are the remains of Minoan houses
and a Minoan harbour, much of which is now under
water. Seal stones, superb gold jewellery and vases
carved from quartz, alabaster and black steatite have
been discovered in rock tombs on the island and are
displayed in the Agios Nikolaos and Siteia archaeological
museums.
➤ Map P4
Sights in Central Crete
1
Ancient Knosos
Knosos was pinpointed as an important
archaeological site by the great Heinrich Schliemann and
unearthed by British archaeologist Arthur Evans less than
100 years ago. The columns, courtyards and coloured
frescoes of this ancient Minoan palace still have the
power to amaze. Knosos was lost to history after the
cataclysmic volcanic eruption that destroyed the Minoan
civilization, but the site is now one of the most
impressive relics of the vanished world of the Minoans
(see Ancient Knosos).
2 Phaestos
This labyrinth of ruins
dating from around 1600 BC
includes a Minoan courtyard
and theatre with tiers of
stone seats, a monumental
stairway, peristyle hall and a
vast central courtyard. The
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Things to See