Crete-Discover the Unknown Crete

in wonder at the rare visitors who come this
far. Yet more desolate is the old stone
hamlet on a ridge at the beginning of the
Perivolakia gorge, which descends between
great boulders and open tree trunks towards
Kapsa Monastery on the southern coast. The
site has the rough beauty of a fortified
village and it is with amazement that one
notices that behind those impenetrable
walls some homes have been rebuilt with
tiny gardens in which there grow almonds
and pomegranates.
Continuing along a dirt road in the
direction of Apidia one can visit the ruins
of the medieval village of Drongari, which
emerges amid hay fields and olive trees with
its grey stones that once formed homes,
shops, stables and storehouses. Over the last
few years it has all but completely fallen in,
Great silence and
the scent of wild
flowers are this
spot's only riches
but one can still make out arched doorways
and rooms with stairs, niches and stone
seats. On the platform that marks the
entrance to the ruins, a bare white church
has been erected with a wooden iconostasis
with brightly-coloured paintings.
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