Crete-Discover the Unknown Crete

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C H A P T E R 5 Travelling towards the “deserted city” From Sitia the road continues along the coast towards the easternmost point of Crete in a harsh, bare landscape, its few trees bent by the wind which blows angrily here. In the midst of this wild nature there rises the fortress-like monastery of Toplou, which takes its name from the Turkish word top, cannon, because the Venetians had equipped the complex with a powerful artillery. Dedicated to the Panayia Akrotiriani ("the Virgin of the ridge"), the monastery was founded in the fourteenth century by the noble Venetian Cornaro family, but thanks to armed conflicts and earthquakes, Toplou Monastery has been damaged and rebuilt many times. Toplou Monastery is one of the most important monasteries on Crete, erected in the middle of a fertile plateau halfway to Palaekastro. In the past the monastery held land from Capo Sideros all the way to the south coast - mainly received as gifts from the rich and devoted families of Sitia 116
Inside the monastery the monks have organised an interesting museum with antique engravings, illuminated manuscripts, historical documents and holy icons, an outstanding example of which is the work painted by the eighteenth-century artist Ioannis Kornaros when he was only twenty-five years old. The icon is inspired by the psalm "Lord, thou art great", and represents 61 biblical scenes (in particular, the creation) with hundreds of figures in the style of the miniaturists. The monastery's museum has a rich collection of ancient documents and icons: the most famous is the painting by Ioannis Kornaros The monastery of Toplou also possesses a precious stone tablet with Greek inscriptions dating from 146 B.C., this is the treaty between the city states of Itanos and Hierapytna concerning the ownership of and trading rights regarding the purple dye that was produced on the island of Koufonissi. The arbitrator in this dispute was the governor of the Roman city of Magnesia in Asia Minor where an identical copy of the ancient treaty has been found. The inscription was discovered in 1834 at Itanos by the British diplomat and traveller Robert Pashley, who brought it to Toplou where it was reused as an altar table and later walled into the facade of the chapel. The inscription on the stone tablet tells of the treaty made between the city states of Itanos and Hierapytna in the year 146 B.C. 117
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The G. & A. Mamidakis Foundation, h
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MINOS BEACH art hotel Escape in sty
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CANDIA PARK VILLAGE Experience a wo
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CHAPTER 1 SACRED AND PROFANE IN THE
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C H A P T E R 1 Ayios Nikolaos An e
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C H A P T E R 1 A medieval archer f
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C H A P T E R 1 Kritsa and Panayia
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C H A P T E R 1 Lato Lato, once an
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C H A P T E R 1 The Katharo Plateau
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C H A P T E R 1 Every season has it
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C H A P T E R 1 The Lasithi Plateau
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C H A P T E R 1 The grotto of Trape
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C H A P T E R 1 The Diktaion Antron
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CHAPTER 2 THE AUSTERITY OF STONE AN
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C H A P T E R 2 The austerity of st
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C H A P T E R 2 Spinalonga Linked t
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C H A P T E R 2 Stone as art Far fr
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C H A P T E R 2 Statues from the Ro
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C H A P T E R 2 Not far from the ma
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46 C H A P T E R 2
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C H A P T E R 2 The Cave of Milatos
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C H A P T E R 2 Malia Golden bee pe
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C H A P T E R 2 Tales of Neapoli an
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CHAPTER 3 FROM COAST TO COAST THROU
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C H A P T E R 3 Where nature is kin
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C H A P T E R 3 From Gournia to Ier
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C H A P T E R 3 The inner walls of
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64 C H A P T E R 3
Page 68 and 69: C H A P T E R 3 From ancient Kavous
Page 70 and 71: C H A P T E R 3 The stones of histo
Page 72 and 73: C H A P T E R 3 Nowadays the tradit
Page 74 and 75: C H A P T E R 3 The bold, dark prof
Page 78 and 79: CHAPTER 4 ETEOCRETANS AND RELICS OF
Page 80 and 81: C H A P T E R 4 The Venetian castle
Page 82 and 83: C H A P T E R 4 Sitia from Minoan t
Page 84 and 85: C H A P T E R 4 Archaeological Muse
Page 87 and 88: A white-rock gorge leads to a stony
Page 89 and 90: Hellenistic-Roman period. Continuin
Page 91 and 92: Even very small settlements were bu
Page 93 and 94: with whom they had commercial deali
Page 95 and 96: eautiful panoramas, as far as the r
Page 97 and 98: Continuing on towards Armeni and Ha
Page 99 and 100: Returning towards Armeni, where on
Page 101 and 102: in wonder at the rare visitors who
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Page 105 and 106: The Roman villa dates back to the f
Page 107: Zeus, an aqueduct and the remains o
Page 110 and 111: CHAPTER 5 PLACES OF WORSHIP UNDER A
Page 112 and 113: C H A P T E R 5 Mountain-top sanctu
Page 114 and 115: C H A P T E R 5 The peak sanctuary
Page 116 and 117: At the Museum of Ayios Nikolaos all
Page 120 and 121: 118 C H A P T E R 5
Page 122 and 123: C H A P T E R 5 The Christian basil
Page 124 and 125: C H A P T E R 5 Palaekastro and the
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Page 128 and 129: C H A P T E R 5 A deep, dark hole m
Page 130 and 131: C H A P T E R 5 Zakros and the Vall
Page 132 and 133: C H A P T E R 5 The gorge known as
Page 134 and 135: C H A P T E R 5 The coast of the wi
Page 136 and 137: C H A P T E R 5 sculpted by nature,
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Page 143 and 144: Chronology 7000 B.C. Stone Age, arr
Page 145 and 146: TEXT JUDITH LANGE PHOTOGRAPHS JUDIT
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Crete-Discover the Unknown Crete

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