Kapetaniana is a remote mountain village high on the southern side of the Asterousia range, in the Heraklion district of Crete. Old stone houses and small Byzantine churches cluster beneath the rocky peak of Kofinas, the highest summit of the Asterousia at around eleven hundred metres. The village faces the Libyan Sea far below and … Read more
Krousonas is a large mountain village on the eastern slopes of Psiloritis, in the Malevizi region of the Heraklion district of Crete, west of the city of Heraklion. Cherry orchards, vineyards, olive groves and chestnut woods surround its stone houses at a cool altitude that stays fresh through the summer. The village is known across … Read more
Myrtia is a village south of Heraklion, set among the vineyards of the Peza wine region on the island of Crete. Travellers know it above all as the ancestral home of Nikos Kazantzakis, the writer of Zorba the Greek and The Last Temptation. A modern literary museum on the shaded village square keeps his manuscripts, … Read more
Houdetsi is a small village south of Heraklion, set among the vineyards of the Archanes area on the island of Crete. It carries a reputation across the island for music. The Irish lyra master Ross Daly settled here and founded the Labyrinth Musical Workshop, which teaches and stages concerts of Cretan and world music inside … Read more
Thrapsano is a large inland village in the Pediada region of the Heraklion district, east of Heraklion town. The village earned its reputation across the island as a place of potters. Families throw giant storage jars called pithoi here alongside everyday earthenware, and the clay tradition reaches back through generations. It echoes the huge Minoan … Read more
Vrondisi Monastery rests on the southern slopes of Psiloritis, the highest mountain range in Crete, above the village of Zaros on the road toward Kamares. Founded around the fourteenth century, this Byzantine monastery became an important centre of learning and art during Venetian rule. A celebrated Venetian fountain carved with figures of Adam and Eve … Read more
Perama stands as the practical heart of the Mylopotamos region, a working market town set inland from Crete’s north coast on the main road linking Rethymno and Heraklion. This unpretentious hub serves the surrounding farming villages with banks, schools, shops and a weekly market rather than catering to holiday crowds. The town maintains its authentic … Read more
The Patsos gorge, tucked into the western slopes of Psiloritis in Crete’s Amari region, offers a shaded escape into a green ravine where history and nature intertwine. Known also as the Agios Antonios gorge, this short walk leads through plane trees and past a cave-church carved into the cliff, a site sacred since antiquity. Wooden … Read more
Kandanos stands as the main town of the Selino district in south-west Crete, a mountain village surrounded by olive groves and frescoed Byzantine churches along the road from Chania to Paleochora. The village carries a powerful history: German forces destroyed it completely during the Battle of Crete in reprisal for fierce local resistance, leaving a … Read more
Azogires is a tiny green mountain village tucked into the hills of the Selino district in south-west Crete, just inland from the coastal town of Paleochora. Plane trees, springs and running streams shade the village, creating a rare pocket of lush greenery on the otherwise dry south coast. The village is best known for the … Read more