Katharo: Crete’s High Pastoral Plateau Above Kritsa

July 14, 2026July 5, 2026 by Yannis Divramis

The Katharo Plateau sits high in the Dikti mountains of eastern Crete, a remote plain of stone huts, vineyards and orchards far above the everyday coast. It lies in the Lasithi district, around eleven hundred metres above sea level, reached by a steep, winding road up from the village of Kritsa near Agios Nikolaos. Farmers … Read more

Lasithi Plateau: Crete’s Windmill Highland

July 14, 2026July 3, 2026 by Yannis Divramis

The Lasithi Plateau is a wide farming plain that sits high in the mountains of eastern Crete, roughly 840 metres above the sea. The Dikti range wraps the whole plain in a rocky wall, holding a patchwork of green fields at its centre. For centuries thousands of white-sailed windmills pumped water up to those fields, … Read more