1. HANIA - AKROTIRI (see map Hania Akrotiri, Crete)

The Akrotiri region is a flat peninsula east of Hania with a hill at its eastern side (528 metres high). If you are interested in the beauty that nature has to offer, you won’t find much to see in Akrotiri. The entire area is cultivated and spoilt by the presence of a military airport and a NATO missile launching base.

This is also where the dreary cement buildings of the Hania University campus are located as well as some factories and a number of country houses randomly built all over the place.

If you wish to swim, again this is not the best place to come, because Akrotiri has very few good beaches. The most charming sandy beach is at Kalathas, but it is surrounded by many Rooms to Let, Hotels, taverns etc.
A second beach, tiny but sandy, is that of Tersanas, which has much fewer buildings around it and is much more quiet. Only a hundred metres from the beach you can find the Studios to Let “Alianthos.” These make a very cosy place to stay, as they are surrounded by many trees, offer peace and quiet, and have balconies with an exquisite view and sheltered parking. Nearby you will find a nice tavern.

A third beach, the largest of Akrotiri, is also sandy and lies west of Stavros. However, only a hundred metres behind the beach - and right over your heads - there is a huge military radar, which is not only disturbing but may also pose a threat to your health. The village itself consists of many large country houses, a few huts, and a couple of taverns featuring plastic tents, plastic chairs and plastic signs. The small sandy beach of the village must have been quite beautiful a century ago, but today it’s covered with plastic deck chairs.
Still, a few of the most beautiful monasteries of Crete are located in Akrotiri and it’s worth making a trip just to see them.

The St. Trinity Giagarolo monastery is perhaps the most impressive monastery of Crete. It was named after its founders, Jeremiah and Lavrentio Giagarolo, two brothers from a wealthy Venetian family who had converted to Orthodoxy.

As they faced problems with other monks, perhaps because they were ex Catholics, wealthy, handsome and young, they decided to leave the monastery of Aghios Ioannis (see further ahead) where they were leading their ascetic life and to move a few kilometres to the south, where they built their own monastery to avoid being disturbed! They had money, courage and faith, so nothing was lacking. And since they were going to build a monastery, they decided to do it right. One of the brothers, Jeremiah, dashed to the Holy Mount Athos to bring the best architectural designs he could find, while Lavrentio started gathering stones and other building materials. Construction began in 1612, but the plans Jeremiah had brought were so ambitious that 30 years later the monastery still was not completed, despite the hard work they put into it from dawn till dusk. And then, in 1645, appeared our dear friends, the Ottoman Turks, who had the bad habit of entertaining themselves by burning monasteries and slaughtering monks. During a rare moment of generosity the Turks pitied the two monks and decided to spare the monastery. They didn’t burn it, but they didn’t allow its completion either, so our poor Giagarolo brothers had to pray in a domeless church, in direct contact with Heaven above! Their prayers, and those of the monks that lived after them, were granted two centuries later when, in 1834, after a grand dinner given by the monks, the Turkish lord of the region allowed them to build the dome and to complete the construction of the monastery. In the same year, the British explorer Robert Pashley visited the place and was impressed by its wealth and exquisite wine.

The monastery church is of Byzantine style, and it is dedicated to the Holy Trinity. It has an impressive front, a high bell-tower (built in 1864), and two chapels, one dedicated to the Zoodochos Pigi (The Source of Life) and the other to Ioannis Theologos. Most of the monastery cells are locked, and the buildings are in desperate need of maintenance, but they have kept their grandeur intact. Inside the church you will find some beautiful wall paintings, but they cover only part of the church.

The surrounding landscape is also very beautiful. A thick olive grove (where you can comfortably camp) spreads around the monastery, while the road leading to its gate is lined with tall cypress trees.
A Gr/E sign outside the monastery directs you to the Gouverneto monastery in the north.

Gouverneto monastery, Crete

For the first five hundred metres the road (D1) goes through the olive groves, then it ascends (A4) through a landscape full of rocks and bushes, passes through a beautiful small gorge, and ends at a small plateau where the monastery is located. Its pale earthy colours blend perfectly with the savage beauty of the desert landscape. The road to this place was built in 1980, and it has definitely had an impact on its serenity.

Above the main monastery entrance an excerpt from the Mathew gospel has been inscribed, in Greek, :
" Narrow and sorrowful is the path leading to the afterlife"
The monastery was built by monks of the Aghios Ioannis monastery (see further ahead) for whom the “path leading to the afterlife” was very “sorrowful” indeed. As if the sacrifices and suffering of the ascetic lifestyle were not enough, pirates made things even worse. So at some point in time - nobody knows exactly when but most researchers place it during the first years of the Venetian rule - the monks abandoned their monastery and moved to a safer place in the south, where they built a true monastery - fort! This was surrounded by a thick rectangular wall, 40 x 50 metres, whose four corners feature square towers with embrasures and scorchers. Scorchers were particularly useful for the defence of the place, since boiling water could be poured on the attacking enemy!

In the centre of the monastery yard stands the church, dedicated to the Mistress of the Angels, the Virgin Mary. Its front is very impressive, decorated with sculpted monster heads of Venetian craftsmanship. There are also two chapels, one dedicated to St. John the Hermit, founder of the Aghios Ioannis monastery, and the other to the “Aghii Deka” (The Holy Ten). Unfortunately, there is very little to see inside the church, because all the valuable relics and icons were destroyed in 1821, when the barbaric Turks burned the monastery down and butchered the monks. Today only two monks live at the monastery and they are only threatened by the hundreds of tourists that arrive here daily, in July and August... If, however, you visit the monastery in the spring or autumn, you will feel most welcome. The monastery is closed daily from noon till 3 p.m.

From the Gouverneto monastery a path leaves to the north and enters an impressive and majestic gorge called Avlaki. After about a half-hour walk you will arrive at the abandoned Aghios Ioannis monastery, better known as Moni Katholikou. Built during the 6th or 7th century on a steep gorge side in the heart of the rough-looking landscape of Akrotiri, Moni Katholikou is probably the oldest monastery of Crete. Its founder is allegedly none other than St. John the Hermit, who spent his life in this area. The monastery church is carved into the rock, and only the western side is made of stone. An imposing stone bridge about 50m long and 15m wide extends in front of the monastery, uniting the two gorge sides at a height of 30 metres. This bridge also serves as the monastery’s yard.

In the early Christian era, and long before the monastery was built, the caves around it, still visible today in the steep sides of the ravine, were inhabited by hermits. In the largest of these (which has a depth of 135 metres) St. John the Hermit spent a life of seclusion and passed away quietly. Its 2 x 1.8-metre opening is situated at the left of the monastery church, and it can be easily explored with a good torch.

If you wish to explore the area even further, you can continue after the bridge and follow the rough path, which after twenty minutes will take you to the rocky shore where the monastery’s small

harbour was once located. Though there is no sand to lie on, the water is crystal-clear, ideal for a quick dive.

If it’s afternoon when you return to Hania, you can make a small detour at the western corner of Akrotiri (2-3 kilometres before you enter the town) and head for the Profitis Ilias hill, where you can enjoy the sunset and a wonderful view of the entire town and valley of Hania. This is also where the plain stone graves of Eleftherios and Sophocles Venizelos are located.