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21. Agios Nikolaos - Zakros (see Map Crete Agios Nikolaos)
Agios Nikolaos - Sitia
Now that tourist development has covered all the areas north
of Agios Nikolaos as far as Elounda, it is starting to spread
towards the south. The first 5 km as far as the village of Ammoudara
are full of holiday homes and all kinds of tourist business
gathered around the small sandy beaches. After Ammoudara until
Pahia Ammos (an ugly village built behind an ugly beach), there
are many inlets in the coast with sandy creeks, where many hotels,
both large and small, and a camping site have sprung up, but
the noise from the main road that goes right by them is a disadvantage.
Map of Crete. From Agios Nikolaos to Sitia
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You can of course stop just for a swim, ignoring the illegal
fences put up by many of these businesses. Remember that in
Greece, all beaches are public and private property stops where
the sand begins. The owners of land next to beaches are obliged
to provide access paths to them, and if they don’t do
this, you can open their garden gate, cross their land and threaten
to call the police if anyone dares to stop you.
The coastal route to the village of Kavousi
is not particularly interesting. But the mountainous landscape
to the south of this road hides some noteworthy places. The
first is the Minoan settlement at Vrokastro,
on a hill 1,500 metres south of the village of Istro. It was
here that the American archaeologist Edith Hall excavated in
1910-12 the ruins of a late-Minoan period settlement which seems
to have been inhabited until the Geometric Period (11th-8th
centuries BC).
Istro or Kalo Chorio. Crete
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There is no road leading to the archaeological site, so if
you want to climb up here (300 m high), you will have to leave
your motorcycle and take the path that begins just before the
small sign marked ‘’13 km’’ along the
road from Agios Nikolaos to Sitia. The climb is not as tiring
as you might think, and you will certainly enjoy a beautiful
view from up here, and a solitary tour of the (rather poor)
ruins of the ancient city. 
Almost 17 km along the road from Agios Nikolaos to Sitia,
you will see a dirt road (D3) going off to your right (there
is a Greek/English sign at the junction marked “Faneromeni
Monastery”). Even if you are not especially interested
in monasteries, it is worth making this small diversion to enjoy
the breathtaking view from the monastery down to the Bay
of Mirambelo. This monastery was built in the middle
of the 15th century and was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, whose
icon manifested itself (thus the name of Virgin Mary Faneromeni,
or Manifest) in a small cave on this spot.
Approximately one and a half kilometres east of the junction
to the Faneromeni Monastery, you will see a road (there is a
Greek/English sign at the junction that says “Gournia
Archaeological Site”) which branches off to the
south and goes to the archaeological site of Gournia.
THE
MINOAN SETTLEMENT AT GOURNIA
They say that it was a small engraved stone found by a villager
on this low hill on the east side of the Bay of Mirambelo
that led a young and insignificant (at that time...) American
archaeologist, Harriet Boyd Hawkes, to dig here in 1901.
During the next four years, a fantastic Minoan city of the
Neopalatial Period (1700-1450 BC) came to light; its street
plan was wonderfully preserved. Its streets were rather
narrow (1.5-2 metres wide) but well-built and cobbled with
wide pebbles from the sea. The houses had only one entrance
which gave onto the road; many of them had two floors, with
stone walls on the ground floor and brick ones on the upper
floor and a flat roof that was supported by wooden columns.
It seems that the city prospered and occupied itself with
peaceful pursuits (it did not even have walls) until it
was destroyed by fire in around 1450 BC, the same period
that the other Minoan centres on the island were destroyed.
The inhabitants then abandoned it in a hurry, leaving behind
their possessions, many of which were found intact in their
place. The workshop of a metal-worker (1), a potter (2)
and a carpenter (3), with many of the trade tools and work
materials in their place, exactly as the Minoan craftsmen
had left them, have given us important information about
everyday life in Minoan Crete. Among them lived the lord
of the settlement, who had his luxurious house on the top
of the hill (4), a miniature of the Minoan palaces of the
period. As with so many other Minoan settlements, this one
too keeps its ancient name secret... |
After Pahia Ammos, the road begins to climb steadily to the
northern slopes of Mount Ornos, and the route starts to get
interesting. As soon as you arrive at the village of Kavoussi,
you have two choices, both wonderful!
Choice Number 1: take the south road, i.e.
turn south at the village of Kavousi immediately after the last
(furthest east) house in the village on the passable dirt road
(D3) to Bembonas and Chrisopigi, and after Chrisopigi, follow
the asphalt road (A3) that goes north-east and ends in the village
of Piskokefalo, just south of Sitia. This southern road crosses
a landscape of wild beauty, covered in low bushes, mint, thyme,
dittany, oregano and sage that fills the air with perfume. A
few poor mountain villages are hidden on these slopes, on the
smooth highlands formed between Mounts Orno and Thrypti, and
these are inhabited only during the summer months, as isolation
and the heavy winters are intolerable even for the hardened
locals.
Choice Number 2: continue on the north road
(the main road from Agios Nikolaos to Sitia), which crosses
the infertile and precipitous northern mountainsides of Mount
Orno with many bends but with a good road surface that allows
you to ride at a fair pace. The road goes through or next to
the most beautiful villages in Crete, like Lastros, Sfaka, Mirsini,
Exo Mouliana, Mesa Mouliana and Tourloti. In Tourloti, the biggest
village in the area, there are two traditional coffee-houses.
In one of these, the coffee-house of Michali Papadaki, you can
eat local specialities like khohlious (snails) and lahanopitia
(little pies made of wild greens).
THE
PARIS OF CRETE
“Whoever has a beautiful daughter
Should marry her off in Lastros
Where it gets dark early And gets light late!”
Built on the edge of a ravine between two high mountain
peaks rising to a height of 1000 metres, Lastros spends
most of its daylight hours in the cool shadow of the mountains.
So
the Lastrians leave late for their fields and gather early
in their homes, enjoying the delights of family life.
They sit for hours around the lighted fire where they
roast chestnuts or corn-on-the-cob, they enjoy a late
meal around a laden table and of course they spend many
hours in bed. Perhaps this “luxurious” life
of the poor Lastrians is the reason why the neighbouring
villages have given Lastros the nickname of “the
Paris of Crete”!
Crete, the village of Lastros
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One of these “Cretan-Parisians” was Nikos
Hatzidakis, who was born in the spring of 1914,
just six months after the Union of Crete with Greece.
Poor and fatherless from a very early age, he walked through
life with quiet and humble steps, with his pockets empty
but with his stomach always full of the well-cooked food
which his wife, Krystallia, made for him. He was neither
handsome, nor tall or well-educated. But the sun shone
out of his heart and this showed in his warm eyes and
in his smile. He knew very well that warmth is an internal
matter, just like the lighted fire in his home in his
shadowy village. He could see God’s work in the
most improbable small objects, which he kept and took
pleasure in, as if they were valuable treasures. When
he was sad, he cried like a small child, and when he was
happy he laughed from the bottom of his heart.
Crete, Nikos Hatzidakis
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He was one of those rare people who enjoyed Paradise
on earth. He tasted it in every mouthful of fresh bread,
he smelled it in the oregano and thyme that he rubbed
between his fingers, he heard it in the voice of his only
daughter, Venetsiana.
When he died in the summer of 1993, they found in his
jacket pocket a small piece of paper on which he had written
in his calligraphic handwriting:
“Whatever kindness passes through my hands,
let me do it now. I mustn’t put it off until tomorrow,
nor must i neglect it. Because i shall never pass this
way again..." |
At many points on the road, you will see diversions leading
to fantastic landscapes and archaeological sites on the north
coast. From Kavousi itself, there is a road (D3) that goes north
towards the sandy beach at Tholo, where you
will find a taverna and a few rooms to rent, although you can
easily camp rough. A little way down the main road you will
meet the junction (A3) that goes to Mochlos,
the seaside village where the mountain villagers in the area
come down to spend their summer holidays. For visitors, there
are two hotels and many rented rooms in Mochlo, which are usually
full of the archaeological teams who dig here every summer,
and of the people who are gradually discovering this beautiful
place.
Mochlos, Crete
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If, however, you cannot find a room to stay in, there are many
quiet corners where you can pitch your tent. As for food, you
have many good things to choose from. In
the taverna “Ta Kochylia”, owned by Michalis Frangiadakis,
you can eat dolmades (stuffed vine leaves), fantastic athoulenious
(courgette flowers stuffed with rice), stuffed vegetables, moussaka,
and really fresh fish (if it’s available, try grilled
skaro with tomato sauce). In the taverna Mochlos, owned by Yiannis
and Elli Zervakis, underneath the hotel of the same name, you
can eat extremely tasty rabbit. You can have the best bouillabaisse
and also fresh fish cooked on charcoal at the “Ta Kavouria”
taverna, owned by Spyros and Maria Galanakis. If you are lucky
and they have made fasoulopatates (an oily dish with potatoes
and fresh beans) that day, you’ll lick your fingers as
well. Just down the road is the “Sophia” taverna,
owned by Yiannis and Giorgos Petrakis. Mrs. Marika, their mother,
who works in the kitchen, makes a wonderful sea-urchin salad,
grilled baby octopus, and all the fish is cooked on charcoal.
Five hundred metres to the west, outside Mochlos, the Limenaria
restaurant has very good fish.
On the small island of Agios Nikolaos, just 150 metres opposite
the coast of Mochlos, and on the island of Pseira three miles
to the west, a Greek-American team headed by archaeologists
Konstantinos Davaras and J. Soles have, from 1988 to the present
time, been excavating the ruins of a Minoan city and of its
graveyard, continuing the excavation that was begun in 1908
by the American Richard Seager. You can admire finds from this
Minoan city (whose ancient name is also unknown) at the museums
of Sitia and of Agios Nikolaos.
Continuing east on the main road, 3.8 km after the eastern
sign of the village Exo Mouliana, you will see a big new sign
that says “Chamezi Middle Minoan House”
and it tells you to turn right. “Fine!” you think,
“here is the local authority urging me on and helping
me visit this unique Minoan monument.” Fifty metres further
on, however, there is a junction, but this time without any
sign to tell you where to go! If you feel like it, play the
game that the local authorities make all visitors play, the
one called “Orienteering in the olive-grove labyrinth”!
Crete, The Minoan villa at Chamezi
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Try to find the Minoan settlement without instructions. If
you manage it, congratulations - you don’t need this or
any other Guide, as you are a born tracker! If you get lost,
see below how to find the road. On your way, however, stop off
at the village of Chamezi and deliver a letter of protest to
the Chairman of the village, in the name of the thousands of
travellers who have gone through the ordeal caused by the indifference
on the part of the authorities in placing three silly signs
at as many critical junctions, which shows their complete contempt
towards visitors.
So, at the first junction, if you chose the wider road on
the right, you’re lost! Forty metres on, you will see
a narrow road going off to the right. The most reasonable thing
would be to continue straight on the wide road, right? Wrong,
you’re lost again! You should have turned right here.
Six hundred metres on, there is a third junction. Without doubt,
you choose the road on the right which climbs the hill, as you
know that the Minoan habitation is built on the top of a hill.
And you’re lost for the third time! Because you should
have turned left at the road going downhill, then right at the
next fork and left at the one following and - phew! - you’re
there.
On top of the hill the locals call Souvloto Mouri, archaeologist
Stephanos Xanthoudidis discovered in 1903 the only circular
Minoan house that has been found up to the present time. At
first, archaeologists assumed it was a peak sanctuary due to
its strange architecture and because of four earthenware idols
for worship found here, along with a well in the centre of the
structure that resembled a circular depository. They later assumed
it was a fortress because traces of stairs were found, which
means that the building had a second floor.
But in 1971, archaeologist Konstantinos Davaras made supplementary
excavations here and found a second entrance to the building,
thus excluding the possibility of its being a fortress. He also
found a waste water duct at the bottom of the well, which means
that it was a tank for collecting and disposing of rainwater,
and not a reservoir. As for the idols for worship, they must
have belonged to a private temple that was housed in one of
the rooms of this house. Its owner must have been some local
landowner who oversaw his fields from here. Now that he’s
away and he’s left his house unlocked, you might feel
the desire to sleep in his bedroom. Although sleeping in a genuine
Minoan house must be an exciting experience, it’s better
not to try it as there are poisonous and sleepless guards. Not,
of course, the local police (who probably don’t even know
the place exists) but the many snakes making their nests in
the cracks of the walls.
Well, back on the main road and fifty metres along (to the
east) from the sign showing the Minoan house at Chamezi, you
will see a narrow cement paved (at first) road going off to
the left, i.e. to the north (there is a small sign in Greek
at the junction reading: “A/T OTE”). Turn here and
set your trip odometer (kilometre counter) back to zero so you
can follow Road Book 12 and go to Liopetra, perhaps the best
freelance camping site in Crete. Liopetra is a high hill (430
m) near to the coast. Its eastern slope is quite smooth and
the (D3) road climbs here up to the summit, where there is the
well-kept country church of the Prophet Elias and the impressive
ruins of the Venetian settlement built by the hunted inhabitants
of Sitia just before the Turks captured their city in 1651.
Most of the houses still have their walls and their vaulted
roofs and you can easily sleep in whichever one you like! But
it’s better to pitch your tent on the flat balcony formed
by the rock on the west side of the hill, with a sheer cliff
400 metres below it, and with an amazing view of the sea to
the north and as far as Agios Nikolaos to the west!
If you want to do everything, it is a good idea to go towards
Sitia by the north road and to return from Sitia by the south
road. If you prefer to do a combination, take the south road
as far as the village of Paraspori (approximately 8 km before
Piskokefalo), turn north onto the dirt road that begins in this
village and come out again onto the main road from Agios Nikolaos
to Sitia at the village of Skopi. From Skopi, ride a few km
westward to visit the Minoan house at Chamezi and to take the
northern diversion towards Liopetra (see above).
| Source
of the information on this page : “Unexplored
Crete”, Road Editions. For more
guidebooks and maps of Greece, click here.
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