Friday, April 30, 2010

Featured destination: CRETE


Crete is the largest island in Greece. The coastline offers sandy beaches, medieval port cities and quaint fishing villages. The interior of the island has fertile plains, mountains with traditional villages, and amazing hiking trials.

Best time to visit: May-early October

Weather: May to June warm and sunny. July and August are very hot, sunny and can be windy. September and October are less windy, and not as hot, still lots of sunny days. By October there can be a couple of rainy days, but nice for enjoying the outdoors and many of the tourist have gone home and there are more opportunities to experience local activities.

What to do: Explore archaeological sites from Minoan to Byzantine, gorgeous hikes, sea kayaking, quant seaside & mountain villages, medieval post cities, cooking lessons, wine tasting, markets with local crafts, sandy beaches and eco-resorts, dancing and music!

MUST SEE: Knossos archaeological site, Heraklion Museum, Samaria Gorge, small villages, Venetian old port city of Chania

GETTING THERE: There are several daily flights from Athens to Heraklion (HER), Chania (CHQ), as well as charters in the summer time from the UK and other Europen points.

The NEW Olympic Air

Aegean Airlines

Ferries also run regularly between Piraeus (Port of Athens) and Crete. From Piraeus overnight ferries go to Heraklion in Central Crete and Souda (Port of Chania) in western Crete. There is also a port in Eastern Crete, Agios Nikolaos/Sitia, the route is via Santorini and Milos. From Sitia there is also service to Rhodes.

Ferry schedules http://www.ferries.gr/greek-islands-ferry/ferry_crete.htm

For info about Crete visit: http://www.explorecrete.com/

KNOSSOS and the beginnings of Cretan Archaeology:

Crete is an island of myth and magical beauty. Already in classical times myths about the legendary King Minos of Crete inspired the works of poets and arts. According to myth King Minos demanded an annual tribute of seven youths and maidens from Athens, who were sacrificed the Minotaur, a terrible beast that was half man and half bull.

It wasn’t until excavations in the late 19th and early 20th century that evidence was found indicating that a highly evolved civilization thrived on Crete over three and half thousand years ago. The archaeological site of Knossos, just miles from the modern capital of Heraklion, appears to be a palace complex complete with an underground labyrinth. This find of the maze-like corridors on the lower level of the building led “archaeologist” Author Evans to coin the term “Minoan civilization,” after the legendary King Minos. Evans believed this civilization to have worshipped the Great Mother Goddess, as is suggested by the numerous female figurines unearthed by Evan's and his team (which included the grandfather of our guide on Crete).

The first British female classicist Jane Ellen Harrison visited Evans during his excavation. The finds at Knossos supported Harrison’s theories of an ancient goddess cult in Greece prior to the Heroic period of the Iliad. However Harrison was blackballed by most of scholars of her time and her work was not resurrected until the 1970s, decades after her death. Many of Harrison’s theories have become popular among scholars today.

Knossos archaeological site http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/3/eh352.jsp?obj_id=2369

Bio of Evans http://www.dictionaryofarthistorians.org/evansa.htm

Bio Harrison http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=harrja

Live, Laugh & Travel to Crete!

3 comments:

Erja Lipponen said...

Our travelers love the Crete segment of our island hopping tour so much that this fall Sept 26-Oct6, we are doing a special Crete tour with our favorite Cretan guide. Come feast on Cretan cuisine, explore archaeological sites, and learn to dance like Zorba!

Erja Lipponen, Owner/founder
Eurynome Journeys

Pat said...

Known as the big island by Greeks, Crete is a fabulous place to visit, but if your readers really want to get off the beaten track they should head for east Crete which is well off the tourist radar, yet has plenty of sites (Zakros palace, gorge of the dead, etc) and sights, wonderful beaches (more blue flag beaches in this part of Crete than elsewhere on the island)and some bijou traditional mountain villages (Ziros, Armeni)where they can get a taste of authentic Cretan life. A good website for more info is www.eastcretemagazine.com
wishing you all Happy holidays in this part of the world that I love!

WanderWoman Team said...

Thank you Pat for highlighting Eastern Crete!
I agree that the eastern part of Crete, with the exception of Agios Nikolaos / Elounda, are still unknown to most tourists. And yes the small villages have retained their local charm and the beaches are still unspoiled.
Also like other parts of Crete there are numerous archaeological sites, although not as impressive as Knossos. And all of Crete is a hiker’s paradise.
It should be noted that Harriet Boyd Hawes, the discoverer of Gournia in eastern Crete, was not only the first American to excavate a Minoan site in Crete but was the first female archaeologist to lead a large excavation team.
To learn more about Boyd visit: http://www.athenapub.com/11boyd.htm