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Crete Holiday Accommodation
Crete
Book holiday accommodation rentals villas and apartments in Crete direct.
Crete (Kriti) is the largest of Greek islands, and the most important one historically; it is also the southernmost part of Europe, and the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean. Famous for its ancient Minoan civilization, Crete can provide modern excitements in penetrating mountains and remote villages and discovering barely known beaches.
It is a beautiful island of large plateaux and high mountains, such as Mount Ida (Idhi), the White Moun?tains (Levka Ori), and Mount Dikte (Dhikti), all over 7,000 ft.
The climate is mild, the vegetation luxuriant. Despite their sometimes fierce appearance, the Cretans are perhaps the most hospitable members of a hospitable nation.
From Athens, Crete is one hr by air, 14, hrs by boat and car-ferry. The main road through Heraklion (Iraklion) and Rcthimnon from Canca (Khania) to Ayios Nikolaos is good. This cannot be said of all the others; the mountain roads particularly, although being improved, have some very bad stretches Accommodation is mainly in and around Heraklion, where there are modern beach resorts.
Ayios Nikolaos has exstensive accommodation. Even the smallest place has its taverna, where you can eat simply and well. The local wine is pleasant; the fruit and cheeses are excellent.
Crete's extra?ordinary Minoan civilization owes much to Sir Arthur Evans, the British archaeologist, who excavated the anci?ent Palace of Cnossus (Knossos), 3 miles from modern Heraklion. The exception?ally well-restored site displays the royal chambers and their brilliant frescoes, the theatre, traces of a remarkable drainage system, and the labyrinthine corridors around which grew the legend of the bull-headed Minotaur.
The administrative capital of the island is Canea, which has a small museum of archaeological treasures from western Crete. But the largest town and main port is Heraklion, the Candia of medieval times. It has retained much of its Venetian and Turkish character. The Venetians fortified it in the early i3th cent, as their chief Mediterranean stronghold and naval base. There are noteworthy Venetian and Byzantine churches, especially the Cathedral of Ayios Minas, which has four ikons attributed to Michael Damaskinos, a Cretan painter reputed to have been the first teacher of that other great Cretan - El Greco. The archaeological museum, which has twenty-three halls, is the largest in Greece and holds an in?comparable collection from the early Cretan and Minoan civilisations.
Heraklion is the base for the main sightseeing trips. The historic Monastery of Arkadi is a short but hair-raising bus ride. Some 28 m. from Heraklion lies the site of Gortyn, the ancient Roman capital and chief port during Dorian times. About 6 miles beyond it is the excavated site of the Minoan city of Phaestus, which its rival Gortyn overran and destroyed. A smaller Minoan structure, perhaps the villa of a nobleman, is at nearby Ayia Triada,
Travel east. from Heraklion across the Lassithi Plateau, you can see the characteristic Cretan windmills, used to drive irrigation pumps, which are scattered over the area by the thousand. Along this road 43 m. away is Ayios Nikolaos, a charming seaside town on the spectacular Mirabella Gulf, where there is fine swimming and underwater fishing. Within walking distance from Ayios Nikolaos are the ruins of Minoan Gournia, complete enough to reveal its streets and houses, the agora and the palace
