Crete

Crete (Greek Κρήτη / Kriti, occasionally spelled "Krete" in English) is the largest of the Greek islands and is located between the Sea of Crete and the Lybian Sea, south of the Peloponnese. Crete is approximately 260 km long and 60 km wide. Crete consists of four prefectures: Chania, Rethimno, Heraklion and Lasithi.

Cities

Crete's principal cities are:

• Heraklion (Iraklion or Candia) (275,000 inhabitants) - the largest city and capital of the island and Iraklio prefecture
• Chania (Haniá) (139,000 inhabitants) - the capital of Chania prefecture
• Rethimno (69,290 inhabitants) - the capital of Rethymno prefecture
• Agios Nikolaos (19,000 inhabitants) - the capital of Lasithi prefecture
• Ierapetra (21,025 inhabitants) - the southernmost city of Europe
• Sitia (9,075 inhabitants)

Other destinations

• Samaria gorge
• The Minoan archaeological sites of Knossos, Phaistos, Gournia and Mallia.
• The Roman archaeological site of Gortys
• Byzantine churches
• Monasteries (Arkadi, Triada, Preveli) with interesting histories
• Lasithi Plateau

Understand

Tourism is the basis of the Cretan economy. The island is very green despite only having around 60 days of rain per year.

There are many contrasts in this region, you can go from incredible beaches to impressive mountains, from big (and chaotic) cities to really small picturesque villages, from very dry, almost desert areas to very green zones like the springs in the center.

History

Crete was the centre of the Minoan civilisation, a literate and highly artistic Bronze Age culture, the island bearing witness to their achievements in the form of palaces, tombs and sacred sites. Towards the end of the Late Bronze Age, the Minoans were superseded by Mycenaeans from the Greek mainland. Thereafter, Crete very much followed in the classical slipstream of Greece and - much later - Rome.

Crete was the site of an airborne invasion by German troops, and a spirited resistance by Allied (mainly British and Australian) troops and the People of Crete during the 1941 Nazi invasion of Greece.

Talk

The language used in Crete is Greek, although in main cities people have no problem understanding English. Even in small villages you usually have no problem for basic things like shopping or eating.

The spoken dialect of Greek in Crete is similar to the one of the mainland Greece but it might have some small differences.

Get in

By plane

The island has three significant airports, Nikos Kazantzakis at Heraklion, the military airport Daskalogiannis at Chania and a new public airport in Sitia. Flights into Chania (Hania, Xania) airport in the west are usually on Tuesdays, and daytime only.

By boat

Ferry services from Greece mainland to Iraklion and Hania.

Get around

By car

Hiring a car is easy, as long as you have your driving licence with you. Check, though, that the insurance is comprehensive, and make sure when you take the car that all previous marks on it are recorded so that you don't get charged for these! Insurance on hire cars doesn't usually cover the underside of the car, or damage to tyres. Petrol stations often close around 7 pm, particularly in villages. Most petrol stations expect you to pay cash - they serve you, so you can choose for them to fill the tank or put in petrol to a cash value. On the National Highway, there are service stations, but they are often 30 miles or so apart - make sure you fill up with petrol before bank holidays and Sundays when you may have more difficulty finding an open petrol station.

By bus

Public transportation is fairly frequent and timetables quite trustworthy. Bus drivers usually divert from their marked routes to enter little villages if asked to do so. Bus services along the north coast are excellent, reliable, frequent and cheap.

See

• The ruins of the ancient Minoan civilization in Knossos, Faistos and the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion.
• The big variety of landscapes in a short distance: the wilderness and solitude of the Cretan mountains some hundred metres away from the coast.
• The eccentric culture of Crete in the traditional cafes (kafeneia).
• The gorge of Samaria

Do

• Listen to traditional Cretian music: Lýra is the dominant folk instrument on the island; it is a three-stringed fiddle, direct descendant of the ancient Lyre, which is held vertically, resting on the thighs of the player and is played with a bow like a violin. It is often accompanied by the Cretian lute (laoúto), which is similar to both an oud and a mandolin. The film Zorba the Greek helped to expand the audience for Cretian folk music; popularity peaked from about the middle of the 1970s to the middle of the 1980s.

• Complete the walk down the Samaria Gorge from the Omalos plateau to Agia Roumeli on the Libyan Sea, at which point tourists sail to the nearby village of Hora Sfakion and catch a coach back to Hania. The walk takes between four and seven hours and can be strenuous, especially in high summer.

Eat

Crete is the most delicatessen place of Greece, famous for it's tasty and healthy cuisine. A good tip is to join any of the hundreds of traditional fiestas in villages having great food, wine and live folk music.

Cheese

Unlike most regions in Greece, Feta is not produced and is not very popular in Crete. However you will find a very good variety in the market of delicious cretian cheeses, such as:

• Graviera: The standard hard cheese; there are many types and tastes. Taste before buying.
• Myzitra: a fresh cheese made of ewe's milk. It is sometimes made of goat's milk (in which case it is called "katsikisia") or mixed milk. A good goat's one will taste like these expensive French "chèvre frais".
• Anthotiros: from the words "anthos" (flower) and "tiros" (cheese) it is a very mild, soft spring cheese made when the sheep pastures are still full of flowers. The closest popular cheese is the Italian mozzarella, although it is quite different.

Meat

Snails cooked in various ways (one of the most traditional dishes of Crete), Smoked ham (apaki) and smoked sausages (loukaniko), traditional mountain goat or lamb cooked in various ways, cretan pilaf (chicken risotto), souvlaki (pork meat or fish on skewers).

Fish and Seafood

Sardines, barbounia (red mullet), kalamarakia (fried squids), atherina (fried tiny fishes), Octapus (sundried or drunken)

Side dishes

• Dips and sauces

Tzatziki (dip made of garlic, oliveoil, greek yogourt and dill), taramosalata (Caviar dip), kopanisti (cheese dip).

• Salads and Vegetables:

Dakos (Cretan rusk with tomato, feta cheese, olives, oregano and olive oil), Horta vrasta (boiled greens with olive oil and lemon juice), Greek salad (cucumber, tomatoes, onion, feta cheese and olives), kolokithakia (fried courgettes), melitzanes (fried eggplants).

Desserts

Amigdaloto (made with almonds), sfakianopita, tyropitakia, spanakopitakia, kaltsouni, Greek yogurt with honey.

Restaurants

Heraklion Sailing Club (Greek: ???????????? ?????? ?????????) Heraklion Harbour, GR-71262 Heraklion. Tel: 0030 2810 22 8118, Fax: 0030 2810 24 2120. Simple and cute restaurant with fresh and quality seafood in relatively low prices. The Sailing Club's restaurant is an old time clasics and beloved by Heraklion's locals.

Specialities: grilled sardines, Octopus salad, clam and mussel risottos. Finding the sailing club is sometimes tricky, it is located in the harbour and opposite the Venezian castle (Koules). It occupies the former premises of the port refrigeration plant, standing east of the building of the Port Authority and can be identified by the frescoes of the two Minoan mythical heroes, Icarus and Daedalus, tumbling from heaven off the west facing wall. Sailing Club membership is not required.

Drink

• Tsikoudia (Greek: ?????????), is the the trademark of Cretian day and night life, a strong drink similar to Grappa in Italy or Orujo in Spain.
• Beers: although cretans drink a lot of imported beers (Amstel, Heineken, etc.) there are two major companies that produce beer in Crete, Mythos (since 1997) and Zorbas.
• Cretan Wine: Try the eccentric cretan wine, produced in the island for at least 4000 years. Labels: Sitia, Peza Union...
• Greek coffee: coffee with strong taste but low in caffeine, similar to Arabic or Turkish. The Greek coffee ('ellenikos) comes in levels of sweetness. Glykos - 2 sugars, Metrios - 1 sugar and Sketos - no sugar. In addition there is Varis Glykos which is 2 sugars and extra coffee.

Sleep

• Excellent choice of "rooms" available all over the island. You can just turn up and book on the spot out of the school holiday season.
• Lots of apartments and studio flats for self-caterers too.
• Plenty of package companies go to Crete from UK. Most cater for those who want to go to Eastern Crete which is very lively. One or two cater for Western Crete (much quieter) and south western Crete (eg Paleochora).

Get out

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