at 18.5km (NW) from Krassi Village
Káto Goúves (GR: Κάτω Γούβες or simply Gouves) is a modern tourist resort with a complete tourist infrastructure to meet all demands. Organised beaches, large modern hotels, family apartments, restaurants, small tavernas, recreation centres, sports centre, shops, car and motorbikes for rent, small ports (marinas) for small boats, in a word Kato Gouves provides everything the visitors require to spend an agreeable and carefree holiday, enjoying the sunshine by day and the thrilling night-life in the numerous bars in the area.
Just a few kilometers inland there are picturesque traditional villages, historic monasteries, caves and other natural beauties.

at 19.8km (W) from Krassi Village
The monastery of Agaráthou (GR: Μονή Αγκαράθου), dedicated to the Virgin, stands at an altitude of 538m, on "Soros Panteli", a rocky hill between the villages of Sgourokefali and Sabas, 23 km from Heraklion.
During the period of Venetian rule it was a centre of learning, producing many famous churchmen including the Patriarchs Cyril Lucaris, Meletius Pegas and Sylvester the Cretan.
The church was rebuilt in 1894 and flourished once more after the end of the Turkish occupation. Young, educated monks with university degrees have recently settled in the monastery, restoring it to its former glory.

at 19.8km (SE) from Krassi Village
At a mountainous, precipitous site, in the west mountain slopes of Dikti, at an altitude of 550 m above sea level and at 2 km from the village of Malles, is built the village Christos (GR: Χριστός – Christ). Christos is a beautiful, verdurous village, with many running waters, traditional, unchanged by time, with narrow sloping cobbled alleys.

at 20km (NW) from Krassi Village
A modern competitive organisation, IMBG (part of the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research - www.hcmr.gr) is widely recognized as one of the leading institutes in the Mediterranean. IMBG is housed in custom-built new installations at Gournes, near Heraklion, Crete, where its laboratories, administration, library and conference facilities cover 1.500 m2. It has a wide range of state-of-the-art facilities needed to carry out its basic and applied research.

at 20.1km (NW) from Krassi Village
The CretAquarium - Thalassocosmos (GR: Θαλασσόκοσμος) was officially opened in December 2005. It provides its visitors with a special experience, a trip to the underwater world of the Mediterranean Sea and its creatures. It is a unique park whose focus is on science, education, culture and recreation and whose goal is to promote, share and spread knowledge concerning the marine environment.

at 20.2km (SE) from Krassi Village
One of the largest villages of Crete, in the north of the valley of the river Sarantapichos.It is 28 km away from Ierapetra and 40 km away from AghiosNikolaos, in a verdurous slope within immense olive groves, with an unlimitedview to the valley of Myrtos, the Libyan Sea and the mountain peaks that surroundit.The village took its name from ancient Malla, which is speculated to have beenbuilt at the same place or somewhere nearby. Ancient Malla was a city-state,with an army and a currency of its own, which presented Zeus, the Labyrinth,the Eagle and the word MAL. It is included in the 100 cities of Crete and in the“Cretans’ Common”. A lot of archaeological findings are now in the Museumof Heraklion, in museums abroad and in private collections. The inscriptionsfrom ancient Malla include treaties between “Malla and Lyttos”. “There shallneither be any spoliation of Malla by the Lyttos residents nor of Lyttos by theMalla residents”. Lyttos, an ancient city in the plateau of Lasithi, had often rumblingswith “Malla”, probably about the ownership and use of their mountainborders.An inscription found in 1848 contains the text of a treaty with the city Teos ofIonia. The city “Mallos” of Minor Asia is thought to have been a colony of Malla.The city Malla is also referenced in the alliance treaty of 30 Cretan cities withthe king Eumenis II of Pergamos.The most important of the gods the residents of Malla worshipped was ZeusMonnitios and he was also venerated in the adjacent cities. One of their greatestfestivities was Ypervoia.Evidence of inhabitation during the Hellenic and Roman eras has been found.During the Venetian rule, Malla, the seat of a feudal lord with two towers, wasthe largest village of Kastelania of Ierapetra. In 1583 it had 1483 residents, 5parishes and 7 priests. In the following censuses, in 1881 it had 754 Christiansand 15 Muslims. In 1951 it had 1253 residents and in 2001 499.Malles has been visited by a lot of travelers who have written down their impressions,the most prominent of whom being the Italian GEROLA.The Malles region also includes the abandoned village Aghios Georgios Loutra,the Holy Monastery of Exakousti, the old Monastery of Armos that was thesummer seat of the bishop of “Iera” and, as it has been reported, 7 bishopshave been buried there. Malles, except for their wonderful natural landscapes,the special routes for the nature lovers to the plateau of Katharos, to the sourceof Retiko and the surrounding mountains, has also important ecclesiasticalmonuments. Panagia (Our Lady) Messohoritissa, a church built in the times ofthe Palaiologoi dynasty, Saint Nicolas, the two-aisle church of Saint Charalambosand Afentis Christos (Our Lord the Christ), with the most beautiful temple,the work of the wood-carvers of Lasithi who specialized in church temples.Now a large village, Malles, with a rich history, folklore, civilization and strugglesin different historical periods, was visited by the national leader EleftheriosVenizelos. During the German Occupation, 18 people were executed. Itnurtured many and important Fighters. It used to be a Community, a formerMunicipality and is now a Local Department of the Municipality of Ierapetra.Rich in olive production, it has a cultural center, a post office, a football field andteam, cultural associations, an agricultural co-op and many traditional coffeehouses.

at 20.3km (SE) from Krassi Village
It is a small village with few residents, loacated 4 km to the west of the village Christos at an altitude of 600 m. The residents of Metaxohori (GR: Μεταξοχώρι, or Parsás - GR: Παρσάς) have immigrated to the plains of Ierapetra, in Stomio, Ammoudares and Xerokampos and work in the glasshouses. The village has been renamed in 1955 from Parsas to Metaxohori to honor the Ecumenical Patriarch Meletios Metaxakis who was born here. The Metaxohori settlement dates from the 17th century, as follows from the dating of the old churches. In the older times, Parsas, as its name was, was built at 2 km below its present position, at the site Myrtaras. Until 1929, it belonged to the Municipality of Mournies in the Province of Viannos. Since then it has been an autonomous Community, in the 90s it belonged to the Municipality of Nea Malla and today it is a Local Department of the Municipality of Ierapetra. In 1630 it had 138 residents, in 1940 it had 281, and in 2001 55 residents were registered in the census. The permanent residents however are no more than 7. Metaxohori has good infrastructures, an asphalt road, a renovated school, a memorial for the fallen fighters, beautiful old and new churches and the bust of the Patriarch Meletios Metaxakis. It is connected by a dirt road to the Symi villages Riza – Mournies. The modern history of Metaxohori is rich in important persons and facts from the period of the Turkish rule and the German Occupation. The most prominent figures were Captain Diakomanolis, during the Turkish rule, and Giorgos Metaxakis, a lawyer who worked in the Prefecture and spoke 7 languages. In 1943, 7 residents of Parsas were arrested and executed at Sfakoura of Riza. Metaxohori or Parsas, with the ruined Cretan style houses, the half-wrecked cemetery church, the wonderful natural landscapes, the view to the mountaintops, has an unbelievable tranquility, which is only disturbed by the voices of animals and birds, and a nice healthy climate. There are also amazing mountaineering routes for the nature lovers and the cave at “Kleisidi” where there are old findings, utensils and skeletons of people who took refuge there during the Turkish rule. In the north of Metaxohori, at a great altitude, there is the cave of “Neraidogoula”, which presents an inexplicable phenomenon. Sometimes in August unbelievable quantities of water flow out of the depths of the cave, flood the “Psoriaris” river and cause catastrophes. Perhaps this is why it took the name “Neraidogoula”, that is the source of the Fairy. However, in Metaxohori, the village is dominated by the figure of the Ecumenical Patriarch Meletios Metaxakis, 1871-1935. His contribution in the posts he served into was huge and his bust adorns the central square of Ierapetra. Metaxohori today waits to be repopulated, to be revived, since it has a wonderful climate and its air is scented by the verdurous mountain slopes of Dikti. Its few residents experience the tranquility and the solitude waiting for the emigrants, the mountaineers, the nature lovers to come and admire the village of the Patriarch Meletios Metaxakis.

at 20.6km (SW) from Krassi Village
A modern exhibition and congressional centre offering 8000 square meters of total space, 1500 of them being indoors. Among many events that take place in this centre is the Pancretan Agricultural and Commercial Exhibition of Arkalochori held every two years at the end of August. The exhibition attracts a large number of enterprises, manufacturers and services participating and is being visited by over 30,000 visitors from all over Crete. It is considered to contribute essentially in the rapid commercial and cultural development of the wider area.
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The Municipal Open Theatre
Located in the area of the exhibition centre the theatre is of semicircular shape with a capacity of approximately 1000 seats. The facility offers also a canteen, toilets, dressing-rooms for the actors, store room of scene and backstage.The cultural events that the Municipality organises every summer, attract visitors not only from the wider area but also from Iraklion city.
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at 20.7km (S) from Krassi Village
Historical place with outstanding natural beauty, unspoiled villages and great beaches. The town of Ano Viannos is built amphitheatrically on the southern slopes of Dikti mountain at 560 m. above sea in a distance of 65km from Iraklion and 40km from Ierapetra. It preserves the traditional character with the narrow paved streets, the stone built houses - especially the "Plaka' quarter - the old kefeneios with tables under the plane trees and old churches such as Agios Georgios and Agia Pelagia with wall paintings dating back to the 14th century. There are a few accommodation facilities, banks, medical center, taverns, gas stations, shops etc. Ano Viannos is the seat of the municipality of Viannos.

at 20.7km (SW) from Krassi Village
The town of Arkalochori (GR: Αρκαλοχώρι) with a population of 2.881 is located 33km away from Heraklion, on the provincial road linking Heraklion and Viannos, at 395m above sea level. Its inhabitants are mostly involved in agriculture, but in commerce and arts as well. Arkalochori is one of the most developing towns in the prefecture of Iraklion both in economic and cultural sectors and is the administrative center of the area. Events such as the Pancretan Agricultural and Commercial Exhibition, that takes place here are of great significance and interest for the whole island. The town offers a full range of modern facilities to its residents and visitors.