County's Villages and Communities:
Drive SW from Kasteli towards Apostoloi. Before reaching the village, take a turn to the right to Smari and its archaeological site, the Akropolis of Smari which is to the right before the actual village.
THE ACROPOLIS OF SMARI
MONASTERY OF KALLERGI
About 5 km NW of Kasteli, a sign on the road indicates the way to the Monastery of Kallergi, a lovely place, shady and cool, full of flowers.
BITZARIANO
This is a traditional small village of about 60 inhabitants in the Municipality of Kasteli Pediada, 320 m above sea level and about 3 km to the north of Kasteli on the road to Hersonissos.
LITTOS
According to the historian Polybius, Lyttos or Lyktos, is one of the oldest cities in Crete, famous in ancient times for the excellency of its men.
On the site of Lyktos, there stand today two lovely churches: Agios Giorgos with an inscription of a date ćůęč’=1321, as well as some wall paintings, and the church of Timios Stavros, built on the site of a large Paleochristian basilica.
This lovely village of the Municipality of Kasteli in the province of Pediada is located on the western slopes of the Lassithi mountains between the peaks of Afendi (1578 m) and of Sarakinos (1588 m) in a beautiful glen 520 m above sea level and only 10 km SE of Kasteli.
Kasteli is the county town of the municipality in the province of Pediada.
This village of the Municipality of Kasteli has 280 inhabitants and is located in the western foothills of the Afendi mountain, 8 km away from Kasteli.
A village in the municipality of Kasteli, 360 m above sea level. It has about 490 inhabitants, and is located on the 32 km of the road leading to Kasteli in the NW part of Apostolianos Kampos, among vineyards and olive groves.
ASKI
This small village in the municipality of Kasteli has 315 inhabitants. It lies in the foothills of the Dikti mountain, 11 km to the east of Kasteli and 8 km from Lyttos.
330 m above sea level, just out of Kasteli (1.5 km) to the east, lies the village of Archangelos with 433 residents.
EVAGELISMOS
Located at 360 m above sea level, with 365 inhabitants, this village lies to the SW of Kasteli, distant only 5 km from the county town and about 35 km from Heraklion.
KASTAMONITSA
Kastamonitsa is 7 km away from Kasteli, has 356 inhabitants and lies at 520 m above sea level, in the foothills of the Afendi mountain (1578 m), with the Dikti mountain in the background.
Mathia is 11 km to the SE of Kasteli, has 215 inhabitants and lies at 590 m above sea level, in the foothills of the Afendi mountain (1578 m), with the Dikti mountain in the background.
KAROUZANA PANO KAI KATO
On the road to Kasteli from Hersonissos, turning off to the left there are two lovely villages in the midst of such greenery that one hardly sees them.
This village has about 200 inhabitants and lies very near to Kasteli (700 m to the SE) at 200 m above sea level.
POLYTHEA
500 m to the NE of Kasteli, the village Pigaidouri, rebaptized Polythea in 1940, finds the origin of its first name in the word ‘pigaidi’, which is Cretan for ‘pigadi’, which means ‘a well’. The name was apparently changed because people thought it was a reference to ‘gaidouri’, which means ‘donkey’.
This village lies at 300 m above sea level to the SW of Kasteli and has ca. 100 inhabitant.
This village of the municipality of Kasteli is found only in the Turkish census of 1671, and not in the earlier Venetian ones.
LITTOS OR XIDAS
A document of 1368 mentions the village as Xidas.
LAGOU
To the east of Smari, at 400 m above sea level, the old stone houses of Lagou, through the combined efforts of the members of the cultural centre, are being restored to their original traditional form.
A small village to the SE of Kasteli, at 400 m above sea level and with 120 inhabitants.
1km. to the west of Kasteli, this village takes its name from the name of its inhabitants.
This village lies at 490 m above sea level and is first referred to by Barozzi in 1577.
The village of Smari is a traditional Cretan village, only 10 km away from Kasteli and has 375 inhabitants.
In it you will find beautiful old stone houses that have been restored, picturesque little alleys, ruins of older buildings and pottery workshops where you can purchase copies of Byzantine and Minoan ceramics.
There are also some interesting churches with wonderful frescoes like the one dedicated to Sotir Christos, the Koimisi tis Panagias and Agios Giorgos.
The earliest reference to the village of Smari dates back to 1375.
There is a lively Cretan feast on July 20th in honour of Profitis Ilias, with much rejoicing, singing and dancing.
The excavations that are still being carried out here indicate that this Acropolis and its surrounding area were already inhabited in very ancient times, as far back as the Middle Minoan period.
The view from up here is panoramic, reaching as far as Gouves on the north coast. To the east, 100 m down from the Acropolis in the direction of Smari, you can see the traditional village of Lagos, and the church of Profitis Ilias among the trees and gushing water, a real oasis to visitors suffering from the hot Cretan summer. Next to it, the church of Agios Giorgos with wonderful wall paintings. Right in front of you, the ravine of Lagos offers a splendid sight.
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The church of Aghios Ioannis was renovated in 1912, according to the inscription on the belfry, but bears obvious architectural elements belonging to earlier dates.
The abbot Methodios Perakis bought the monastery in 1874 from the larger monastery of Vidiani in the Lassithi plateau.
There are traces of monks having lived here at a much earlier date, and according to M. Karavelakis, the present building was erected ca. 1850 on the ruins of an older one.
The monastery was abandoned after its 1912 renovation, and a fire completed its destruction in 1931, burning down over 800 trees.
Nowadays, the ancient church is in reasonably good condition and the main building has been restored, with the vaulted SW part turned into a refectory. There is a newer church built just outside the precincts of the monastery.
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A pretty village with stone houses, small alleys and courtyards covered in flowers.
It is first mentioned in 1881, as Bizariano, Municipality of Kasteli, with 55 Christian inhabitants. In 1951, it changes its name to Pigi. Its first name is that of a family, Bizariano.
Close to the village, in a beautiful spot full of lush vegetation, evergreen plane trees and gushing water, stands the ancient church of Agios Pandeleimonas, with its three naves.
Two rows of arches supported by columns without capitals separate the naves. Another column is made exclusively of capitals, apparently brought in from other churches or temples.
Practically all the middle wall is decorated with inscriptions, Byzantine reliefs and crosses. It is quite possible that the church was an Asklepion in ancient times, or else a Holy Well.
Some of the original wall paintings still survive, and are among the oldest in Crete.
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The site is to the NE of present day Lyttos, also known as Xidas. At 656 m above sea level, among the ancient ruins, two churches have been built, that of Timios Stavros and that of Aghios Giorgos.
According to Stefanos Byzantios, Lyttos owes its name to its location on the western foothills of the Lassithi mountains.
Hesiod mentions Lyttos in his Theogonia as a rich city in Crete, and Homer qualifies her as ‘well-built’.
Skylax and Strabo make references to Lyttos, and Hierocles mentions the city in his Political Geography.
According to Hesiod, Rea was sent there by her parents to give birth to Zeus.
Lyktos was one of the first colonies of the Lacedaemonians. The other more recent name, Karnisopolis, indicates a Doric origin. According to Psilakis, the city adopted this name because of its dedication to Karneios Apollon, in whose name many games and feasts were held.
The Athenians were also involved in colonizing Lyktos.
According to a myth in Plutarch, the Thyrinians invaded the islands of Limnos and Imvros, and then raped some Athenian women. The children born from this attack, were driven out of Athens and found refuge in Sparta, where they helped the Lacedaemonians to quench the revolt of the Helots in 465 BC. In return, the ancient Spartans gave them political asylum.
However, after a while, the Lacedaemonians became suspicious of them and locked them up in prison. They were able to escape dressing up in their wives clothes and leaving their wives behind them and behind the bars to pay for the consequences of their flight.
Having taken refuge on the heights of the Taygetos mountain, they offered to help the Helots in their revolt.
The Spartans decided it was time to reach an agreement and offered them money and boats to allow them to leave with their wives.
And so it came about that with three leaders, Pollin, Delfon and Krotaidon they reached the coast of Crete and disembarked at Hersonissos, which was later to become the port of Lyktos.
The city of Lyktos also participated in the Trojan War, and, as is well-known, their leader, Koiranos, threw himself in front of Idomeneas, the Cretan king, to save him from Hector’s mortal arrow.
Lyktos was undoubtedly one of the strongest and largest cities in all of Crete .
It was the capital of all Eastern Crete, in particular of Merambello, Monofatsi and Viannos. Lyktos was often fighting the supremacy of Knossos, and reigned over a large area of the island that spread from the north to the south coast.
In 343 BC Knossos conquered Lyktos, but with the help of Archidamus, King of Sparta, the Lyktians were able to rebuild their city.
In 220, during a war between Lyktos and Ierapytna, the Knossians found the city unprotected and were thus able to take it. Taking the women and children into slavery, they devastated the city, destroying it to its very foundations. The Lyktians felt totally defeated and took refuge in Lappa.
With the help of Sparta, the city was once again rebuilt and once more became a leading power in Crete.
In the course of its remaining history, it formed an alliance with Ierapytna, Olous and Driros, and later on was one of the 30 allied cities of Crete under the banner of King Eumenios II, king of Pergamo in the second century BC.
Lyktos fought Metellus and his army during Roman times, but was finally conquered.
The Romans, as archaeological finds lead us to believe, had a soft spot for Lyktos, built on hilly ground with hardly any even ground for cultivation, and the statues of Marco Aurelius and Trajan that were found here are exhibited at the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion.
The common meals «sisitia» in Lyktos, under Dosiadas the Cretan, are of particular interest.
The city had its water brought from the Kournia source, located between Kera and Krassi. Part of the aqueduct was hewn out of the rock and part of the enormous bridge made of stone that carried the water to the city, is still visible near Kastamonitsa. It is well worth a visit to Kastamonitsa to see this impressive work.
At different times, during its hegemony, Lyktos minted coins with its emblem: an eagle with wide spread wings, and the head of a wild boar with the inscription ËŐÔÔÉŮÍ.
The treaty between Lyktos and Ierapytna in 113 BC was the occasion for the erection of a temple to Athena Pallas: a great many archaeological finds provide us with plentiful information based on reliefs, inscriptions and even mosaics of the city of Lyttion.
In 1951, a square votive pedestal was found, with a relief representing a hero standing in front of a horse, and hunting dogs after a deer and a roe. The relief bears an inscription Á×ÉËĹŐÓ Á×ÉËĹŮÓ.
There are also traces of an ancient agora.
It was through this glen that in 1867 the Egyptian Pasha Omer crossed into Lassithi and destroyed the plateau, but was unable to take Ambeli and Tsouli Minas which were defended by the rebels.
The name quite probably derives from some family name and is first mentioned as a village in the Pediada area by Fr. Barozzi in 1577.
The village has an interesting Byzantine church, with wall paintings, dedicated to the Archangel Michael (Archangelos Michail). Other icons in this church are the work of Sepi, an artist who worked in the Monastery of Kardiotissa.
Nowadays, Geraki is a village with 560 inhabitants, with an active cultural centre that organizes all sorts of events during the summer season. Twice a year the village has a typical Cretan feast in the honour of its patron saints: Agia Paraskevi on July 26th and Michail Archangelos on 8th November.
From Geraki one can reach the lovely chapel of AGIA ANNA , driving through a particularly beautiful landscape.
To get there you must take a dirt road for about 13 km, so you can either walk, or else drive if you have a 4-wheel drive vehicle that will stand up to the rough mountain surface.
You will find the view down over the Geraki glen compensates your efforts. A series of different types of landscape meet the eye: rocky parts in contrast to wooded land, sheep. goats and pretty stone-built sheepfolds.
Bring some food with you: there is fresh running water by the chapel and the place is ideal for a picnic.
It is distant 36 km from Heraklion and the route to follow is the one leaving from Heraklion and leading through Knossos, Peza, Aghies Paraskies and Kasteli.
Another route is the one from Gouves to Smari or else from Chersonissos, turning off right from the National road between Heraklion and Chersonissos. This is a lovely ride of about 14 km.
In the 1583 Register, the village is mentioned as ‘Pediada proprio’ with 543 inhabitants. The castle that gave its name to the village was located on the small hill where the school (Gymnasium) of Kasteli stands nowadays.
Kasteli played a leading role as the county town of the province of Pediada. It was the commercial centre of that area and its important market attracted villagers from all around who came to sell their products.
The market survives to this day and takes place every Wednesday along the town’s main thoroughfare.
Kasteli also played an important intellectual role in the area and its school provided education to all the children of the region, including the ones of the Lassithi plateau.
Today Kasteli has over 2000 inhabitants and all the facilities and public services its residents and/or visitors may need.
Many events are organized through the year by the municipality, the school and the cultural centre. In August a special festival, known as the Feast of Xenitemenou includes concerts, folklore, exhibitions and theatre plays. The last Sunday of the Orthodox Carnival is yet another occasion for a lively typical Cretan party.
From Heraklion, one follows the Kasteli-Xidas-Kastamonitsa-Amariano road for 43 km.
The first mention of the village -Amariano and Mariano- is to be found in inscriptions dating back to 1394-1399. Fr. Barozzi also mentions it in the region of Pediada in 1577.
The name is significant: Amari is an area close to the town of Rethymnon, therefore the first inhabitants were originally from the Amari region. During the second Byzantine period, this region was known as Apano Syvritos and the name Amari is first mention in Venetian times. This would imply that the village was first founded during the Venetian conquest of the island. The first spelling, Amarianos, is the correct one and the family names Amarianos, Amargianitakis and Amariotis first appear in the 16th century, in the 1583 Register.
Close by is the chuch of Agios Giorgos tou Kefalioti with good quality wall paintings.
The village is a typical Cretan village, and the square is pleasant with its gushing waters and enormous plane trees.
There is a medical centre here as well. You can find every type of refreshment in the kapheneions where raki and traditional ‘mezedes’ (tit-bits) are served and in the tavernas which serve typical Cretan food.
Among other important events, the cultural centre of Amariano organizes a great feast on August 15th, the Dormition of Our Lady and on September 20th, day of the patron saint, Aghios Eustathios.
Until recently tannery was a main activity among the villagers.
The earliest reference to the name is to be found in a contract drawn in 1279, where Sancti Apostoli et Sophoro were lands belonging to the Venetian lord Leonardus Gradonicus, who gave them and leased them to Petro Quinino. There is another mention of the name in a document dated to 1378.
It is also quoted by Fr. Barozzi in 1577 as forming part of the Pediada district.
The name of the village finds its origins in the name of an old church dedicated to the Saint Apostles. The present church was built on the same site in the 19th century, in 1876. The church of Agios Giorgos is Byzantine and has wall paintings.
According to village tradition, on the night of Easter in 1841, the Turks caught the Cretan leader of the revolution for the Eastern part of the island, Giorgos Vassilakis, or Vassilakogiorgi and hanged him from a fig tree.
The village kapheneions serve particularly good raki and on June 29th there is a great feast in the honour of the Saint Apostles, Peter and Paul.
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Fr. Barozzi mentions it as Ascus, in the Pediada district, in 1577.
Recently a ritual clay figurine of the Mid-Minoan period was fortuitously unearthed on a peak close to the village. The remains of a large building belonging to a peak sanctuary have been excavated at Amygdalokefalo to the NE of the village.
A reference in a contract of 1271, mentions how Petri Comarii from the village (casali) Maski owes Ruggerino Temisano, resident in Chandax, 25 «mistata» of good Cretan wine from his vineyards in Maski.
Among other natural beauties, the ravine at Aski is well worth seeing.
On December 4th the village has a typical Cretan feast to honour Agia Varvara. And as in every Cretan village, raki and ‘mezedes’ are always available at the kapheneions.
It was founded in 961 by the military forces of Nikiphoros Phocas and was originally named ‘Varvaro’, and was still known by that name in 1583, where the Chandax Register puts it down as a village of the Pediada district with 37 inhabitants.
Its name was changed only recently, in 1961, to Archangelos, and the main village church in the square is dedicated to the Archangel Michael. There is another smaller and older church, that of the Panaghia, with Byzantine wall paintings. Remains of ancient mills can still be seen.
In a location known as Trochalos, archaeological finds have brought to light a series of Minoan tools dating back to the first and second Late Minoan periods.
As in every Cretan village, raki and ‘mezedes’ are always available at the kapheneions.
The feast of Michail Archangelos on November 8th is celebrated with much feasting in the village.
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In earlier years, the village was called Mouktari or Mouchtari and its name figures in a 1381 contract for the buying and selling of grain.
The Byzantine church of the Panagia is worth a visit. On August 6th the village celebrates the feast of the Metamorphosis.
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The village is not mentioned in the Venetian registers of the 16th and 17th centuries, nor in the Turkish census of 1671. It is possible that the name is related to that of Kastamoni in Asia Minor: refugees, driven out of their land by the Turks, may well have come and settled here, giving their new home the same name as their old one. But it is impossible to establish a precise date.
The Church of the Koimisi tis Theotokou (Dormition of Our Lady), located in the cemetery of the village, has wall paintings of the 14th century and points to a settlement here during the Venetian period. However, as we said before, the village is not mentioned in any Venetian census. The first reference is to be found in an Egyptian census conducted in 1834, where the village of Kastamonitsa is said to have 35 Christian families. And again in 1881, the village is said to have 320 Christian residents; no Turkish families are mentioned.
The location of the village on the way to the natural fortress of the Lassithi plateau which protects all of Eastern Crete, turned the area into a battlefield during the last century.
The Egyptian Pasha Hassan tried to invade the Lassithi plateau in 1822. The rebels cut him off between Krassi and Kastamonitsa, fighting him so well that he was forced to change his strategy and invade the plateau through its south side (Viannos and Ierapetra).
Other fierce battles took place in and around Kastamonitsa during the 1866-67 rebellions. Finally Omer Pasha, known as the Attila of Lassithi, found a way up through the glen at Geraki where an informer showed him the way.
A clay cast has been found in Mesarmi. It is elliptical in shape and has a width of about 0.25 m, and has a plaited decoration. A round glass vessel was also found at Xidiano Seli.
4 km out of the village you get to a lovely spot known as Mesada, where traditional celebrations take place on Easter Tuesday.
The village boasts of several kapheneions and a taverna in the main square.
There is an active cultural centre, that organizes events especially in the summer. The most important and traditional feast is held on July 7th in honour of Aghia Kyriaki.
The earliest reference to the village can be found in several contracts of 1271 where the notary of Chandax P. Scardon mentions commercial exchanges of grain and wine with residents of the village ‘Mithie’, possibly a misspelling for Mathia. The name derives from the common first name for girls, ‘Mattia’, which in Crete is pronounced ‘Mathia’.
Burials in jars of the middle Minoan period were discovered in 1957 close to the village, in a place known as Stavroplaka. To the NW of the village, at Katalimata, a Late Minoan site with important finds and, 200 m further off, a settlement with large walls still in place were also found.
There are wonderful Byzantine wall paintings in the two churches of this traditional village, the church of Koimisi tis Panagias (Dormition of Our Lady) and the church of Agios Giorgos.
At Metochi, in beautiful surroundings where the historical holm-oak of Ismail Pasha stands among plane trees and running water, there are camping facilities.
You can also visit an old factory and several ruined mills.
The village boasts of several kapheneions where they serve raki and ‘mezedes’ (tit-bits).
There is an active cultural centre, that organizes events especially in the summer, with evenings of Cretan music and theatre plays. The most important and traditional feast is held on the Sunday of Agioi Pantes, 50 days after Easter.
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Both villages are much visited by tourists, having a good view, small lanes, picturesque kapheneions, and tavernas where during the summer season one can enjoy Cretan music and dance.
The name is first mentioned by Hourmouzis in 1842.
The earliest reference to the name is found in the Ducal Archives at Chandax in 1378. Another document in the same Archives mentions a certain G. Dochiano, inhabitant of Diavaide. Nowadays, the name Dokianakis -obviously the same name- is still common in the village.
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Fr. Barozzi mentions it as Apigaiduri in 1577, and belonging to the Pediada district.
Nowadays Polythea has become part of Kasteli and it has 250 inhabitants.
Apart from the ubiquitous raki and mezedes served at the kapheneions, you can also find rooms for rent.
A typical Cretan feast is held on August 15th for the Virgin Mary (Koimisi tis Panagias).
The etymology of its name is ‘sklaveri’, the little bell shepherds hang around the neck of their sheep. There have been other, mistaken, explanations given for the name of this village, as that of ‘Sklavochori’ from the word ‘slave’.
The wall paintings at the 15th century (1481) Byzantine church of Sklaverochori are in very good condition and are well worth a visit.
The Basilica with its three naves, dedicated to Saint John, was built in the 12th -13th centuries and is one of the oldest in Crete. The stones used in its construction came from earlier buildings.
The three naves, with the middle nave higher than the other two, are supported by columns with Ionic capitals.
The narthex in front is lower with wider arches, whereas the door and windows have pointed arches.
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It lies right under the ancient site of Lyktos.
A burial site was discovered when the road was being constructed, at Chomatolakkos, and has been dated to the later Roman times.
Two gold rings, one showing the portrait of an emperor, and bronze rings and coins were found there.
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This is probably the village of Santa Venerata mentioned in a document of Cardinal Visarion in 1463.
The metropolitan bishop, Tirnovos Voulgaria Ilarionas Kabanaris Sinitis was born here. He is also buried here. A man of advanced learning, he wanted to translate the Bible to Demotic Greek.
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