Cities

The Venetian Harbor of Rethymnon, next to the modern harbor of the city, with the Egyptian lighthouse is one of the most picturesque areas of the old town. It operated in the Byzantine period (after 961), but flourished during the Venetian period. The Venetians in the 14th century started major projects to facing the problem of siltation, which holds till today.

Contrary to the tradition of building mills on mountains, on the seaside of Elounda's ancient saltpans, we meet three windmills, at the scenic point where a canal connecting the lagoon with the south shores has been constructed. They all are completely circular, turning to all winds (this type is called Xetrocharis.

The beach starts from the church “Madonna of the Harbor”, near the port of Kissamos, and extends along a 2km shore with coves, up to Kaliviani. Vigglia has coarse sand and crystal clear waters. In some parts, the sand is interrupted by a few pebbles and rocks.

Kalamokanias is located 57km southeast of Agios Nikolaos and 22km east of Ierapetra, on the west side of Makrigialos settlement. It is located on the west side of the hill that rises behind the harbor area. It takes its name after the migratory bird stilt (Himantopus himantopus) that has red legs and body reminding of a miniature stork and stops in the local streams.

The Minoan Kydonia was built at the current location of the old town of Chania. Kydonia was the third largest town of Minoan Crete. Here developed a thriving craft industry and the town became rich through sea trade, which was favored by its position. Indeed, the ancient writers mention Kydonia as the mother of the Cretan towns.

The Plateau of Anopolis is located in the area of Sfakia and more specifically 13km west of Hora Sfakion. It is a small plateau formed in the wild mountains of Sfakia, the most inaccessible province of Europe.

The Monastery Attali or Bai is built over the hill of Agia Ypakoi, west of Bali, with panoramic sea views to the sea and close to the main road connecting Rethymnon to Heraklion. The region was isolated till 1970, when the highway was constructed, and thus monasticism and asceticism flourished till then.