Fourkolia monumental olive tree
Fourkoulia monumental olive tree is located on the road to Piskokefalo from Sitia and has been declared a natural monument by the Association of Olive Oil Municipalities of Crete, due to its historical significance. During the turbulent and revolutionary period of Venetian rule in Crete this olive tree was used by the Venetians to hang the various Cretan revolutionaries, trying, in this violent way, to quell any revolution. Many Cretans died on its branches and for this reason there has always been a cursed tree in the memory of the locals. It takes its name from the Greek word "fourkizo", which means to drown by hanging.
Today the olive tree has been damaged by a car that collided with it, but as the years go by the tree regenerates. Beneath the tree, there is a marble plaque that reads an excerpt from a text by Nikolaos Papadakis of 1895 that briefly describes the history of the tree. A few meters opposite Fourkoulia there is the Minoan villa of Piskokefalo that has been excavated by archaeologists and is worth a visit.
