Kissamos

Near Kamara village in Kisamos Province, there is one well hidden treasure of Cretan countryside. It is the cavernous chapel of Agia Paraskevi, which is what remains of a small nunnery that was destroyed during the Turkish Era. There is a very big schinus, which is one of the oldest in Crete (there is one more in Chochlakies Gorge by Sitia).

At Rodopou Peninsula and not too far from the village Rodopos, we meet the plateau of Agios Nikolaos. Agios Nikolaos is one of the largest plateaus of the peninsula, smaller than that of Gionas, which in the past was cultivated. In the middle of the plateau, we meet the modern temple of Saints Constantine and Helen.

The deserted village of Kanavas, province Kissamos, is located on the eastern slope of the hill of Profitis Ilias and is accessible through a dirt road starting from the village Zachariana. Next to the bed of the river passing below the settlement is the church of Saint George, which bears frescoes.

Just south of the village Tsourouniana of province Kissamo we meet the ruined church of Christ. The area is called Katalimata (Lodges) as indeed in this area there are remains of an ancient settlement with piles of stones and shells of ancient ceramic vases scattered around. In Katalimata there is also the deserted and destroyed today church of St. Demetrius. The church of Christ is a small, single-aisled vaulted church which should be built in the Venetian period.

The temple of Saint Anthony (Agios Antonios) is located on the eastern side of the peninsula Rodopou. Here leads a bad dirt road that runs through the plateau of Agios Nikolaos. Around the temple there are ruins of monk cells, apparently belonging to a monastery that operated here with the church of Saint Anthony.

The small neighborhood Latziana in the village Voulgaro, province Kissamos, was the seat of a patriarchal monastery dedicated to Saint Barbara (Agia Varvara). The temple of the monastery is preserved in ruins near the newer church of Saint Barbara.

The church of Saint George (Agios Georgios) is located in the village Kouneni (current formal name of the village is Vathi) and belongs to the architectural type of the single-nave arched roofed temple. The side antennas are adorned with blind arches, while the semicircular arch has been collapsed and rebuilt.

The church of Christ the Savior (Sotiras Christos) is located in the cemetery of the village Kefali of the area called Nine Villages in Kissamos Province and is dedicated to the Transfiguration of the Savior (celebr. August 6th). The single-nave arch-roofed temple has been externally altered by recent interventions, but internally it preserves its rich wall paintings that date back from 1320.