Faflagos beach
Faflagos is located 89km southeast of Iraklion, near the village Arvi. It is a small seaside settlement at the exit of a valley crossed by the river Blavaris or Blavopotamos, which has no water in summer and starts from Kato Symi. In front of the village, stretches a long beach several tranquil coves. Nearby, there are many greenhouses with crops of bananas and fresh vegetables. The beach in front of the village has coarse gray sand. Do not expect to find anything special, except a few rooms, a canteen and some trees on the beach.
Latomia
West of Faflagos lies the long beach of Latomia, next to greenhouses and outdoor crops, mainly managed by the residents of Arvi. The beach is mainly sandy with gray coarse sand and with many rocky parts. It’s a good choice for snorkeling and staying remote. The beach of Latomia runs in front of Xerokambos area. The area is full with wonderful marble rock formations, which were previously commercially exploited. Indeed, the name Latomia means quarries in Greek, coming after the local quarries for stone extraction.
Next to Faflagos is the church of Agia Paraskevi. Moreover, there was once the monastery of Agios Prokopios, which was destroyed by the Arabs. Thus, the monks decided to leave the shore and build (in 855) a new monastery dedicated to Virgin Mary, at a very well hidden place, not visible from the sea. The monastery of Panagia Keralimeniotissa (i.e. Virgin Mary – The Lady of the Ports), as it is called, still stands imperious at the same point and is one of the attractions of the area. There is a legend saying that pirates once found it randomly, seized loots and various relics and left with their ships. The monks asked for the help of Panagia to punish them for their act. Thus, a great storm broke and the pirates began to ask forgiveness and promised to return the loots. They also promised to protect the monastery from other pirates. Indeed, the weather calmed down and the thieves gave back the loots. Some years later, they returned and offered a golden bell and a silver boat with Panagia at the helm, which had an inscription "To the Lady of the Ports”. Since then, all the boats in the area stopped to pray to "The Lady of Ports" and the monastery acquired its present name of Keralimeniotissa.
