Milatos beaches
Milatos is located 34km northwest of Agios Nikolaos and 16km east of Hersonissos, on the western outskirts of Mirabello province. It is a seaside village, which has retained many of its traditional features. 1km on the north you’ll meet the seaside settlement called Beach of Milatos (in Greek: Paralia Milatou). The area is famous for the cave Milatos located close to the village, where in 1823 a large number of locals were massacred by the Ottomans. Today, Milatos is touristically developed and hosts an important fishing port. The surrounding area is full with ancient olive groves and the coast is full of small rocky coves. Among them there are several beaches where you can swim.
Approximately 1km east of Milatos, at position Pigada, you will find some small isolated bays with narrow strips of sand, which are surrounded by high vertical cliffs. These coves of Milatos are ideal for isolation, although the wave is usually very high. From there, if you head towards the village, just before the harbor, you will find the main beach of Milatos. It is a fairly large beach with pebbles and rocks in some places. It is not organized, but still it is very close to the amenities of the village. Unfortunately, this beach is also influenced by the waves. The next beach is located inside the harbor (Limani), near the taverns of the village. It is a small sandy beach, quite well-organized. This beach picks up most of the visitors, as the water is always calm and is suitable even for children.
Volaki beach
The list of beaches of Milatos would normally stop here. However, human intervention has changed this situation. So, if you follow the coastal road that leads west from the village, you will soon reach the port of Minos Imperial hotel. Here, for the sake of tourism and profit, the hotel has created two artificial beaches at the area of Volaki with sand on both sides of a cement pier. The place, formely a natural rocky shore with a fabulous seabed, is now a profitable sandy beach, organized by the hotel owners.
The village of Milatos is built near the site of the Minoan city Milatos, which was destroyed in the 3rd century BC by the opponent city of Lyttos. It was listed by Homer between the seven Cretan cities that sent troops to Troy. The legend says that Milatos was the name of a boy who was raised in a forest by a wolf. When he grew up, he killed the tyrant of the city and escaped to the shores of Asia Minor. There, he founded the famous colony of Miletus in 1500BC that became later the birthplace of many eminent philosophers (Thales, Hippodamus, Anaximander, etc.).
