⭐ Travel Guide for Island Crete ⛵, Greece❗

Major cities of Crete are home to impressive architectural structures, mainly from the Venetian and the Ottoman Era. Forts, scenic harbors, palaces, fountains and temples are the main attractions of the cities. On the other hand, the interesting attractions in the hinterland include arched bridges, water and wind mills, aqueducts, cisterns and chapels.

Venetian and Ottoman architectural patterns, combined with features of folklore architecture, are evident in contemporary houses. Arched gates since the Venetian era, and sahnisi (protruding covered balcony) since the Ottoman era, are some of the features used even today.

The traditional rural house is an evolution of the prehistoric home dwelling; it is constructed with stone, branches and soil, while wooden beams support the roof. To the interior, there is space for animals, while the main features include a stone-built wine press covered by with a wooden platform, a fireplace for cooking and heating, and some niches in the walls for storing household utensils.

Some of the most interesting traditional buildings, perfectly adapted to the needs and particularities of the mountainous areas of Crete, are mitata. They are round domed buildings, made solely of dry stone, being an evolution of the domed Minoan tombs. Mitata provided shelter to shepherds and were used for milking goats and cheese-making. They are met in all ranges of Crete, but Nida plateau near Anogia is the most famous place to come across such constructions.

Amygdalos at Asterousia Range

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Rating 3.00 (2 Votes)

At the range Asterousia to the south of Heraklion prefecture and just before reaching the village Paranymfi and the waterfall of Ambas we meet Amigdalos. The name of the village (almonds in Greek) is taken after the wild almond trees around. Amygdalos was a separate village to Paranymfi but due to the very short distance they seem like two neighborhoods of the same village. Today it has a few elderly residents and remains almost deserted.

Agarathiani Kamara

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Rating 0.00 (0 Votes)

A small stone bridge at the upper part of Astrakiano gorge. The bridge was once crossed by people who wanted to reach Agarathos monastery from Astraki.

Manouras Bridge

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Rating 4.67 (3 Votes)

Near Agios Ioannis village at Amari district, we meet the elaborate four-arched bridge of Manouras or Omeroustas that bridges the junction of River Ligiotis and the torrent Mounouha. The bridge, built in the period 1828-1840, has suffered considerable damage from time.

Harasso Windmills

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Rating 4.00 (2 Votes)

South of Harasso, we still meet one small windmill park of Crete. There are still standing three windmills in a row. These mills are of the rarer type of mills in Crete: the completely circular, turning to all winds, called Xetrocharis. They were used for grinding grain.

Paterikos Watermill

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Rating 0.00 (0 Votes)

Only a few meters south of the stone bridge of Astraki we find the stunning watermill of Paterikos, preserved in very good condition and it is of the very few mills that existed in Crete and were double, meaning that the carried through the stone channels was divided into two different fall-towers and so. correspondingly, there were two different rotors for moving the millstones.

Galaropetra windmills at Fourni

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Rating 3.50 (2 Votes)

North of Fourni village, Merambelo district, we still meet one of the most impressive windmill park of Crete. There are still standing 13 windmills in a row at location Galaropetra. Others survive in good condition and others have collapsed.

Saridakis settle at Rotasi

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Rating 5.00 (1 Vote)

Throughout the island of Crete we meet several deserted villages and settlements. One of them is the deserted Metohi of Saridakides just above the village Rotasi in prefecture Heraklion, on the road that ascends to Ethia. The settlement of Saridakides is one of mong the most picturesque of Crete with small stone houses where the residents lived during the season of agricultural works in the area.

Zaroma windmills

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Rating 4.33 (3 Votes)

At this point there is a rough unknown windmill group that consisted of 10 mills and operated until May 1867. In these mills, local chieftains had gathered their wounded men during the titanic ten-day battle of Lassithi.

Architecture

Also read: