Travelogue

Day 1 - Arrival on Crete

Crete here we comeAfter two wonderful days exploring Santorini, we once again boarded a ferry, this time to Crete, our final island on the tour. We arrived pretty late, around 8:00 pm in the evening, so all there was time for was a quick dinner at the hotel and then bed.

Crete is much bigger than the other islands we had visited, so we would spend 3 days here exploring ancient Minoan ruins, visiting several villages throughout the island, swimming in the Aegean Sea at the famous Matala beach, making pottery, and just immersing ourselves in the culture of Crete (which is quite different from the rest of Greece).

Day 2 - Palace of Knossos, Pottery demonstration, and Heraklion Archaeological Museum

Entrance to the Palace of KnossosBefore arriving, all I knew about Crete was from Art History books - the Palace of Knossos and the myth of the Minotaur, a creature that was half-man and half-bull, and wandered through the labyrinth beneath the palace, munching on youths sent down there as sacrifices.

Besides being a wonderful tourist destination today, Crete holds the distinction of being the birthplace of Europe’s first advanced civilisation, the Minoan culture, which flourished from 2800 to 1450 BC., and it is the buildings excavated at the Palace of Knossos that are the main source of information about Minoan architecture and culture.

Much of the palace was reconceived and reconstructed by Arthur Evans, who worked here between 1900 and 1932. His reconstruction though is a bit controversial, as archaeologists (including our guide) felt that he took a bit too much creative license in its restoration.

Fresco roomStill, I think it was a lot more interesting to wander through a series of buildings and artifacts that provide a sense of what life was like for the Minoan people more so than if it had just been left in ruins.

The Palace was quite advanced for its day with courts, halls, workshops, storehooms (housing vast clay jars), and perhaps even residential quarters. There was even a system of clay pipes for drainage, an early sewage system similar to the one we saw in Akrotiri.

The entrance to the Palace of Knossos is a good example of Minoan architecture. Unlike the Doric columns of the Parthenon, Minoan columns were made of wood rather than marble, painted red, and tapered downward from the top, with a big bulbous capital on top. Wall paintings suggest that the capitals were painted black and the shaft red, so that is how Arthur Evans recreated them.

Throne RoomWhen excavating the ruins of Knossos, archaeologist Arthur Evans placed a copy of a restored relief bull fresco on the wall behind the columns, possibly using a bit of creative license, as historical accuracy as to its real appearance was not available.

The grand rooms of the palace at Knossos were decorated with murals. Most of them were in such bad shape that they required extensive restoration, which may not have always been reliable. The frescoes are characterized by vibrant mineral colors (whites, reds, blues, yellows, and greens), applied to wet or dry plaster, with wide bands of geometric patterns serving as elaborate frames.

Snake Goddess of KnossosWe entered one of the reconstructed buildings and found two frescoes which we were quite familiar with.

The mural next to the window is the famous Toreador Fresco, which scholars believe represents a bull-leaping scene, a ritual game in which performers vaulted over a bull’s back. The fresco depicts a critical moment in the event. Two female figures (in white) are positioned at each end of the bull, while a male figure (in brown) throws himself into a somersault off of the bull’s back.

To the left of the Toreador Fresco is the “Ladies in Blue” fresco, named for its blue background. The three women are quite lavishly dressed and covered in jewels. They seemed quite modern-looking and fashionable for being painted over 3,500 years ago.

Modern day Snake GoddessNext, we entered the Throne Room, a chamber built for ceremonial purposes during the 15th century BCE. The murals on the surrounding walls were stunning. Note the creatures guarding the throne. They are griffins, legendary creatures with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle.

After visiting the actual site of the Palace of Knossos, we took a trip to the Heraklion Archaeological Museum, one of the best museums in the world for Minoan art. Here too we were greeted by some familiar favorites from our Art History books. Many of the artifacts here, including the murals, were moved here from the actual Palace site to better preserve them.

My all time favorite is the famous Snake Goddess, a female figure about 12 inches high, raising a snake in each hand. The snakes take up so much of the attention that you almost miss the cat sitting on her head. The revealing dress might seem shocking to modern viewers, but bare-breasted, buxom goddesses were worshiped in ancient civilizations. I believe they still are.

In many ancient religions, snakes are associated with earth deities and male fertility, and bared breasts suggest fecundity.

A master potterWe later came across some graffiti in an alleyway obviously painted by a student of Minoan Art. I couldn’t resist seeing what it might feel like to be a snake goddess.

We did have one more activity today - a pottery demonstration by a master potter in a village of potters. He was pretty amazing. He slapped a lump of clay on his wheel, hit the gas pedal, and did magic. He made the vase rise, he made it widen, he gave it a spout, he made patterns in its side - and it took him less than 3 minutes. The end result was a beautiful amphora.

Next, he called for someone in the audience to try. No one budged as he was a pretty hard act to follow. Somehow I got suckered into doing it.

He plopped a blob of clay on the wheel for me and I pressed on the pedal. For a brief moment, I felt like Demi Moore in that scene in Ghost. Where was Herb when I needed him? That moment quickly passed.

Not a master potterI had to keep remembering to wet my hands, because apparently that was important. I tried to do what he did and make my clay rise up high in some recognizable shape, but I think he gave me less clay than he had, because when I tried to raise it to the height he made his go, I ripped it right off the wheel.

Without muttering a word, he took my blob, chucked it away, and put another one on my wheel. This time I tried to not go so high, but it soon began to wobble, somewhat out of my control. Not knowing how to get it back in control, I took my foot off the pedal and declared it a finished product. It didn’t look too bad, and I had accidentally created something resembling a spout.

At least I made the potter crack up.

I could definitely imagine how with some degree of skill, this could be very rewarding.

Day 3 - Gortyna ruins, old Venetian town of Vori, Phaistos ruins, and Matala Beach

The Odeon at GortynaWe would be visiting two archaeological sites today, but Tassos warned us that they would be very different from Knossos in that they did not have the razzle dazzle of Arthur Evans’ creative reconstruction work. In contrast, they were left in their current excavation state.

Our first stop was Gortyna, a place that has been inhabited since Neolithic times, but reached its pinnacle after it became the capital of Roman Crete around 67 BCE. At that time, there was believed to be as many as 100,000 residents.

Like every good Roman city, Gortyna had an Odeon, or theater. This one was originally built in the 1st century BCE. It was leveled in an earthquake and rebuilt by Trajan in the 2nd century CE.

6th century BCE laws of Gortyna iThe covered, arched structure on the far side of the Odeon shelters Gortyna’s most important artifact: the 6th century BCE laws of Gortyna inscribed on massive stone tablets. These represent the oldest law code in the ancient Greek world, and cover many of the same issues we deal with today: property transfers, inheritance, marriage, divorce, and various criminal offenses. The 600 lines are written in a Dorian dialect.

Zeus and Europa's love nestLeaving the factual world and entering the world of mythology, we came to a tree behind the Odeon that according to legend was where Zeus seduced Europa. As the story goes, Europa, who lived in Phoenicia, was considered to be one of the most beautiful mortals on Earth, so, of course, Zeus had to have her. Wanting to be somewhat discreet, as Hera did not approve of his indiscretions, he took the form of a white bull and approached Europa. Europa was intrigued and climbed on the bull’s back. As soon as she did, Zeus carried her from Phoenicia to this very tree on the island of Crete. He then turned back into his human form and seduced her.

6th-century CE Byzantine Basilica of Agios TitosThe fact that Zeus chose to seduce Europa on Crete gives weight to the claim that the civilization of the European continent began on the island of Crete. In the 19th century, a colossal statue of Europa sitting on the back of a bull was discovered in the Odeon in Gortyna. Today, that statue, along with the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon, are in the British Museum. I think it’s about time for the Brits to give the Greeks their treasures back.

Venetian influenced architecture in VoriReturning to the real world (or the ancient one at least) from the world of mythology, we arrived at the very impressive, 6th-century CE Byzantine Basilica of Agios Titos, the finest early-Christian church in Crete. According to tradition, Gortyna was the first city in Crete to accept Christianity, so it became the seat of the first bishop of Crete, which was St. Titus, a disciple of the Apostle Paul.

The conquest of Crete by the Arabs in 824 CE put an end to the history of ancient Gortyna. After the Byzantines recaptured the city from the Arabs in the 10th century, the church was rebuilt. All that survives today is the apse flanked by two side chapels.

Creepy door knob in VoriBefore visiting the Phaistos archeological site, we stopped in the nearby village of Vori, to get a better picture of rural life on Crete. The town, which was first settled around 1800 BCE in the Minoan period, is surrounded by olive groves and farms. This fertility is one of the reasons the Minoan Palace of Phaistos was located nearby.

Venice controlled Crete from 1204 - 1669, so there is much Venetian influence in the town’s architecture.

Messara Plain near PhaistosToday the village is classified as a “traditional protected village” by the Greek Ministry of Culture because of its collection of historical buildings, churches, homes, and way of life.

We visited the wonderful little Vori Ethnological Museum, which had a great collection of artifacts relating to cultural and traditional life on Crete - food production, farming, war, music, rural life, etc.

When we got to the ancient ruins at Phaistos, we had to use our imagination a lot more than at the partially reconstructed Palace of Knossos and even at Gortyna where there were several remaining intact structures.

Ruins at Phaistos palace complexThe site has been inhabited since the Final Neolithic period (c. 3600-3000 BCE), but its greatest period of influence was from the 20th to 15th century BCE, during which time it, along with Knossos, was one of the most important centers of the Minoan civilization.

The palace of Phaistos was once the second largest palace in Crete, with Knossos being the largest. It was built on the most spectacular setting of all the palaces, high on a hill, overlooking the entire fertile Messara Plain, with Mr. Ida, Crete’s tallest mountain (8,058 feet) in the distance.

Queen's Apartment in the Phaistos PalaceWhile very few structures remain, we were able to see the building outlines and ground plan of the palace complex. The main courtyard, which still has its original pavement stones, looks out with unobstructed views over the Messara Plain.

There were four deep circular pits, lined with stone walls, in the palace complex. These are known as kouloura, and similar ones were found at Knossos and other Minoan palaces. There are multiple theories as to what they were used for, such as garbage pits, cisterns for storing water, or, the most popular theory, a granary to store excess harvest.

Lineaar A?One particular interesting building in fairly good condition was the North Wing of the palace, which was the private residence of the royal family. The smaller “Queen’s Apartment” lay to the left of the larger “King’s Megaron.”

These rooms were lit by lightwells, a popular feature in Minoan architecture. They also had porticos and pier-and-door partitions which allowed sections of the room to be closed off. The floors and walls retain their original alabaster slabs and the walls are decorated with frescoes of plant motifs.

Phaistos DiskSome Linear A tablets were also found around the site. Linear A was the primary script used in palace and religious writings of the Minoan civilization. It was succeeded by Linear B, which was used by the Mycenaeans to write an early form of Greek. No texts in Linear A have yet been deciphered

Amongst the many artifacts discovered at Phaistos was the mysterious Phaistos Disk, a disk of fired clay covered on both sides with a spiral of undeciphered symbols featuring 241 tokens, comprising 45 distinct signs. The symbols were made by pressing hieroglyphic “seals” into the clay, in a clockwise sequence spiraling toward the center of the disk. It has been dated to between 1850 and 1600 BCE. It is the only known sample of a hieroglyph-like writing system.

Matala BeachDespite much effort on the part of archaeologists to decipher the code behind the disk’s signs, its purpose and meaning are still unknown, making it one of the most famous mysteries of archaeology.

It is currently in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, which we would get to see later when we returned to Athens.

We were about “scholared out,” so we were very much excited about our next stop - the famous Matala Beach on the southern coast of Crete, where we would have a seafood lunch at Petra and Volsalo, a great seafood restaurant right on the waterfront, followed by free time to explore the town or hang out at the beach.

Matala Beach cavesThe most famous features of this beach are the caves carved into the soft, white limestone cliffs on the northwest walls of the bay. They have been used for a variety of purposes - as places to house lepers 4,000 years ago, as burial crypts in Roman times, and finally as cheap hotels in the 1960s. Many of them even have rooms, stairs, beds, and windows.

Joni Mitchell lived in one during her time here. It was here that she wrote some of her most famous folk songs: “Beneath the Matala Moon” and “Carey” (a man with whom she had an affair while staying in Matala). Other celebrities that also came to Matala included Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin and Joan Baez.

My swim in the Libyan SeaThe good times of peace and love came to an abrupt end during the Greek dictatorship in the 1970s, when the local church expelled the "sinful" hippies.

Today Matala is a thriving modern tourist destination, with very few remnants of their hippie past.

So, I guess we were now just some of those modern tourists here to enjoy the beauty of Matala Beach.

After lunch, we changed into our bathing suits in the restaurant restrooms and hit the beach for a few hours. Technically, we were now swimming in the Libyan Sea (which is still part of the Aegean). I don’t care what they call it, it was lovely.

Day 4 - Rethymno, Chania, and our overnight ferry back to Athens

Rethymno HarborIt was our last day in Crete. This morning, as we did whenever we were moving on from one island to the next, we brought our luggage down to the hotel lobby, where it would be taken, stored in the bus, loaded on the ferry, and then magically appear in our next hotel room. It made us kind of nervous, but so far Tassos was 4 for 4. Just one more to go for a perfect score.

Neratze MosqueDespite being separated from our luggage, we weren’t done with Crete yet. We still had a full day ahead of us before we had to catch our evening, 9-hour, overnight ferry back to Athens.

Our first stop for the day was the northern coastal city of Rethymno, one of the most well-preserved Venetian old towns on the island of Crete. Venice wasn’t just a brief visitor to this island, but rather they controlled it from the 12th - 16th century - a much longer period of time than the United States has been a country.

Street Art in Petichaki SquareThe architecture in the harbor and along the waterfront definitely reflected their Venetian past.

Another vestige of the Venetian occupation is Fortezza, an imposing medieval castle that stands on a hill looking down and once protecting the town.

In 1645, the Ottoman Empire took Crete from the Republic of Venice, and held onto it until 1897, so there is a lot of Turkish influence as well - often in the same building.

Old Town RethymnoMany of the over 600 Venetian buildings have Turkish touches, such as latticework balconies (through which harem women used to keep tabs on street life without revealing themselves) and arched doorways with Turkish inscriptions.

Even the Neratze Mosque near Petichaki square was once a Venetian Church and then an Augustinian Monastery, before the Turks arrived in 1657, added a minaret and some balconies for praying, and transformed it into a mosque.

When Crete was later freed from the Ottomans, they turned it back into a Christian Church dedicated to Agios Nikolaos (the guardian saint of sailors), but the minaret remained and it never actually functioned as a church. Today, the Mosque houses the Municipal Odeon, run by the Rethymno Association for the Promotion of the Arts.

Baklava demonstrationWhile the waterfront with its numerous restaurants and cafes was definitely the main attraction, wandering through the narrow alleyways of the lovely Old Town was a close second.

We got to see a demonstration of how baclava is made. The baker took a lump of filo and spread it so thin that it covered an 8’ x 8’ table. He then put a cloth over that and repeated the process several times. Then, he took one of the layers and flipped it in the air. It fell onto the table as a perfectly round dome. Not sure the purpose of this, but it sure was cool.

PriapusA Lot more stuff had to happen before this became baklava, but it was time for us to move on, but not before first buying a few samples.

Afterwards, Herb and I went off on our own to wander the alleyways. We’re not really shoppers, and there was absolutely no room in my carry-on bag to fit any new additions, so we just window shopped. There were some pretty interesting objects for sale.

Evil EyesThe first, was a 4-foot high, wood-carved Priapus, the Greek god always depicted with an oversized penis with a permanent erection. He was considered the protector of fertility, sexuality, male genitalia, livestock, gardens, crops, fruits, and merchant sailor. He definitely wasn’t going to fit in my carryon, so we moved on.

Another common souvenir were objects covered with large, wideopen blue eyes. They were everywhere - on posters, t-shirts, scarves, mugs, whatever. It’s called το μάτι (to máti) in Greek, and it is actually an “evil eye” – an amulet that is supposed to protect you from a curse that is said to be cast by envious people.

My healthy yogurt energy bowlI bet the nearby wooden Priapus could use some protection from envious people.

However, there was one type of souvenir that pretty much is only found on Crete, specifically in the western prefectures of Heraklion, Rethymno, and Chania. That item is the Cretan dagger or knife.

Crete has a long tradition of “vendetta” and the men tend to act more “macho” than the rest of Greece. Cretan vendettas are a form of unwritten tradition, in which men take the law into their own hands. It is pretty much a family affair and emanates from the duty Cretans feel to protect their family honor. It is considered to be a great form of justice, almost pious, and the hatred and revenge between families is passed down from generation to generation. Knives were the weapon of choice. It still goes on today.

The knives were beautifully handcrafted and many even had poetry inscribed in the handle. I tried to convince Herb to get one as a souvenir, but he's not the vendetta type.

We ended our visit to Rethymno with lunch at the Lux Cafe on the waterfront, where I had a healthy yogurt energy bowl while Herb enjoyed his idea of a healthy power meal which included French Fries and a large beer.

Chania's Venetian HarborTime to get back on the bus and get to our final destination on Crete - Chania, the 2nd largest city on Crete and the port from which we would be leaving later tonight.

Chania, known for its 14th-century Venetian harbor, narrow streets and waterfront restaurants, is among the most picturesque towns in Crete. Due to the long occupation by the Venetians, its architecture has a vivid Medieval look.

However, like Rethymno, there is also a Turkish influence from when the Ottoman Empire booted the Venetians out and ruled for 250 more years.

Chania LighthouseThis town certainly changed hands many times until it finally gained its independence from the Ottomans in 1898, formally becoming the Cretan State. Crete became part of Greece in December 1913.

The lighthouse of Chania, which is the symbol of the city, stands at the end of a long stone pier jutting into the Venetian harbor. It was originally built by the Venetians in the 16th century.

Firka Fortress being attacked by a Tourist submarineDuring the Turkish occupation, the lighthouse fell into disrepair and was eventually rebuilt between 1824 and 1832 in the form of a minaret. The reconstruction was done by Egyptian troops who were supporting the weakening Ottoman Empire against the rebellious Cretans.

Old Town ChaniaHowever, the base of the lighthouse is still the original Venetian base, although the Lion of St. Mark, Venice’s patron saint, which was carved there has long gone.

The Firka fortress dominates the other side of the harbor. It was built by the Venetians in 1629 to protect the harbor entrance from raiders. A chain could be connected from the fortress to the base of the lighthouse to close the harbor from invaders.

Küçük Hasan Pasha MosqueI guess that didn’t work out too well, because the city fell into the hands of the Turks in 1645. The Turks used the fort as a barracks for their army and changed the name to “Firka,” which means a military division.

We visited the Maritime Museum of Crete, next to the Firka Fortress, which houses an extensive collection of model ships, nautical instruments, paintings, historical photographs and war relics, and an impressive model of the fortified town and port when it was under Venetian rule. The material is classified chronologically, starting from the Bronze Age right up to the present.

Sunset over Chania's Venetian HorborAfterwards, Herb and I wandered around the Old Town on our own, through its lovely Medieval looking alleyways.

Eventually we wound up back on the waterfront near the Küçük Hasan Pasha Mosque. This was the first mosque built in Crete after it was declared an Ottoman province in 1646. After the Greco-Turkish population exchange in 1923, the mosque ceased to function and in 1939 its minarets were demolished. Today it is an exhibition hall.

While walking along the waterfront, we found one of the couples in our tour group sitting at a very well-placed table on the waterfront sipping wine. They invited us to join them and we readily accepted. Gradually, more and more of our group wandered by and soon there were eight of us enjoying the sun going down over the harbor.

Our overnight ferry from Crete to AthensPretty nice way to end our time on Crete.

Now it was off to the Port of Chania, where we, and hopefully our luggage, which we had given up this morning, would board our 9-hour ferry back to Athens. We all had sleeper cabins, complete with bathrooms and showers, so hopefully it would be a very comfortable and uneventful passage.