Matala / Messara Area
M a t a l a A r e a
Matala is a seaside village in south Crete, near Phaistos, the second-largest Minoan Palace in Crete. Matala became famous in the Sixties, when hippies came here from all over the world to live in the celebrated caves of Matala, next to the beach.
Kokkini Ammos Beach (“Red Sand”) is south of Matala. To get to Kokkini Ammos Beach, you can either follow the footpath from Matala or go by boat.
Kommos has an impressive and beautiful beach, one of the largest in Crete, stretching all the way from Kalamaki to just before Matala.
Visit Matala (Matala oficial site)
M e s s a r a A r e a
Kalamaki is a pretty typical tourist destination in southern Crete. It’s not exactly beautiful but it does meet the needs of its summer visitors with its lovely beach, tavernas, hotels, rooms and apartments for rent.
Agia Galini is 61 km southeast of Rethymno and 68 km southwest of Heraklion, about midway along the south coast of Crete. Agia Galini, with its strange but apt name (meaning "Saint Serenity", or "Holy Peace"), is a small, labyrinthine village built in the shape of an amphitheatre and surrounded by three mountains.
Ayiofarango is a short gorge south of Matala and west of Kaloi Limenes town. The name comes from Ayio (meaning Holy) and Farangi ( meaning Gorge). It was so named because many hermits used to live here in previous centuries. Here is located a very clean and magnificent beach.
The second most important palace-city of Minoan Crete. The residence of the mythical Radamanthes, the palace was also the nucleus of a settlement inhabited since the Neolithic age. The architectural layout is identical to that of Knossos. Here too the rooms are arranged around a court. On the other hand, in contrast to Knossos, the frescoes decorating the walls were relatively scanty, the unpainted floors and walls being covered with a lining of pure white gypsum. The area of this palace was 9,000 sq.m
2.5-3 km, west of Phaistos, were found the ruins of a royal villa, which most probably was the summer palace of the Phaistos rulers. Certain of the more important pieces on exhibit in the Heraklion Archaeological Museum – the larnax, the Harvester Vase, and the impeccably painted frescoes – come from the site.
The Minoan town of Kommos was the harbour of Phaistos from 1650 to around 1250 BC. In the 19th century, in an outbreak of imagination and romanticism, the Italian archaeologist Taramelli identified Kommos as the place where King Menelaus was shipwrecked on his way home from Troy after the end of the Trojan war, a deadly accident mentioned by Homer. Today part of the ancient town has been excavated. The Kommos archaeological site is not open to the public, but you can see a bit of it from the side of the fenced-off area as you walk down to the beach. You can also see it from above, stopping at the crossroads after Pitsidia before heading down to Kommos beach.
A city that flourished particularly during the Roman era, Gortys was the capital of the Roman province of Crete and Cyrenaica. It had its origins in the Minoan era, as testified by the ruins of a 16th c. B.C. farmhouse, which has been excavated. The most distinctive monuments are the Praetorium (2nd c. AD.), residence of the Roman governor of the province, and the Nymphaion (2nd c. AD.), where the Nymphs were worshipped; the temple of Pythian Apollo the sanctuary of the Egyptian divinities; and the Odeon, where the famous inscription with the laws of Gortys was found.
Zaros village is at the southern flank of Psiloritis(Mt Idi) in Crete. Its main attraction is the nearby gorge of Rouvas. Zaros and Rouvas are 2 very famous words in Crete as they are the commercial names of 2 highly consumed brands of bottled water that comes from this area. Everybody knows the water but very few have visited the place.