Driving west to Chania, the largest city in western Crete, was our next aim. Our first stop: the Museum of Ancient Eleutherna, which we had been told was impressive. Indeed it was! Opened in 2016, this museum has beautiful and instructive displays. Website: https://mae.uoc.gr
[Photo: www.ekathimerini.com]
Finding this museum was a challenge. Eleutherna, an important city from the Iron Age through the Roman imperial period, is located not on the coast but inland, in the foothills of Mt. Ida. Turning off the highway, we headed for the modern town of Eleftherna. The country roads went here and there and signage was poor. The museum was not once indicated. At one point we found ourselves high up in a remote area with large enclosures for sheep and goats. We were completely lost! An auto repair shop saved the day. My modern Greek is rudimentary but I can still say "Where is the road to ... ?" Two men were heading toward Eleftherna, so we followed them and eventually reached the town. But in the town, ruins, yes, but where was the museum? A shopkeeper solved the mystery: the museum lies a few kilometers beyond, in the middle of nowhere.
Before continuing to the museum, we had a look at the ruins from a high vantage point where a site plan was posted. The ruins are scattered over a large area, on the tops of crests and in valleys. It wasn't at all clear how the tourist would visit them. I'd say a knowledgeable guide is a must.
Ruins of Eleftherna (photo: by Aeleftherios, from the internet)
Beyond the museum, the road leads to the Arkadi Monastery. From the outside, it looks grim, like a military fort or a prison. It didn't help that the weather was gray and rainy.
Inside the walled compound lies the main church, built in the later 16th century. Although it's an Orthodox church, the influence of Italian baroque architecture is very clear. Not a surprise, since Venice controlled Crete at that time.
(Photo:
from the internet, MoniArkadiou2, taken on a sunny day)
The monastery is known for a tragedy that took place in 1866. During an uprising against Ottoman rule, nearly 1,000 people, rebels but also many women and children, took refuge here. Rather than surrender, the rebels, deciding on collective suicide, lit the gunpowder stored in the monastery.
By the time we finished our visit to the monastery, it was late and we hadn't had lunch. The only place serving was a tourist shop, large but mostly empty of people. The only enticing thing on the menu was yogurt with honey. No complaints about that.
Down to the coast, this time on a good road. After a stop for coffee in the generic outskirts of Rethymnon, the largest city on the north coast between Heraklion and Chania, we continued westwards.
This air photo of Chania (found on the internet) gives a great view of the old city and its harbor, on a sunny day.
Our first impression, after we parked our car, came from the solid Venetian city walls of the 16th century (lower right, in the above photo).
We walked into the old city with its picturesque narrow streets and found our hotel. A building from Venetian times, the current owner's mother had bought it just after World War II and refurbished it as a hotel.
With its harbor, Chania was an important center in Minoan times, but because of continuous habitation over the centuries, the Minoan presence is not so easy to document. On the east side of the harbor, on Kastelli hill, Swedish and Greek archaeologists working from 1969 to 2014 found important traces of the Minoans. Their excavation trenches can still be seen, with a ground plan posted.
On our second evening, we had dinner in the eastern part of the harbor, beyond the Kastelli hill. On our way to the restaurant, we crossed a square with loud speakers being tested, banners and lights adjusted, and people milling about: much excitement because Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the prime minister, was coming that very evening for a rally.
(Photo: from internet, www.cnbc.com)
Our main destination in Chania was the new archaeological museum. Located outside the city center, it was difficult to find – again, almost no signs. We stopped in a gas station for directions.
This museum is spacious and elegant.
(Photo: from the internet, www.pinterest.com)
We particularly admired the state-of-the-art presentation of Minoan seal stones with stylized images carved on them. An enlarged photo of the tiny original is slowly overlaid with a reconstructed drawing, so the viewer can actually understand what the images represent.
We finished our visit with lunch at the museum's outdoor terrace café.
Chania's most famous modern son is Eleftherios Venizelos (1864-1936), a major figure of Greek politics in the early 20th century. He is buried in a simple grave in a cemetery that overlooks the city.
The surrounding park has other monuments, large and small, and admirers of all sorts.
After a visit to another monastery with Venetian influence in its architecture – Ayia Triada, which has a beautiful, well-kept garden --
we drove on to the Suda Bay War Cemetery to pay homage to John Pendlebury, a British archaeologist and Minoan specialist who was killed during the German invasion of the island in World War II.
The cemetery is maintained in perfect condition by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Our week on Crete was now coming to an end. After Chania, we turned east, this time to Heraklion, the main city of the island. On the way, we stopped in Aspera, an ancient Greek city. The wildflowers were gorgeous.
So, too, was the view over the entrance to Suda Bay.
We stopped for lunch in Rethymnon, in the center of the old town.
We parked at the foot of a Venetian castle – yes, another one – and walked across the city center, picturesque and quiet -- at least until we reached the eastern harbor lined with restaurants filled with tourists.
We backtracked to a less touristic square and had lunch there.
Our final stop was Heraklion. This, too, was a Venetian center, and has some impressive buildings from that period although scattered among much modern construction of little beauty.
We stayed just outside the city center, to be assured of a quiet night.
* * * * * * * * *
Our main goal in Heraklion was to visit the Archaeological Museum, famed for its displays of Minoan art.
[https://www.heraklionmuseum.gr/en]
The museum (the ground floor, at least) was remodeled from 2006-2013. Having not been to Crete for such a long time, we were seeing it anew.
The displays are remarkable for the quantity of objects presented as well as for the quality, all well-exhibited with excellent labels and lighting.
The upstairs – less frequented by tourists – features the post-Bronze Age periods, with many interesting objects, too.
Oddly, little is presented about the archaeological sites themselves: the ancient architecture and urban contexts, and nothing about the history of exploration and excavation. Perhaps the designers of these displays assumed the visitors would be going to the major Minoan sites – such as Knossos, Phaistos, Mallia, and Kato Zakro – and would learn there about Minoan civilization. A shortcoming, I'd say, that needs to be remedied.
The next morning, our last, we drove east of Heraklion beyond the airport in a search for the ruins of Amnisos, a Minoan port town known for a wall painting of lilies, now in Heraklions's Archaeological Museum. The best candidate we found was overgrown with bushes and weeds, so we weren't sure we had come to the right place.
Then back to the airport, named for the Cretan writer, Nikos Kazantzakis, for the short flight to the Eleftherios Venizelos airport of Athens. On the way, a great view of the volcanic island of Thera (aka Santorini)! But this is a story for another time.
