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Sunday 23 October 2022

ausflug kreta (10. 247)

Despite extensive study and having seen plenty of pictures ahead of time, reaching our accommodations late at night, we weren’t quite certain what to expect for the view and surrounding terrain but our spot on Angali bay looking out on the Sea of Crete, located on the westerly third of the island did not disappoint. 






We took a trip early in the day to the ancient provincial capital Chania (Χανία, pronounced Hanya), a settlement dating back to the Minoan civilisation in the Neolithic age some five-thousand years ago and influenced by the Greeks, the Venetians, who built the port, lighthouse (Φαρός) and shipyard as a naval outpost to protect their thalassocracy against piracy, the Byzantines and the Ottomans before rejoining Greece again. 







After exploring the city, we visited the monastery Agia Triada Tsangarolon (Μονή Αγίας Τριάδος, the Holy Trinity) in Byzantine style and dated from the seventh century. Like many of the active communities in the region, the estate produces its own wine and olive oil. 





Later in the evening we went into the nearby village of Stavros and had dinner at a restaurant in a converted windmill on the beach, the same location where the 1964 film Zorba the Greek was shot, at least the “Teach me to dance” scene.