Iraklio Province
This wonderful spot is highly recommended for getting a hands-on education in traditional Minoan pottery. English is a struggle, but Giorgos and Kristina will kill you with charm. Check out the massive kiln, fired by olive-wood pebbles up to 1000°C, gauged by when the pyrometric cones begin to bend.
Workshops are €5 per person per hour, and there's a lovely shop selling all sorts of colourful bowls and pots. It’s on the Voni–Thrapsano road 2.7km northwest of Thrapsano.
8.63 MILES
Crete’s most famous historical attraction is the Palace of Knossos, the grand capital of Minoan Crete, located 5km south of the city of Iraklio. The…
Heraklion Archaeological Museum
11.74 MILES
This state-of-the-art museum is one of the largest and most important in Greece. The two-storey revamped 1930s Bauhaus building makes a gleaming showcase…
20.03 MILES
Gortyna (also Gortyn or Gortys) has been inhabited since Neolithic times but reached its pinnacle after becoming the capital of Roman Crete from around 67…
27.22 MILES
Phaestos was the second-most-important Minoan palace-city after Knossos and enjoys an awe-inspiring setting with panoramic views of the Messara Plain and…
28.01 MILES
Tiny Spinalonga Island became a leper colony in 1903 and catapulted into pop-cultural consciousness thanks to Victoria Hislop's 2005 bestselling novel The…
24.3 MILES
Although just a huge and fairly featureless hole in the ground, Ideon has sacred importance in mythology as the place where Zeus was reared by his mother,…
12.07 MILES
After six years of restoration, Iraklio’s symbol, the 16th-century fortress called Rocca al Mare by the Venetians, reopened in August 2016 with a brand…
14.63 MILES
The Palace of Malia, 3km east of Malia, was built at about the same time as the great Minoan palaces of Phaestos and Knossos. The First Palace dates back…
1.26 MILES
Watch giant clay pots being churned out at the traditional Nikos Doxastakis workshop. From the centre of Thrapsano, head up to the village’s municipal…
1.61 MILES
In the middle of Thrapsano, the twin-aisled 15th-century Timios Stavros church houses well-preserved frescoes. You might have to ask around for the key.
3.65 MILES
In a modern building overlooking the kafeneia-flanked central plaza of author Nikos Kazantzakis' ancestral village, this well-curated museum zeroes in on…
6.12 MILES
About 5km south of Arhanes, and well signposted, Vathypetro was built around 1600 BC, probably as the villa of a prosperous Minoan noble. Archaeologists…
5. Archaeological Museum of Arhanes
6.12 MILES
This small museum displays many important finds from regional excavations, especially from Minoan times. Among the highlights are clay larnakes (coffins)…
6.45 MILES
On a hill west of town and reached via a steep footpath, Fourni is the most extensive Minoan necropolis in Crete. Burials took place here over a period of…
7.04 MILES
Driving south from Arhanes, look for the turn-off for Giourtas. The narrow (but drivable) road leads to the top of Mt Yiouhtas. After a bone-rattling 5km,…
7.47 MILES
Anemospilia packs major importance into its small frame. Excavation of this middle-Minoan three-room temple yielded evidence that human sacrifice played…