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CRETE – the largest and most southern Greek island (and the second largest in the Eastern Mediterranean after Cyprus). It has an elongated shape and is about 260 km in length and about 60 km wide in its widest part and merely 12 km in its narrowest part. The island broaches the Sea of Crete in the north coast, the Libyan Sea in the south Crete, the Myrtoan Sea in the west and the Karpathion Sea in the east. The landscape of the island is awesome. Crete is an island of variety with high mountains (it is mainly a mountainous island with a chain of three high mountains, two of them almost 2,500 m high) and more than a hundred of beautiful beaches, either busy, or cosmopolitan or quiet in its long coastline. There are gorgeous beaches, a lot of them either sandy or with pebbles or rocks, some of them like Vai, Aghia Preveli, Matala famous from the hippies time and Elounda, all unique with their own character and well-known globally. It is an island where tropical palm tree beaches coexist with high mountains with oak and chestnut forests, historical caves, luscious valleys, pastures and fields with olive, orange and lemon trees, vineyards and some of the most spectacular and magnificent gorges worldwide, which shelter rare and protected flora and fauna. This dramatic landscape and wealth of natural beauty makes the island also the ideal destination for sports like hiking and trekking (in Crete is the final part and finish of E4 – 4th European Route for hiking) and of-course all kinds of sea sports in the numerous beautiful beaches the island is blessed with. There are a lot of traditional villages and charming fishing ports which are very pictorial and the island is literally full of historical sites and ancient ruins which bear evidence of its rich history. Though tourism “invaded” most of the island, making the beaches and the coastal towns very busy and crowded especially during summer, there are still plenty of peaceful beaches and coves for visitors to choose. Being a large island, for the visitor who really wants to explore it a vehicle is advisable, except of-course the beautiful gorges, which one can only cross on foot. The best roads of the island are in the Northern coastal part. The coastal cities are pretty, especially Chania (the old name is Candia) which has a romantic port and Venetian fortresses (Firkas and Frangokastello), Rethimno with beautiful traditional lanes and the Venetian Forteza Fortress, the cosmopolitan Ag. Nikolaos, with the lake now connected with the sea with a small channel and Ierapetra overlooking the Libyan sea. Heraklion is in fact a big city with many shops, extensive market, theatres, authorities etc. A visit to the museum of Heraklion is a must in order for the visitor to admire the beautiful and colourful Minoan frescoes, the clay disk of Festos, the text of which is not yet known to us.
All the above facts make the island a very popular touristic destination with almost three million visitors every year. The touristic infrastructure offers many hotels and resorts, hostels, rented rooms, apartments or villas all over the island and for all budgets. Also Crete is one of the best destinations for sightseeing with the ruins of four ancient Minoan palaces, remains from Roman settlements, many medieval Venetian castles and fortresses, old Byzantine churches, chapels and monasteries. The island will enchant every visitor no matter where he or she comes from or how old he or she is.
Besides its long and glorious history, Crete also has significant culture. The island maintained the customs and tradition, its unique character and even the distinctive Greek dialect of the Cretans. There is very rich tradition in folklore music, dancing and popular poetry, popular art, handicrafts and an exquisite Mediterranean cuisine.
In terms of economy, Crete, being a large island, is up to a certain extent a self-sufficient island. Apart from tourism and thanks to its warm climate the island produces excellent quality olive oil, citrus fruits, wine and of-course all fruits and vegetables in Green houses all the year round.
The total population of the island is about 660,000 and is divided in four prefectures, the first of Chania, the second of Rethimno, the third of Heraklion and the fourth of Lassithi, the respective capitals of which are Chania (population 100,000), Rethimno (population 30,000), Heraklion (population 200,000) and Aghios Nikolaos (20,000). There are totally five airports, three of them for passengers (two of them international – Heraklion and Akrotiri/Chania airports) and two military, two main harbours (Heraklion and Souda Bay), while the ports of Rethimno, Sitia and Ag. Nikolaos are smaller, a university (the faculty of Computer and IT science in Aghios Nikolaos) and a technical college and many museums and galleries. There are many traditional villages, especially in the western part, where the visitor can see old people in the traditional very distinctive Cretan costume. The climate of the island is temperate, Mediterranean with some African “influences” especially in the southern part of the island, with mild winters and lots of sunshine all the year round.
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