Crete Island – inhale the scent of freedom
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I take a deep breath and inhale the scent of freedom. This is the feeling you get when you first set foot on the island of Crete! As if taken from the pages of a fairy tale, the island offers you everything you need – exoticism, natural beauty and tradition, woven into a perfect combination.
The island of Crete – a unique adventure
Crete is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Greece. It is the largest and perhaps most impressive Greek island with an area of 8336 square kilometers. A mixture of old and new – this is the uniqueness for this fabulous island. You can take a walk through the small cobbled streets, admiring the endless blue and after 5 minutes drink coffee in a modern chic restaurant. People are smiling and friendly – as if they are on holiday all year round. There is no tension, there is no worry about what other people will think of you. Everyone is indulged in blissful peace and relaxes in his own way. The old islanders are sitting on chairs on the sides of the streets, which sway from time to time due to the stone pavement beneath them. They inhale from their pipes and exhale another ball of smoke. It is as if I am observing some sacred ritual that should not be interrupted. They read their newspaper and really don’t notice the surrounding crowd of tourists. This is called peace!
Everyone on this island is no less stunning than its beauty! In Heraklion – the largest city on the island, you can walk around the Venetian port and move to another era, with the feeling of a completely different culture from ours! It is amazing how the island of Crete, although part of Greece, is so far from our culture and traditions! Bulgaria and Greece are neighboring countries, but all self-awareness and worldview are so radically different!
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As I immerse myself in this magical feeling on the island of Crete, I decide to visit one of the biggest attractions on the island – the canyon of Samaria. There is debate as to whether this is the largest gap in Europe or the second largest, but at the moment it is not significant. It takes us a whole day to enjoy the impressive views of the Samaria Canyon, as it is 16 kilometers long and the transition through it is an average of 6-7 hours. Finally exhausted, but happy with the walk, we return to the small pretty hotel on the beach.
A new day – a new adventure! We are heading to Rethymno. We decided to spend a whole day for this landmark on the island of Crete, which is located in its western part, between the cities of Chania and Heraklion. Rethymno is one of the best preserved medieval cities in Greece. In it you can enjoy the Venetian fortress, Orthodox and Catholic churches, cobbled streets, as well as the magnificent Venetian residences. You can spend a few hours exploring these impressive elements of ancient Greek culture, then head to the Melidoni Cave. Melidoni Cave has important historical significance, as archeological finds have been found in it, which are exhibited in the Archaeological Museum in Rethymno. The cave also played a key role in the Cretan Revolution in 1824. It became the place of execution of 250 unarmed inhabitants of the island, most of whom were women and children seeking refuge in it. The entrance to the cave was blocked and the interior was set on fire by the Ottoman invaders.
We continue our walk through the caves, visiting the cave of Ideon Andron, also known as the cave of Zeus. The Ideon Andron Cave is one of the four sacred caves on the island of Crete, and legend has it that it was here that Rhea gave birth to Zeus in order to hide him from his father Cronus.
There are so many more sights on the island of Crete that we would like to see and visit, but unfortunately the time for our vacation is over! But you can discover these magical destinations by visiting the island of Crete and immersing yourself in a magical world!
