Eleftherna

Eleftherna was one of Crete’s most important ancient cities.  We have found a walk which explores the ancient Dorian city, as well as the Byzantine Tower, Roman Cisterns, Necropolis and Hellenistic Bridge.  First stop though, is at the small taverna for coffee.  It is the usual warm welcome, where we are introduced to the whole family via the photos adorning the walls.  I decide to have "local" tea which is a mix of herbs found in the local hills.   Delicious!

Today about 100 people live here and it has a lively air. We study the map and realise there's much  discover...Its hot so we will just do what we can.

We set off across the Narrow ridge to the old Byzantine tower.  There are precipitous drops on either side - a perfect position for the villages to defend themselves from marauders.  

We look down at the valleys which are full of olive, orange, cypress and pine trees.  As we go we pick wild herbs, thyme, oregano, camomile to flavour our evening meal.
As we walk down we meet a greek guy emptying the bins... he immediately appoints himself as our guide and leads us to the Roman Cisterns.  

They are huge... how in 68BCE did they build such a complex system?  

The Romans obviously created a place of great luxury with villas, baths and public buildings... that is until the earthquake of 365CE.

Earthquakes are still prevalent here.. as Sue kindly told me, there was one on the day we arrived!

We fully expected our guide to disappear at this point, but no he was determined to take us up to the canal and the necropolis.. 

Finally, finally with the promise of a photograph and a small tip he leaves us... definitely a creepy experience.

We spend about an hour exploring the necropolis and then the heat gets to us.  We climb back up to the ridge top and home to Villa Cassidy for our afternoon swim!

It was an incredible place, would love to come back and explore more in winter when it is cooler.

You can check it out here or there are lots of sites on line.