Dörfer & Städte

Kastamonitsa

Minoa Pediadas, Heraklion · Free

Highlights & amenities

Entry: Free

About

An old traditional village.

Kastamonitsa is an old village in the hills south-east of Heraklion, near the Lasithi plateau. It has stone houses, narrow streets and old churches.

The village is quiet and untouched by tourism, a good place to see traditional Crete.

Kastamonitsa lies in the hills between Heraklion and the Lasithi plateau, at around 600 m. It's surrounded by olive groves and almond trees, and has several Byzantine churches. The village is a quiet place where you can see traditional life, and it's on the route to the Lasithi plateau via the mountain villages of Pediada.

Minoa Pediadas is the farming heartland of central Crete, a land of vineyards, olive groves and villages east of Heraklion. Kasteli is the main town, and the new airport of Crete is being built nearby. The area has many Byzantine churches with frescoes, the ruins of ancient Lyttos and quiet villages where tourists are rare. It's a good area for discovering the everyday life of rural Crete.

Around Minoa Pediadas

Nearest town: Malia, about 17 km by road
Nearest airport: Heraklion airport (HER), about 31 km by road

Heraklion is the heart of Minoan Crete and the island’s busiest region. Knossos and the Heraklion Archaeological Museum are the two places almost everyone visits, and they work well together on one day. In the south, the wide Messara plain holds the palace of Phaistos, the Roman ruins of Gortyna and the famous caves above the bay of Matala. More about Heraklion