Dörfer & Städte

Thrapsano

Minoa Pediadas, Heraklion · Free

Highlights & amenities

Entry: Free

About

The pottery village of central Crete.

Thrapsano is the heart of Crete's pottery tradition. For centuries its potters made large storage jars (pithoi) and travelled across the island to make them on site. Today many workshops are open to visitors, where you can watch potters at work and buy their creations.

Some workshops offer pottery classes. The village also hosts a pottery festival in summer. It's about 30 km south-east of Heraklion, in the Pediada area.

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: Hersonissos, about 23 km by road
Nearest airport: Heraklion airport (HER), about 25 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