Crete. Wonders of a glorious land

You want to discover the natural and cultural treasures of one of the most extraordinary Greek islands from an expert? This is the book for you!

(This is the black and white edition of the first part, on West Crete. There is also a colour edition and the second part on East Crete, along with an edition on the entire island and other books in the series).

This book describes the largest island of Greece, a land of great natural beauty, but also of many cultural wonders and at the same time land of great contradictions: enormous mountain chains, the mythological birthplace of Zeus, the supreme god of ancient Greeks, covered with snow and at the same time overlooking some of the finest beaches in Greece; spectacular gorges, olive groves, traditional villages, Venetian historical centres. This is the landscape of Crete, what the eye sees.
But beyond what the eye sees, this is also one of the most glorious lands that can be. Homeland of the Minoan civilisation, the most ancient great civilization in Europe, which has left owe-striking palaces, revealing an amazingly high life standard in Prehistory; godmother of Europe itself since Zeus, after taking the form of a bull and abducting the Phoenician princess Europa, brought her to Crete, part of the continent that was named after her; homeland of the artists of the Cretan school, the greatest expression of post-Byzantine painting; homeland of El Greco, the greatest painter in the history of Greece, a direct offspring of this school, who, even in Spain, the country that became his second home and assured him eternal fame, never ceased signing his paintings as 'Domenikos Theotokopoulos, Cretan'; homeland of Vincenzos Cornaros, author of Erotokritos, the greatest Greek epic poem of modern times, at the same time the greatest monument of the modern Greek language and the Cretan dialect; homeland of Nikos Kazantzakis, for many the greatest author of modern Greece; homeland of Eleftherios Venizelos, the greatest politician of modern Greece (the airport of Athens bears his name); homeland of Nikos Xylouris, one of the greatest and most popular Greek singers and composers of our time.
Along with all that, Crete is the land of ferocious resistance to whoever tried to subjugate these proud people, for whom freedom is the highest value: Venetians and Ottomans had a very hard time conquering and keeping this island; in more recent history, the resistance to the Nazis has written one of the most illustrious pages of World War II, while a great number of Cretan villages have paid very dearly their refusal to submit. This love for freedom goes with the love for this island's intense cultural identity, forged by its distance from the mainland and its autarchy, sustained by its fertile soil (which produces the ingredients of the famous Cretan diet); and, consequently, with a very marked desire to preserve tradition in language, music, poetry, dance, clothing, food. I doubt there is another place in Greece where tradition is an affair of such a high percentage of the population, especially young people.

If I reveal to you that part of my roots is to be discovered in Crete, you will say I am biased. But I bet that a visit will change your mind. I guarantee you, you will not regret it...

The author of this book holds a Ph.D. in Architectural History from the National Technical University of Athens and a master's in heritage preservation from the Ecole de Chaillot of Paris. He is a professor at the University of the Peloponnese, where he teaches these subjects. He is also a fervent cultural hiker.

His travel books (mostly about Greece) are addressed to you, the reader with a special interest in cultural sites. In order to help you better understand and remember these sites, they are written as a guided tour.