Each season gives magnificent colors and interests.

We guide you off the beaten paths, in Crete’s rich flora and fauna and on mountainous villages to meet the “authentic” Cretans and our traditions.

Passing through the village’s alleys you can still see the ruins of old houses and their rooms, their venetian features and through this sacred silence of the place you have the impression that you hear the Byz-antine king, the medieval knight or the Turk fighter gallop away.

The name of the village probably comes from the Byzantine word VOILAS or VOLIAS meaning the nobleman, the land owner.

In a census carried out by Kastrofilaka in 1583, the village of Voila had a population of 301. Many elements show that the village belonged to the venetian family of Zenos which during the Turkish occupation adopted the Ottoman religion and was renamed.
The tradition says that he was the owner of a Castle in Voila which has an external inscription with the date 1153 equal to 1742 of the Christian diary. At the south of the castle there is a ruined church known as the church of Ginali.

Other attraction at the area is the old painted church of St. George dated back to the 15th century. From the inscription it is obvious that there is a family tomb of Salamons. The Solomons of the island of Zakynthos where our national poet Dionisios Solomos comes from, are believed to having been descended from the Salamons of Sitia.

At the top of the hill overlooking the village there is a fortress dated back to the Venetian occupation of the island of Crete.

To the NE of one of the city’s sectors lies the sanctuary of Diktaian Zeus, which belonged administratively to the city of Itanos. Cult practice was continuous from the Geometric period (8th century B.C.) until the Roman conquest. It seems that the sanctuary was plundered and destroyed by fanatic Christians at the end of the 4th century A.D.

The site of the Minoan settlement, called Roussolakkos, was excavated by R.C. Bosanquet and in 1906 by R.M. Dawkins, both members of the British School of Archaeology at Athens. The excavated sectors of the settlement suffered destruction during the Second World War and much later, by a digging machine. In 1965-66 excavations were conducted in part of the settlement and on the neighbouring hill of Kastri. In 1986 excavations were resumed by the British School of Archaeology and are still in progress.

The most important monuments and buildings of the site are:

- The Minoan town. A central street running through the habitation area is crossed by larger and smaller paved streets (some of them stepped), dividing the settlement in nine sectors. The town had an elaborate drainage system in all sectors. All the houses along the central street have imposing facades.

- Sector B. It includes five houses with external walls built of large blocks, while the internal walls were build of mudbricks. The thresholds, the pavements of the floors and the column bases were made of a special kind of limestone, brought in by Kavo Sidero. The most important of these houses (rooms 1-22) had an entrance from the main street, while from the same room started a staircase leading to the second floor. Behind this room was an open courtyard with wooden columns, of which only the stone bases are preserved, alternating with square piers. Antechambers lead to the “megaron”, the main room of the house which had four column bases at the corners of a square. This structure has been interpreted as a light-well. The house also includes kitchens, a lustral basin, a well, a domestic shrine, an oil magazine, a bath and a reception hall which was later divided into smaller quarters and converted into storerooms. Interesting in the same sector is the installation of an olive-press, and the pithoi employed for the storage of oil.

- Sector D. It is the largest (1,800 sq.m.) and consists of many houses, the most important of which (rooms 18-40) has a “megaron” with a light-well, like the one in the main house of sector B. Also preserved is a channel which carries the rainwater from the open inner court to the street.

- Sector C. The largest house of this sector has a luxurious facade made of large ashlar blocks, a second entrance, a “megaron” with light-well, a bath, and a workshop. Many of the vases found show egyptian influence in their decoration. The houses, as in other sectors, seem to have been destroyed by fire.

- Sector E. It consists of at least four houses, some of which are built on earlier foundations; it is remarkable that one of these houses was occupied in historic times, as well. In the same sector a wine-press was also uncovered.

- The sanctuary of Diktaian Zeus lies to the NE of sector X, inside the house foundations. An inscription broken in many pieces, preserving a hymn to Diktaian Zeus was discovered in the surrounding area. Of the temple are preserved only the precinct and the altar inside it. Antefixes in the shape of lion-heads were found in the same area.

The finds from Palekastro are exhibited in the Museum of Sitia.

Toplou monastery is one of the most significant monasteries in Crete, dedicated to Panagia (Virgin Mary) and St. John the Theologian. It was founded around the mid 15th century, probably on the ruins of an earlier convent. The monastery was plundered by the knights of Malta in 1530 and shattered in 1612 by a strong earthquake. Due to its strategic position, the senate of the Republic of Venice, then ruler of Crete, decided to financially aid in rebuilding it. The monastery flourished until the surrender of eastern Crete to the Turks in 1646, after which it was abandoned for a long time. In 1704, it acquired special protection privileges from the Patriarch (i.e., stauropegic) and was re-inhabited.

After its monks were slaughtered by Turks in 1821 during the Greek Revolution of Independence, Toplou was again deserted until 1828. In 1866, during the massive Cretan revolt against the Turks, it was once again devastated. During the German occupation of 1941-44, Toplou was providing shelter to resistance fighters and housed their wireless radio. When this was discovered by the Germans, the abbot and two monks were tortured and executed.
[edit] Architecture

Having to defend itself from pirates and invaders, Toplou monastery is heavily fortified, being laid out around a courtyard paved with sea pebbles and surrounded by strong, 10 meters high square walls. In its present form it extends to about 800 square meters in three floors, divided into cells, guest houses, kitchens and warehouses. The main church (katholikon) is built as a two-nave basilica and the belltower dates back to 1558.

The name Pelekita Cave has been given due to the nearby quarry, below the cave near the sea, where  stone hewer from the limestone was mined. The second name, Sykias Spilios, due to the large fig tree, located on the right of the entrance below the cave.

The cave  Pelekita is an old  (geology) subterranean river bed  and at the end of the cave there is a lake with water.
The total length of up to 310m. It has several large rooms of width up to 45 meters. It is believed that the cave can be used as a tourist attraction and be fully visited by creating  routes length 700m. It occupies an area of about 500sq.m. and taking into account the slope of the floor, the area is much greater. The cave has been mapped in 1969 by the Hellenic Speleological Society.

The village of Zakros can be reached by driving south of Palekastro and then the villages of Chochlakies, Asokeramos, Kelaria and Adravasti.

The gorge walk takes about 2 hours depending on your pace and your fitness levels, and ends at the beautiful beach town of Kato Zakros.

Zakros Gorge is also know as the Gorge of the Dead – Faragi ton Nekron – Φαράγγι των Νεκρών. The gorge is one of the most impressive in Crete with its steep sides and harsh rock formations. There are caves within which have been found to be Minoan burial tombs, hence the name.

In those caves were discovered tombs from the Minoan period, and finds of great archaeological importance. That is the reason why the caves are named “The Caves of Deads” and the gorge “The Gorge of Deads”.

The gorge is presents no difficulties in summer. The first steep slope may seem a bit scary, but in fact there’s no danger as long as you follow the path carefully. After the 15-minute descent, you will find yourself at the bottom of the gorge. Follow the riverbed, which is completely dry in summer.

There are distinctive blazes to guide you and it’s a pleasant walk for young and old alike. There are no working fountains in Zakros Gorge, so make sure you take plenty of water with you.

The footpath through the gorge to Kato Zakros is important for another reason apart from its ancient history and its scenic landscape with the many caves. It is the last section of the European E4 path, which starts at Portugal, crosses the Mediterranean countries of southern Europe, and traverses Greece from north to south and Crete from west to east, to end at Kato Zakros.

Because of its natural beauty and archaeological significance the gorge attracts numerous visitors every year.

The palace at Zakros is the fourth in terms of size, among the Minoan palaces. It was located at an advantageous strategic position, at a protected bay, and was the centre of commercial exchange with the countries of the East, as is indicated by the excavation finds (elephants’ tusks, faience, copper etc.) The palace was the administrative, religious and commercial centre, and was surrounded by the town. After its destruction, it was not rebuilt and the site was used only for cultivation. Burials have been uncovered inside caves on the slopes of the “Ravine of the Dead”, as the ravine that stretches from Epano Zakros to Kato Zakros is called.

The finds from the excavation are exhibited in the Museum of Herakleion, while a few are kept in the Museums of Seteia and Aghios Nikolaos.

The most important buildings of the site are:

The palace and its annexes cover a total area of more than 8,000 sq.m.; it is estimated that in this area there were around 300 compartments – including the upper storeys – of various functions. The palace follows the basic plan of all Minoan palaces, with the main entrance on the east side; a second gate was located on the NE side, at the end of a stone paved road which came from the harbour.

A stepped corridor led down to the NE gate, and from there to the central court (measuring 30 x 12 m.). This court was actually the nucleus of the building and the place where religious ceremonies took place. It was surrounded by magnificent facades and porticos with columns-pillars which supported verandas, while at the NW corner there was a built altar.

The west wing was devoted to religious activity. The main entrance was opposite the altar in the court, and was flanked by two other smaller ones. The building had an antechamber, a chamber and a large “ceremonial” hypostyle hall (12 x 10 m.) with a peristyle light-well and polythyra (pier-and-door partitions), one of which gave access to a “banquet hall”, thus called because it contained amphoras and jugs. The west part of the wing is occupied by the shrine which consists of 11 rooms, some of which had niches. The main part of the shrine was a small room – not accessible to the public – with a high bench for the deposition of cult objects. Beside it there was a subterranean lustral basin, while to the south there were three auxiliary rooms: a stone cutter’s workshop, a storeroom, and the treasury – the only Minoan treasury which was found unrobbed and yielded a series of superb ritual vessels.

Further to the west is the archive room, which contained clay Linear A tablets in boxes, arranged on clay shelves. In the depositories of the shrine, religious objects were kept in brick compartments. In a later building phase, workshops were added outside the west facade.

The east wing included the royal quarters and the administrative centre: the “queen’s apartments” with polythyra (pier-and-door partitions), and the “king’s apartments”, the largest room of the palace. From the central court a polythyron led to the “hall of the cistern “, at the centre of which there was a circular underground cistern (diameter 7 m.) with a parapet supporting a row of at least five columns. Two more installations of such well-springs were located in this wing.

The south wing included a small complex of workshops for the production of perfume oils and small objects of faience, rock crystal etc.

In the north wing there is a large staircase leading to the upper floor, the “magazines of the royal quarters”, a bath complex and a spacious room, accessible from a corridor, interpreted as a kitchen which served the banquet hall on the upper storey.