Sights | East Crete Travel Guide

Faneromenis Monastery, Sitia

Drive west out of Sitia on the main road to Agios Nikolaos. The marked exit to the Faneromeni Monastery is on the right 2km after the city of Sitia. There are two exits a few kilometers apart that meet in…

Faneromenis Monastery, Ierapetra

One of Crete’s most historic monasteries, Faneromeni (Our Lady Revealed) Monastery is situated on a slope overlooking the Minoan city of Gournia and is sometimes referred to as 'Panagia of Gournia'. The original building was probably erected during the second…

Bebonas

A small settlement located between the Sitia mountains. A graphic and isolated plateau is created between them at an altitude of 700 meters. The area is characterized by intense mountain beauty and lush vegetation even in the summer. To get…

Zou

This village is about 7 km from Sitia and is part of the Stavromenos community. The name could be derived from the Turkish word «sou» - meaning water, as the village has a spring with abundant running water. Many people…

Maronia

Maronia is 12 km from Sitia, situated on the main Sitia - lerapetra road. In the 1583 census the Venetians Iisted it as Marunea with 120 inhabitants - the local people still pronounce it «Maroonia». According to tradition the first…

Katsidoni

Katsidoni (530 m altitude) a village about 16 km from Sitia on the road to Karidi. In the Venetian census of 1583 Cazzidoni is listed with 213 inhabitants and Sandali which also belongs to the same community with 371. Sandali…

Agia Triada

The outermost village of the Handras-Ziros plateau. It is situated about 35 km distant from Sitia and some 8 km inland from the coast of the Libyan Sea so that even though the village is not right on the coast…

Ziros

The hilly village of Ziros spreads over the lower slopes that the locals call Egremno (the Cliff) at an altitude of 590 m. at the pictureque Armeni-Handras plateau. The village is the seat of the Municipality of Lefki. It is…

Kalo Chorio

This village belongs to the Ziros community (former municipality of Lefki) and, since it is not mentioned by the Venetians in the 1583 census, it was probably founded after the 16th century. At the time of the 1881 census the…

Roussa Ekklisia

Α most graphic village with a very healthy climate and plenty of water. It is about 9 km from Sitia and reached by a road that branches off the Sitia - Palekastro road beyond the rise at Tripitos. As it…