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Trip to the central south (II): Mires, Phaistos, Agia Marina Donkey Resort, Pitsidia, Mátala

Painting in the church Agios Pavlos in Agios Ioannis

Painting in the church Agios Pavlos in Agios Ioannis

Today we describe an equally worthwhile alternative to our other day trip to the central south, which can be found here.

Of course, individual components of the two excursions can also be combined to form a tour of their own, which simply requires the creativity of the reader. ;-)

The journey to Mires is also described from the north, but of course it is possible to start the tour to Mires at any time.

For those who don’t know the route from the north at all, maybe this video is something that describes the way from the airport Heraklion to the junction Mires:

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If you turn off there towards Mires, this main road leads towards the middle south, first through the suburbs of Iráklio and then quickly into the rural wine-growing region around Dafnés.

Also on this tour we do not turn off at the roundabout before Agia Varvára onto the new expressway in the direction of Mires, but drive in the direction of the town centre.

Those who already want to make a stop in this place will find as a speciality several shops with the typical Cretan traditional men’s clothes. Furthermore, there is a shoemaker for the handmade boots that fit perfectly to the pants that are wide at the top and narrow at the calf.

Some curves behind the village, one then has the first view to the huge Messará plain that pours out like a wide green stream between the Asteroussia mountains in the south and the Psiloritis mountains  in direction to the libyan sea.

Messara at sunrise

Messara at sunrise

A well-developed but winding road leads down to Agii Déka, the village named after ten Christian martyrs who were beheaded there in the 3rd century A.D. for their faith.

The journey continues past the interesting excavation of Gortys (described in our other excursion tip) in the market town of Mires, quasi the capital of the Messará.

Mires alone is worth a visit. Here, one can really dive into the Greek small town life and watch the hustle and bustle of the people in one of the Kafenía at the Plateía. A stroll is also worthwhile because of the numerous small shops. For a stopover, the café with the best Loukoumádes (fried dough balls, warmly covered with honey and sesame) of the region at the western end of the Plateía is very recommendable.

Weekly market in Mires

Weekly market in Mires

On Saturday morning everything is different. The city is humming, it’s a weekly market. There’s almost nothing that can’t be bought here. Housewares of all kinds, clothing, underwear, home textiles, meat. Also the delicious handmade cheese of Crete, the Graviéra, thyme honey and the fresh fruits and vegetables of the region can be found here.

Weekly market in Mires

Weekly market in Mires

The offer is loosened up by stalls with beautiful macramé and silver jewellery, as well as different herb stalls.

Herbs stall at the weekly market in Mires

Herbs stall at the weekly market in Mires

These are not all equally good, so be sure to check the quality before buying.

To finish off the market stroll at the eastern or western end of the market, you can visit one of the Souvlaki stalls.

Deserved reward: Weekly market finale with Souvlaki

Deserved reward: Weekly market finale with Souvlaki

We leave the city in western direction and follow the main road. After about five kilometres we turn left towards Phaístos, the second largest Minoan excavation on the island, beautifully situated on a rocky ridge above the plain.

View over Phaistos to the Messara

View over Phaistos to the Messara

Many say that it is the most beautiful Minoan palace complex on the island, as the excavation is very extensive and, unlike Knossos, “natural“.

Phaistos

Phaistos

There was no Sir Arthur Evans here who lived out his personal fantasies about Minoan life in concrete and color, but everything is preserved in the original and carefully restored.

Phaistos

Phaistos

The small, historical church “Agios Georgios” behind the parking lot of the complex at the street direction does not date from Minoan times, but is also worth seeing and photogenic.

Church Agios Georgios near Phaistos

Church Agios Georgios near Phaistos

If one now drives from Phaístos in the direction of Sivas, one gets through the tiny little village Agios Ióannis.

To the left of the road is the small chapel of Agios Pávlos, the oldest parts of which date back to the 5th century AD. Here you can see beautiful remains of frescoes and an interesting small cemetery with a bone chapel.

Painting in the church Agios Pavlos in Agios Ioannis

Painting in the church Agios Pavlos in Agios Ioannis

This place has an indescribable atmosphere, even if the church is now more often closed.

Bone Chapel of Agios Pavlos

Bone Chapel of Agios Pavlos

Continue south until you see the tavern “Strofi” (“Στροφή”) on the right hand side before a crossroads. Turn left here onto the road coming from Matala towards Petrokefali.

After a short time you will see yellow stones with stylized donkeys on them at the roadside.

Agia Marina Donkey Rescue - the way to the donkeys

Agia Marina Donkey Rescue – the way to the donkeys

These are part of the signs to the Agia Marina Donkey Resort, which is primarily a graveyard for mostly old, exploited and often maltreated donkeys.

The donkey herd of Agia Marina

The donkey herd of Agia Marina

But not only the donkeys are helped here, but also often helpless cats and dogs, which are nursed up and placed in a loving home. Interested guests get a free guided tour of the area and can experience the very friendly donkeys up close.

Agia Marina Donkey Rescue Resort

Agia Marina Donkey Rescue Resort

Donations in the form of money or sometimes a bag of carrots for the donkeys are always highly welcome. In order to keep the peace of the animals, there are limited opening hours, which are best read here on the website of the resort.

Passing the beautiful place Sivas (see also here our alternative route suggestion) we continue to Pitsídia, another lovingly renovated village with a very beautiful Plateía lined with mulberry trees with different taverns.

Onira - Traumfabrik - in Pitsidia

Onira – Traumfabrik – in Pitsidia

Here in Pitsidia there is also “Ónira”, the “dream factory” as the german name “Traumfabrik” is translated, a popular meeting place for German educated people (and those who think they are) with a beautiful, shady terrace.

Onira - Traumfabrik - in Pitsidia

Onira – Traumfabrik – in Pitsidia

Since many years the restaurant has been run by Jaqueline and Horst, a goldsmith from Hamburg. In a historical oil mill a mixture of restaurant, café and shop for high-quality and very tasteful gold and silver jewellery and beautiful souvenirs has developed. This is where residents and holidaymakers meet. The good breakfast offer and the great cocktails are particularly popular here.

Onira - Traumfabrik - delicious Pina Colada

Onira – Traumfabrik – delicious Pina Colada

For bathing and strolling this time it goes to Mátala, a lively tourist place at the sea.

Matala beach and caves

Matala beach and caves

Mátala became famous for its caves surrounding the local beach, where many hippies lived in the 70s. Here there is a preserved and newly invented hippie feeling until it squeals.

Deadwood with carving in Matala

Deadwood with carving in Matala

A tree decorated with carvings, a VW beetle painted with flowers on the street, a bus as fresco on the house wall.

Typical Matala photo motive

Typical Matala photo motive

Painted pavement and a bar that looks like an old pirate’s nest. All in all a quite coherent picture, even if some bad voices claim that this place looks like Hippie-Disneyland. And of course there should never be missing a photo of the famous Matala slogan “Today is life, tomorrow never comes”, which has been standing on the beach wall for decades and is regularly renewed…

Today is life, tomorrow never comes

Today is life, tomorrow never comes

Go there and make your own picture.

If you are still here in the evening, you can enjoy one of the fantastic sunsets of the Cretan south here. Due to the offshore Paximadia Islands in the evening light and the beautifully illuminated rock walls, one often has a photo motif ready for a postcard.

Our restaurant recommendation for Matala: The "Georges Yard"

Our restaurant recommendation for Matala: The “Georges Yard”

Matala only becomes really cosy when the buses with the day tourists have disappeared. For those who can still stay, we recommend the “Georges Yard“, located directly at the “main road” through the village, or the “Scala“, in the rocks at the end of the village.

Trip to the central south (I): Górtys, Kousés, Sivas and Kalamaki

Odigitrias Monastery

Odigitrias Monastery

A beautiful excursion day, especially for travellers from the northern regions of our favourite island Crete.

We start with the actual excursion in Górtys, the arrival from the north is best from the western end of Heraklion.

There you take the turnoff from the “New Road” towards Mires, Agia Galini.

One is quickly out of the urban hustle and bustle of the capital and finds oneself on the (initially well developed) expressway to the south, in the direction of Messará plain. The route leads first through gently rolling vineyards and then through the eastern foothills of the Psiloritis Mountains towards Agia Varvára.

Before reaching Agia Varvára do not take the new road to Messara / Mires, but continue towards Agia Varvára town centre.

Here, in what seems to be the longest village on the island, there are, apart from many cabbages, several shops selling traditional Cretan clothes.

Messara at sunrise

Messara at sunrise

A few bends behind the village you have the first beautiful view of the Messará plain. It stretches like a huge green stream from the centre of the island towards the Libyan sea. The plain is bordered in the south by the Asteroussia mountains and in the north by the Psiloritis massif.

When we arrive at the “bottom” we reach the place Agii Déka, translated the ten saints. The name comes from ten Christian martyrs who were allegedly beheaded there in the 3rd century AD because of their faith.

Shortly after the place we reach the first destination of today, one of the most interesting excavations on the island, the ancient city of Górtys, also called Gortyna.

Titus Basilica Gortys

Titus Basilica Gortys

On the right side of the street you will find the official part of the excavation, here you have to pay the entrance fee. For this, one gets to see, among other things, the impressive Titus Basilica and an exhibition with wonderfully finely worked Roman marble statues. In the Odeion, a very well preserved Roman theatre from the 1st century A.D., there is the “Codex of Gortys” at the north wall, the oldest legal text of Europe.

Odeon in Gortys

Odeon in Gortys

Codex of Gortys - Detailed view

Codex of Gortys – Detailed view

At least as interesting is the southern part of the excavation on the other side of the road. Here one moves freely through olive groves, in which ancient fragments such as wall and column remains, but also entire temples, such as the ruins of an Apollo temple and a temple for the Egyptian gods.

The Headless of Gortys

The Headless of Gortys

Also the “Headless” can be found here, a male, Roman statue with beautiful folds, but without head. This part of the excavation is especially interesting for families with children, because the old olive tree population always provides some shade in summer and you can organize a “rubble rally” with the children.

Rubble everywhere

Rubble everywhere

We continue through the typical Cretan small town of Mires, where a nice weekly market (see here) takes place on Saturday mornings, and Petrokefáli to Sivas.

Sivas is a somewhat larger village with a beautiful plateía. Here you will find some good taverns that are recommended for lunch and a very nice pottery where you can buy very nice handmade souvenirs at reasonable prices.

The pottery in Sivas

The pottery in Sivas

The pottery in Sivas

The pottery in Sivas

Those who only want a small refreshment in Sivas should definitely visit Kostas Kafenion and drink something under the pepper tree. And don’t forget to look inside, a gem with a lovely host! Please note, however, that this is not a museum. Those who want to visit the Kafenion should also have a coffee or a glass of wine.

Kostas Kafenion in Sivas

Kostas Kafenion in Sivas

Kostas Kafenion in Sivas - Interior view

Kostas Kafenion in Sivas – Interior view

Depending on how much time the trip has taken so far, you can now drive up from Sivas via Listaros to the beautiful monastery of Odigitrias, which can of course be visited.

On the way to the monastery, you will pass by the famous herb store “Botano” in Listaros, formerly located in Kouses. It is worth browsing through the offer of good herbs and delicious teas.

Botano - an old picture from Kouses

Botano – an old picture from Kouses

Impressions from the monastery Odigitrias:

Odigitrias Monastery

Odigitrias Monastery

Odigitrias Monastery

Odigitrias Monastery

Odigitrias Monastery

Odigitrias Monastery

Now off to the water. From Sivas there are two different places to swim.

Deadwood with carving in Matala

Deadwood with carving in Matala

Either Mátala with its famous caves, a lot of day tourists (including a paid parking lot) and its artificial hippie flair or, much quieter and more tranquil, Kalamaki.

Long beach in Kalamaki

Long beach in Kalamaki

Here in Kalamaki, the famous Kommos Beach, about 3 kilometres long, begins. In Kalamaki, there is a small promenade with several good to very good taverns and cafés, all of which also offer sunbeds on the beach and fresh water showers. Where one eats something, one can even use the beach infrastructure for free.

Kalamaki sunset, different every day

Kalamaki sunset, different every day

Kalamaki sunset, always special

Kalamaki sunset, always special

Those who do not have it too far home should have a look at the sunset in Kalamaki that can be really fantastic depending on the daily form, otherwise the excursion to the central south of Crete ends here. In another article we describe an alternative excursion in the area with other destinations.

Of course these components can also be combined differently, here the creativity of the reader is required. ;-)

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