Pseira is a small uninhabited island, a couple kilometers off the coast of Crete: opposite Tholos Beach and close to another Minoan center—Mochlos. Translated from Greek, Pseira (Ψείρα) means “louse”: apparently, the outlines of the island reminded this name’s inventors of it. Administratively, Pseira belongs to the community of Sitia in the peripheral unit of […]

The blue and white Greek flag was first flown over Crete on December 1, 1913 in the Firkas fortress in Chania. This celebration was attended by the Greek King Constantine I (who was a cousin of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II and the British King George V on his paternal side) and Prime Minister Eleftherios […]

According to a recent statement by archaeologists, the ancient Greeks took care of citizens with disabilities around 2,400 years ago and created ramps in temples. The sanctuaries of Asclepius, which can be reached by entrance ramps, are the most ancient monuments of architecture, built taking into account the needs of disabled persons. Focusing on the […]

Crete is surrounded by myths and legends like by the four seas washing it; and there are special places here: for example, the village of Azogyres is full of legends and secrets. The tiny Azogyres, lost in the Cretan mountains somewhere between Sougia and Paleochora, seems ordinary, but they say that you can’t come here […]

The Grand Duke of Kiev Svyatoslav Igorevich became famous as a warlord. He was the father of St. Vladimir, the Red Sun by whom was Christianized the Kievan Rus’. The historian Karamzin called Svyatoslav “the Macedonian of Ancient Russia”. This story, the ending of which is the defeat of the Rus’ people* near the city […]

Roman legionnaires knew a lot about wines, and it is believed that thanks to the legion camps that guarded the border along the Rhine from German barbarians, the famous Rhine wines appeared, as there was a steady solvent demand for wine from the legionnaires. In 1985, Markus Junkelmann with 11 reenactors undertook a 22-day long […]

Winter has come, and what to do with dark, long, winter evenings, how not to recall summer? Maybe you were lucky to see on the beaches of Crete a white flower of incredible beauty and tenderness, similar to a small lily. This is a sea daffodil, which is also called a sand lily or a […]

Oxi Day in Greece is a national holyday that commemorates the events of October 28, 1940, and the Greek word όχι means “no” On the night of October 28, 1940, the Italian ambassador transmitted a telegram from Mussolini to the Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas. Greece was required to let the Italian army enter into […]

The grape harvest in September is one of the most ancient and beloved traditions of a Greek village. It turned to a sacred celebration for the Minoans in Crete, and many of their rituals are still alive. Of course, today you can’t see the processions of dancing young men and burner’s pots with incense herbs […]