A Cretan Odyssey - A DeLIGHTful Way to Enjoy a Holiday!
Plakias is a popular tourist resort, located 36km south of Rethymno city, at the exit of a fertile valley surrounded by high mountains and dense olive groves. Next to it empties the river Kotsifos.
One of the major growth drivers of the region is the long beachfront, known as Gialia. The main beach starts near the town and extends to the east for 1.3km, up to Cape Mouri. It is a well organized beach, with cool green waters. Along the beach there is a road, ideal for walking or cycling. Along this road there are several restaurants and hotels, while on the beach there are tamarisk trees, umbrellas, water sports, beach volley courts, snack bars, changing rooms, showers, etc.
The eastern part of the long beach is called Paligremnos. The beach is sandy and very well organized, next to hotels and restaurants. Characteristic of Paligremnos are nearby huge vertical cliffs that rise to a great height. There are caves, dug by Wehrmacht during the German Occupation. Moreover, this place is called Gonates (i.e. knees), because according to tradition, the epic hero Digenis kneeled there to drink water from a local spring. Lastly, in Paligremnos a strange phenomenon takes place on every full moon, from September to January. The moonlight is reflected in the mirror-like towering cliffs. Thus, many big squids approach the beach and locals gather them with big sticks.
The main beach of Plakias is located between Paligremnos and Plakias village. It is similarly well-organized. In its western part, near the village, the river Kotsifos empties. Therefore, the sea water temperature is low.
West of the village, between the village and the new harbour of Plakias, lies the second beach of Skinos. Skinos has many rocks and sand. Next to the village, the beach is slightly organized with umbrellas, while as you head to the west it gets rockier. Skinos is ideal for fishing and snorkeling. The road that heads to the nearby beach of Souda comes along this beach.
For further information please visit www.cretanbeaches.com/Beaches/Rethymnon/plakias-beaches/#...
Crete (Greek: Κρήτη, Kríti ['kriti]; Ancient Greek: Κρήτη, Krḗtē) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece.
The capital and the largest city of Crete is Heraklion. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits (such as its own poetry, and music). Crete was once the center of the Minoan civilization (c. 2700–1420 BC), which is currently regarded as the earliest recorded civilization in Europe.
The island is first referred to as Kaptara in texts from the Syrian city of Mari dating from the 18th century BC, repeated later in Neo-Assyrian records and the Bible (Caphtor). It was also known in ancient Egyptian as Keftiu, strongly suggesting some form similar to both was the Minoan name for the island.
The current name of Crete is thought to be first attested in Mycenaean Greek texts written in Linear B, through the words ke-re-te (*Krētes; later Greek: Κρῆτες, plural of Κρής),[4] and ke-re-si-jo (*Krēsijos; later Greek: Κρήσιος), "Cretan". In Ancient Greek, the name Crete (Κρήτη) first appears in Homer's Odyssey.[8] Its etymology is unknown. One speculative proposal derives it from a hypothetical Luvian word *kursatta (cf. kursawar "island", kursattar "cutting, sliver").[9] In Latin, it became Creta.
The original Arabic name of Crete was Iqrīṭiš (Arabic: اقريطش < (της) Κρήτης), but after the Emirate of Crete's establishment of its new capital at ربض الخندقRabḍ al-Ḫandaq (modern Iraklion), both the city and the island became known as Χάνδαξ (Khandhax) or Χάνδακας (Khandhakas), which gave Latin and Venetian Candia, from which French Candie and English Candy or Candia. Under Ottoman rule, in Ottoman Turkish, Crete was called Girit (كريت).
For more information please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crete
A Cretan Odyssey - A DeLIGHTful Way to Enjoy a Holiday!
Plakias is a popular tourist resort, located 36km south of Rethymno city, at the exit of a fertile valley surrounded by high mountains and dense olive groves. Next to it empties the river Kotsifos.
One of the major growth drivers of the region is the long beachfront, known as Gialia. The main beach starts near the town and extends to the east for 1.3km, up to Cape Mouri. It is a well organized beach, with cool green waters. Along the beach there is a road, ideal for walking or cycling. Along this road there are several restaurants and hotels, while on the beach there are tamarisk trees, umbrellas, water sports, beach volley courts, snack bars, changing rooms, showers, etc.
The eastern part of the long beach is called Paligremnos. The beach is sandy and very well organized, next to hotels and restaurants. Characteristic of Paligremnos are nearby huge vertical cliffs that rise to a great height. There are caves, dug by Wehrmacht during the German Occupation. Moreover, this place is called Gonates (i.e. knees), because according to tradition, the epic hero Digenis kneeled there to drink water from a local spring. Lastly, in Paligremnos a strange phenomenon takes place on every full moon, from September to January. The moonlight is reflected in the mirror-like towering cliffs. Thus, many big squids approach the beach and locals gather them with big sticks.
The main beach of Plakias is located between Paligremnos and Plakias village. It is similarly well-organized. In its western part, near the village, the river Kotsifos empties. Therefore, the sea water temperature is low.
West of the village, between the village and the new harbour of Plakias, lies the second beach of Skinos. Skinos has many rocks and sand. Next to the village, the beach is slightly organized with umbrellas, while as you head to the west it gets rockier. Skinos is ideal for fishing and snorkeling. The road that heads to the nearby beach of Souda comes along this beach.
For further information please visit www.cretanbeaches.com/Beaches/Rethymnon/plakias-beaches/#...
Crete (Greek: Κρήτη, Kríti ['kriti]; Ancient Greek: Κρήτη, Krḗtē) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece.
The capital and the largest city of Crete is Heraklion. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits (such as its own poetry, and music). Crete was once the center of the Minoan civilization (c. 2700–1420 BC), which is currently regarded as the earliest recorded civilization in Europe.
The island is first referred to as Kaptara in texts from the Syrian city of Mari dating from the 18th century BC, repeated later in Neo-Assyrian records and the Bible (Caphtor). It was also known in ancient Egyptian as Keftiu, strongly suggesting some form similar to both was the Minoan name for the island.
The current name of Crete is thought to be first attested in Mycenaean Greek texts written in Linear B, through the words ke-re-te (*Krētes; later Greek: Κρῆτες, plural of Κρής),[4] and ke-re-si-jo (*Krēsijos; later Greek: Κρήσιος), "Cretan". In Ancient Greek, the name Crete (Κρήτη) first appears in Homer's Odyssey.[8] Its etymology is unknown. One speculative proposal derives it from a hypothetical Luvian word *kursatta (cf. kursawar "island", kursattar "cutting, sliver").[9] In Latin, it became Creta.
The original Arabic name of Crete was Iqrīṭiš (Arabic: اقريطش < (της) Κρήτης), but after the Emirate of Crete's establishment of its new capital at ربض الخندقRabḍ al-Ḫandaq (modern Iraklion), both the city and the island became known as Χάνδαξ (Khandhax) or Χάνδακας (Khandhakas), which gave Latin and Venetian Candia, from which French Candie and English Candy or Candia. Under Ottoman rule, in Ottoman Turkish, Crete was called Girit (كريت).
For more information please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crete