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Kalo Horio - Istron
Category: Town-Village
Prefecture: Lassithi
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Kalo Horio - Istron


Istro is no bustling tourist village, and those who come to visit will live alongside the local people. It is easy to relax in the warmly welcoming atmosphere of the Greek tavernas, restaurants and kafenions, and the shops in the village provide everything you might need on holiday. 

In all directions there are excellent bus connections, which offer the possibility to see much of Eastern part of Crete on a series of day trips. Well worth seeing, if you rent a car, is the palm tree lined beach at Vai, the famous Minoan palace of Knossos, the Lasithi plain with its windmills, the island of Spinalonga, and Chrisi Island, or Matala with its ancient man made caves, and much much more.

Apart from these there are beautiful walks in the area, and Istro is full of archaeological interest. The new village of Istro sits on the site of the ancient town of Istrona, remains of which are still being found today. Because of this, the land closest to the sea has a conservation order and no new building may take place, which leaves the beaches uncrowned and un spoilt.

There is a regular bus service to Agios Nikolaos and other areas, a Taxi rank, telephone and internet facilities, Post Office, petrol station, grocery stores, restaurants, taverns, mini markets, souvenir shops, clubs, bars, travel agencies, cars and bikes for rent, etc. catering for the 2800 tourists staying in hotels, villas and apartments and for the visitors or day-tourists from other areas. Kalo Chorio (or Istron) is also a perfect place for windsurfers. Most of the days there is wind strong enough (specially in Agios Panteleimon beach) to take you in surfers paradise.


Places near Kalo Horio - Istron


Aghios Panteleimon
Aghios Panteleimon 4125 hits
The beach of Aghios Panteleimonas is located in Istron of Kalo Chorio village by the Bay of Merambellos, 75 km from Heraklion airport, 8 km from the main city of Agios Nikolaos, 18 km from Elounta, 28 km from Ierapetra, 60 km from Sitia, 87 km from Palm Beach Vai.52 km from Plateau Lassithi. 

An easy to access beach with sand and pebbles very well equipped and safe to approach the sea, ideal for the children. Very close to a first aid station, telephone and a well organized beach restaurant. There are also travel agencies, a TAXI rank, and a regular bus service and many hotels and apartments witch they guarantee to the visitors an unforgettable and pleasant living. Aghios Panteleimonas is a particular beautiful beach, quiet and isolated optically by a steep cliff of a sandy hill with sea pines and the little church of Aghios Pante-Leimonas just clamed above the waves. All these together make an exotic and romantic atmosphere unforgettable to the visitors. The way to approach the beach is very easy and there’s a big parking just before the beach.
Voulisma Beach
Voulisma Beach 3641 hits
The second bay of Istron village is located 500m east of the village very close to the main road from Agios Nikolaos city to Sitia - Ierapetra area. Here is one of the most beautiful beaches of Greece, which is featured in many card postals of Crete.It is a beautiful sandy beach with blue-green crystal clear sea. The beach offers full facilities for swimming, sunbathing (umbrellas, sunbeds etc.), and sea sport. It is very popular.
 
The small town of Istron - some 10km south of Agios Nikolaos - lays claim to a number of cove beaches, each separated by large land peninsulas jutting out into the bay of Mirabello .The area - which is unique in natural beauty - is surrounded by sea, creating beaches of special beauty, some of which are small voes while others are big ones. There are beaches of different kind, some have pebbles, some other have sands, some are completely organized while others are not. The diversity of beaches gives the visitor the opporunity to choose where to go according to his preference.
 
Voulisma or Golden Beach is a beautiful beach with white sand and amazing turquoise waters. The few times that it is wavy, you can move to the smaller beach in the west part of the bay, which is very well protected from winds and less organized.
 
Voulisma, or ‘Golden Beach’, a gorgeous narrow stretch of white sand backing onto relatively low, olive-clad cliffs. With a blue flag award to its name, Voulisma beach is a great all-rounder. It’s not uniquely different to many other beaches in Greece, but it does provide everything you need for a family-orientated beach holiday – soft sand with few pebbles, crystal waters, gentle shelving, and a couple of places to buy an ice cream. For these reasons, Voulisma Beach can get pretty packed in the height of summer.
 
If you need relief from the crowds, head to the nearby ‘Agios Panteleimonas Beach’, which offers more beach space, even if it is slightly less beautiful than its rival a kilometre to the east. Unfortunately, Voulisma Beach is only reached by steep stairs, so disabled access is extremely limited.
 
Agios Panteleimonas
Agios Panteleimonas 3595 hits

Church, 15th - 19th Century

The small, barrel-vaulted, single-nave church was propably rebuilt at the beginning of the 19th century, close to the commercial port of Kalo Chorio. The surviving inbuilt decorative glazed bowls on its exterior possibly testify to its being older.

The church was obviously destroyed by fire as only the cross and the damaged icon of St. Panteleimon survive from its once elaborate alter screen. As was determined after the icon's cleaning, it was used to paint the icon of Christ at around the beginning of the 2oth century. Outside of the small church are graves, not only of residents of Katevati but also of others who were slaughtered by the explosion of a mine from those that the Germans had placed along the coastline of Kalo Chorio. During embellishment work witch took place around the church,marble slabs were discovered that confirmed the tradition of the area known as "Marmara, marbles". The famous italian traveller, monk and geographer, Christopher Buondelmonti, during his visit to the area around 1415, mentions the port and the existence of large, rough marble slabs which were transported, suitably chiseled to the location "Marmaro", where there were the remains of an ancient pagan temple.

The church celebrates on July 27, feast day of the Great Martyr and Healer St Panteleimon, and constitutes the largest local feast. During Vespers, the procession of the Holy Icon of St. Panteleimon takes place, while on the dayof the feast, after the conclusionof the Divine Liturgy, the priest, according to an old tradition, blesses the waters and throws the Holy Cross into the sea, from where it is brought up by swimmers.

Folklore Museum
Folklore Museum 2834 hits

The Folklore Museum operates in the Istron area and offers a detailed exhibition of life in the past. It was built in 1999 by The Folklore Association.

This museum declares a great love of and attention to the local popular culture. It is an important source of information of folklore and the history of the inhabitants of the Mirambello Gulf.

 

 


Image Coming Soon
Vrokastro 2726 hits
The coastal route from Aghios Nikolaos city, district of Lassithi,  to the village of Kavousi is very interesting. But the mountainous landscape to the south of this road hides some noteworthy places. The first is the Minoan settlement at Vrokastro, on a hill 1,500 metres south of the village of Istro. It was here that the American archaeologist Edith Hall excavated in 1910-12 the ruins of a late-Minoan period settlement which seems to have been inhabited until the Geometric Period (11th-8th centuries BC).There is no road leading to the archaeological site, so if you want to climb up here (300 m high), you will have to leave your motorcycle and take the path that begins just before the small sign marked ‘’13 km’’ along the road from Agios Nikolaos to Sitia. The climb is not as tiring as you might think, and you will certainly enjoy a beautiful view from up here, and a solitary tour of the (rather poor) ruins of the ancient city.