Agriomandra

Agrio mandra is a small gorge with vertical sides which leads to a beach in the beautifull Mirabello bay. It is a secluded, beautifully wild spot ideal for solitary people.

It used to harbour small ships from Piraeus and other ports of Crete which came to this natural port of Agriomandra up till the Second World War to take on local products such us olive oil, olive pit, and locust-beans brought to the spot by horse and cart and through the stone-paved street still existing to the south side.

On the north rocky side of the gorge the visitors can see the cave church of Saint John made by an ascetic who found in this spot a magnificent place to communicate with God and fight evil. Next ot the church there is a second cave he used as a lodging place.

This cave church has been registered in a book "Iera Spilaia tis Kritis" (Sacred Caves of Crete) by Paul Faure, a French professor of the Greek language and Civilization, with the only observation that it bears fresco signs.

On the south side of Agriomandra in a surface survey carried out by the archaiologist Donald Hagis (1988-1996) were discovered ruins of a farmstead of MMI-II period.

Minoan Farmhouse at Chrysokamino-Chomatas

The Minoan farmhouse at the southern end of the hill of Chomatas was first occupied in the late Minoan IB period and then rebuilt and expanded in the late Minoan IIIA2-IIIB phases (ca.1500-1300 B.C.).

The original buildinghad five rooms. The latest phase of the house had 15 roomsand a large open courtyard. The finds from the building indicate routine domestic activities, as well as evidence for farming, animal husbandry, and food processing. Artifacts indicating weaving and ritual activities were found as well. In the latest phase of the house, one room contained a conical cup, ladle, a triton shell and two pairs of goat horns displayed on a raised surfacein a bedrock crevice, suggesting a small domestic shrine.

The house at Chomatas, excavated in 1996 and 1997, is one of many Minoan farmsteads and rural houses that once occupied the Kampos plain of Kavousi. This example provides details of the daily life of the occupants of a rural house of the late bronze age, as well as important information on the agricultural economy of Minoan Crete.

The Theriospilios is a small cave at Chiloftes - Therio location, 2km northwest of Kavoussi village (Ierapetra region) at an altitude of 40m, on a steep slope.

The Theriospilios cave has a total length of 44m, a maximum width of 25m and a height of 0,5 - 7m. After entering the cave, you enter in a low hall with dimensions 7m x 8m. There is a huge and spectacular room with length 37m and width 25m and height 1,6 - 7m with sloping floor. It is worth to note the presence of a large population of bats in the cave at least 200, which the visitors should take into consideration to take care not to disturb!

 

Theriospilios cave in Kavoussi, East Crete Theriospilios cave in Kavoussi, East Crete Theriospilios cave in Kavoussi, East Crete Theriospilios cave in Kavoussi, East Crete Theriospilios cave in Kavoussi, East Crete

Cave church of Saint John made by an ascetic who found in this spot a magnificent place to communicate with God and fight evil. Next ot the church there is a second cave he used as a lodging place.

This cave church has been registered in a book "Iera Spilaia tis Kritis" (Sacred Caves of Crete) by Paul Faure, a French professor of the Greek language and Civilization, with the only observation that it bears fresco signs.