Panagia Pigadiotissa's Well

Virgin Mary the Mesochoritissa
Dominating the central square of Thrapsano is the beautiful, stone-built church of Panagia Mesochoritissa. It is a two-aisled church dedicated to the Virgin Mary and all the Saints, which bears the oldest stone church tower of the village. Although it is not known when exactly it has been built, it is confirmed that it has already existed since the early 17th century, according to the oldest surviving reference, which was found inthe will of Andreas Cornaros in 1611.

Church of Holy Mary of Pigadiotissa
The three-aisled church is located near the village of Thrapsano and is frequently mentioned in Andreas Cornaros’ writings.
More specifically, he mentions the following: “In a village of the famous Crete, called Thrapsano, there lies the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and it is called “Our Lady Pigadiotissa”. In front of the church there is a well, four fathoms deep, with a lot of water that is quite enough for the village, although it is populous, and no more water is near there”.
The present church is built on the site of a former one and the well has been recently renovated.

Lake Livada of Thrapsano
Lake Livada is situated in the homonymous area, 1km north of the village Thrapsano and it is one of the favourite places for the locals to stroll around. The area is only 21 acres, but it is an important wetland area, where you can see more than 130 bird species. The Lake has currently been included in environmental programs, while the surrounding area has been landscaped by planting trees, building an outdoor museum and forming a pottery workshop.
 

The small reservoir of Livada is located 800 meters bird landingnorth of the village of Thrapsano. Local people used to exploit clay from the area and thus a pond was created; this pond was enlarged and transformed to the reservoir of Livada. Today the reservoir covers an area of 21.000sq.m. and stores approximately 210.000cub.m. of water. There is a seasonal change in the water level.AVI FAUNA: Little Egret, Little Bittern, Night Heron, Snipe, Wood Sandpiper, Moorhen, Black-winged Stilt, Little Stint, Common Sandpiper, Scops Owl, Red-rumped Swallow, Sedge Warbler, Great Reed Warbler, Whiskered Tern, White-winged Black Tern, Ruff, Glossy Ibis, Alpine Swift.REST FAUNA: Cretan marsh frog (Rana cretensis), Common tree frog (Hylaarborea), Green toad (Bufo viridis), Striped-Turtlenecked terrapin (Mauremys rivulata),Turkish Gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus), Balkan Green Lizard (Lacerta trillineata)Occelated Skink (Chalcides occelatus), Balkan Whip Snake (Coluber gemonensis), Leopard Snake (Elaphe situla), Dice Snake (Natrix tessellata), Cat Snake (Telescopusfallax), Badger (Meles meles), Weasel (Mustela nivalis), Beech Marten (Martes foina), Eastern Hedgehog (Erinaceus concolor), Leser white toothed Shrew (Crocidura suaveolens), Pygmy white toothed Shrew (Suncus etruscus), Brown hare (Lepus europaeus), Wood Mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), House Mouse (Mus musculus), Black Rat (Rattus rattus).Bird 2FLORA: The intense mankind activities as well as the great rise and fall of water level have caused the lack of well-developed hygrophyte societies. At the west side of the reservoir in silty grounds with periodic water coverage we meet species as Cyperus fuscus and C. Longus that go with species as Mentha plegium,Plantago lanceolata, Scirpoides holoschoenus και Heliotropium supinum. At the most open areas we meet annual species as Echium plantagineum, Galactites tomentossum,Cynodon dactylon, Ater squamatus, Lythrum junceum, Bellis perennis, Solanum nigrum, Dittrichia graveolens. There is a shrubby area with Tamarisk trees at the south side of the reservoir. From the rest species the most characteristic ones are: Echium plantagineum, Mentha pulegium, Plantago lanceolata.

The Primary School of Thrapsano
The first Primary School of Thrapsano was founded in 1870 by the Holy Archdiocese of Crete. At first it had only one class and the teachers’ salaries were given by the Christian elders and the books that were used were ecclesiastical.

The building, which houses the Primary School of Thrapsano until now, was given back to students on 3 April 1930. The school building was financed by the State, the Thrapsano Community, the Church, the locals and other individuals. There were also donations from abroad. The building is proposed to be preservable, it is in a very good condition and it retains the elegance since it was founded, as there have been no changes that would alter its features.

Church of the Holy Cross
Among the churches of Thrapsano, the most noteable one, especially because of its size, is the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. The large two-aisled church relates to the work of the early 20th century (it was probably built in 1905), and its completion took 10 years.

The wooden temple has interesting icons and pictures of saints in a natural size, which were made on Holy Mount Athos in 1916. The bell tower of the church has been a current addition and it has been built with the assistance of the residents at the exact place where the old one used to be in the past. The church was used as a hospital during the period of Second World War.

Thrapsano village is located in the province of Pediada, Heraklion prefecture, Crete roughly 30 km. south-eastern from Heraklion and is built in an altitude of 340m. It used to be community until recently, but after the "Kapodistria plan" (1998) it constitutes a municipal district of a homonymous municipality (Municipality of Thrapsano), which is also the seat of it. The village is - at least on the island of Crete– well known and particularly to seniors because of the Ventema. Ventema was the summer campaign and temporary installation in the various places of Crete until mid September, of Thrapsano potters, in teams, where they manufactured big jars called “pitharia” and other earthen vessels.Thrapsano is identified with pottery and particularly with the manufacture of “pitharia”, as its residents are considered descendants of the Minoan potters.Traditionally therefore the Thrapsano resident “Thrapsaniotis” is identified even today with the potter and in particular with the name of “pitharas”.Potter at VedemaIn the old times until the end of 40’s most residents in the summertime had pottery as their main occupation and they practiced it in the form of Ventema.The percentage of residents that dealt with ventema decreased constantly while ventema stopped in the end of 60’s.Afterwards we have the creation of permanent “kilns” (pottery workshops) around the village while in the last decades pottery has been developed still more and constitutes the basic occupation for many residents. Today we can say that pottery, with the creation of modern workshops and the huge production that they carry out constitutes one of the main economic factors of the village growth, maintaining at the same time its tradition and its historical identity.At any case the bigger percentage of residents are occupied with agriculture and more specifically with the cultivation of olive trees and vineyards (soultani, rosaki and wine grapes) while flower growing (mostly carnations, in greenhouses and in open fields) has its share in the general development of cultivations in the village. Pottery art in Crete Pottery art in Crete.

The Municipality of Thrapsano was formed in 1997 according the "Kapodistria Plan". It consists of 4 Municipal Districts, the former communities (and villages also) of:1. Voni, (with Galata village)2. Zofori,3. Thrapsano,4. Sambas.Thrapsano is the district with the most residents and is the seat of municipality. The first authorities were elected in October 1998. The population was 2368 inhabitants, according to the 1991 census. According to the last 2001 census it has been increased to 2.612 residents. 

 
Traditional Houses
It does not come as a surprise that Thrapsano, a village with so much tradition, is full of houses, in which one can distinguish their traditional features, their architectural elements and their functional use.

“In an old Thrapsano “konaki” (house), the main room was “Portego”, “the Moutoupaki”, the “Ontas” and secondly the “Tzertzemili”. The Lobby was less common in houses, while the “Sofas” appears more and is often found in “Portego”. The “ahiri” (haymow) was necessary and this is why we find it in all the houses, either as an internal or as an external freestanding room. The “patitiri” (a specific place where grapes are pressed) and the oven were two of the most essential elements and you can find them in almost all houses, while “sarnitsi” is rarely found. The courtyard was also significant but it did not exist in all houses.
 

There is a monument in Thrapsano dedicated to the “Dead Heroes”, the victims of the Second World War. The memory of those who have sacrificed their lives for the fundamental asset of freedom has been kept alive by the inscription of their names on marble slabs.