A first in a series of stories (chapters) from the myth and reality of the land the ancients called Keftiu.
Phaistos
365 Anno Domini – The Faint Echoes of a Dead Atlantis
An earthquake in 365 A.D. destroyed every city in Crete. It was the telltale echo of a much more devastating event nearly 2,000 years before.
The Last Priest of Poseidon
For Plato the island of Atlantis was Poseidon’s domain. Here on Crete the gods are still at play.
Discovering Itanos: A Search for a Lost Minoan Palace
At the far eastern corner of Crete Island, an amazing prehistoric city once existed. Visiting the ruins left at Itanos once gets the sense of lost time, and of the powerful and prosperous people who once lived there. Ancient Itanos was one of the strongest cities in Crete, but little is known of the ancient […]
Europe’s Bureaucrats: Making the Minoans a Footnote of History
Today, the fate of some of the world’s most treasured Minoan landmarks is still mired in a European bureaucratic bog.
Leaders Aim to Preserve and Share Crete’s Kommos Palatial Site
Situated on a hilltop overlooking the Gulf of Messara in south-central Crete, the Minoan settlement of Kommos may reveal amazing secrets from the Bronze Age. However, as fabulous such new discoveries may be, the intersection of modern touristic products and the island’s heritage are brought into sharp focus today. With untold Minoan Civilization discoveries still unearthed, Crete’s beaches and other touristic offerings represent a real crisis dynamic and a public dilemma. The good news is, a new preservation and public access initiative by Heraklion parliamentarian Nikos Igoumenidis and Greece’s Minister of Culture Lydia Koniordou may pave the way to remedying these cultural points of pain.
Crete’s Sacred Caves – Part I
The legends and spiritual wonders of Crete may never be fully uncovered. Then again, when local peasants in 1883 discovered ancient votive objects in the now famous Dictaean Cave no modern archaeologist had a clue of Crete’s hidden treasures.
The Mystery of Monastiraki: A Search for the Most Sacred
On the island of Crete many mysteries wait patiently their discovery. One place that comes to mind when I think of misunderstood Minoan Crete is the site of Monastiraki, what was probably a palace overlooking the Amari Valley, south east of Rethymno.
Prayer of Yidini: Echoes of Karfi
A story from ancient Karfi, a story of how the last Minoans may have lived and believed. Karfi was the last stronghold of a magnificent culture destroyed by the gods.