Sights | East Crete Travel Guide

Petras Archaeological Site

On a low hill (h. 40 m.) by the sea lies an important Minoan settlement. It had a large harbour and was the centre of an area bordered by Chamaizi on the west, Pressos on the south, and Analoukas on…

Palekastro Archaeological Site

At the northernmost edge of the eastern coast of Crete lie the ruins of a settlement which flourished during the Late Minoan period (1550-1220 B.C.). At the same site, however, are preserved remains of the Early and Middle Minoan periods…

Makrigialos Minoan and Roman villa

Makrigialos, on the south coast, 38 kms from Sitia and 25 kms from lerapetra, is the coastal settlement of the Agios Stephanos community. It was not possible that the ancients could have ignored such a wonderful site. Chance finds came…

Toplou Gorge

Its entrance is about 200m in the west of the Monastery of Toplou. The landscape is astonishing not only because of its flora and the existence of a cluster of the palm tree Theophrastos Phoenix theophrasti, clusters of locust Ceratonia siliqua, oleander…

Archaeological Museum of Sitia

The Archaeological Museum of Sitia opened in 1984 and houses a significant collection, divided into four sections. The exhibits cover a period of approximately 4000 years, from the Final Neolithic era to the Late Roman period, and they are displayed…

Pano Peristeras Cave

It is one of the biggest caves in Crete. There is an underground river with a mapped length of routes reaching the 2,000 metres. The cave has many wells with water and its exploration requires using cavediving equipment. The cave is…

Peristeras Cave

The elevation at the entrance is 540 metres, whereas the elevation at the rim of the doline attains 564 metres. The village Karydi is built on a permo-triassic phyllites system, which penetrates in Jurassic limestone from the West to the…

Oxo Latsidi Cave

The elevation is about 610 metres. The cave is formed in Jurassic limestone. A little more northern, there are Permo-Triassic phyllites, which also feature to the southwest of the cave to some extent, while small bulks of Triassic dolomites lie…

Kapsa Monastery

Continuing from Makrigialos to the east, on the way to Goudouras village, the landscape becomes almost North African, wild and dry with rocky hills. The heat in summer becomes more intense too, but we know the perfect cure: in the region…

Toplou Monastery, Sitia

Toplou Monastery (Greek: Μονή Τοπλού) is a 15th-century monastery located in a dry and barren area in the Lasithi regional unit, on the eastern part of the island of Crete in Greece. It is about 6 km (3.7 mi) north…