PREVELI ,AGIA GALINI, MATALA & ENVIRONS
Southern
Crete has a geographic and climatic characterdistinct from Northern Crete.
The great mountain ranges of central Crete act as a buffer to the winds
from the Aegean, while the Libyan Sea is all that stands between Crete and
the coast of North Africa some 200 miles away. Every now and then hot
winds blow up from the Sahara raising the temperature considerably.
The
villages and towns in the south especially those along the coast have in
recent time become very popular with tourists seeking to escape the big
city resorts. Quite apart from providing a more relaxed atmosphere from
the cities, the relatively slow development of tourism here allows one to
experience Crete as it must have been in times gone past; it is a region
of tradition and charm. This coastline is wild and beautiful, a
combination of rocky secluded bays, exquisite isolated beaches and small
fishing villages. Ag. Galini is a village built around a small fishing
harbour and one which has managed to combine tourist growth while
retaining its village character. There are restaurants, shops and hotels
and a good beach and camp site. In ancient times, Ag. Galini was the
seaport of Soulia and in more recent times the discovery of a Roman
shipwreck has provided a number of bronze finds for the museum in
Rethymnon.
To the north-west of Ag. Galini lies an area of great beauty with sheer cliffs, gorges, great stretches of panoramic vistas and a number of relatively untouched bays and beaches.
Here
you will find the Monastery of Preveli
situated near the sea. It is currently inhabited and on the 8th May, every
year, celebrates in the name of its patron saint, Ioannis Theologos. There
is also a museum exhibiting vestments, chalices and other religious
artifacts. It is thought to have been established towards the end of the
sixteenth century .
The monastery and its museum also figure prominently in wartime accounts of the Cretan resistance. After the Battle of Crete in 1941, British, Australian and New Zealand soldiers were given refuge in the monastery by members of the resistance who, together with the monks, guided them to the beaches nearby where they were rescued by British submarines. In appreciation of Cretan courage and hospitality, there is today a residential area in Australia named "Preveli" in memory of themonastery
According
to another story, during the war , the Germans stole sacred artifacts from
the monastery , including a certain cross. The plane in which the religious
valuables were to be transported to Germany failed repeatedly to take off.
Eventually, on the advice of an interpreter, the cross was removed from
the cargo and the plane took off successfully. Some time later, the
Germans returned all the sacred artifacts to the monastery.
Nearby,
further northwest, the fishing village of Plakias offers a very
fine beach with facilities for accomodation as well as tavernas and
kafenions. Inland, the Gorge of Kourtaliotiko is breathtaking . There are
local ferry boats which ply between Ag. Galini and Ag. Roumeli, stopping
off at Plakias and other coastal villages en route. Incidentally visitors
to Samaria Gorge conclude their walk at Ag.Roumeli and may return to
Chania or other destinations via these boats to the village of Sfakia,
Sougion or Paleohora, and from thence by bus. For local ferryboat trips,
enquire in Ag. Galini at the harbour. South of Ag. Galini is the fine long
beach at Kokkinos Pirgos and, just past the agriculture
centre of Timbaki on the road to Matala, there is the famous Minoan
Palace of Phaistos. There are
also Minoan, other Hellenistic and Byzantine ruins at Ag. Triada nearby. Matala
at the end of the road is a
small fishing village which has undergone some development as a tourist
resort. The beach is beautiful and sandy and there is a cliff at one end
of the beach with scores of caves andtombs cut into the cliff. Some are
ancient; Matala was one of the harbours for the ancient city of Gortys
andjust offshore underwater are the remains of ancient
Festos
