2 Best Sights in Arkadi, Crete

A place of pilgrimage for many Cretans, Moni Arkadi is also one of the most stunning pieces of Renaissance architecture on the island. The ornate facade, decorated with Corinthian columns and an elegant belfry above, was built in the 16th century of a local honey-color stone. In 1866 the monastery came under siege during a major rebellion against the Turks, and Abbot Gabriel and several hundred rebels, together with their wives and children, refused to surrender. When the Turkish forces broke through the gate, the defenders set the gunpowder store afire, killing themselves together with hundreds of Turks. The monastery was again a center of resistance when the Nazis occupied Crete during World War II.

In the foothills of Mt. Ida, Eleutherna was founded in the 9th century BC. It was one of the most important ancient cities, even minting its own coins. At a natural crossroad between Knossos to the east and Cydonia to the northwest, it controlled the ports of Stavromenos and Panormos and was near to the sacred cave of Idaion Andron, another one of the alleged birthplaces of Zeus. An archaeological-site museum was opened in 2016 in a modern building and it has been designed to be updated as new discoveries and finds are made. Housing objects from prehistoric through to Byzantine eras, the current collection spans 3000 BC to AD 1300, presented in a multimedia fashion. The archaeological site itself is accessible on rough stone paths with two large canopies covering the most important excavations. The Orthi Petra cemetery includes a funeral pyre for a warrior from 730–710 BC, and it corroborates Homer's description in The Iliad of a similar burial. Elsewhere, roads, villas, public buildings, baths, and cisterns are to be seen, along with magnificent views of the countryside.