Minico: CRETE
Introduction

this page originally had no introduction. but things are changing, and now I am often afraid that my site is completely misunderstood when reading my guestbook or emails.

So let's make one thing clear.

This page is not a preview of your next crete holidays.
This page is not trying to give a representative overview of what crete is like (today).

I spend a lot of time in crete. I love it. and I photograph the places I love from my favourite perspective for when I am back 'home' (?) in austria. To help me survive a cold winter. I put some of them on the net for friends in mind to share that experience.

when I originaly uploaded the first version of this page in the mid nineties it was to say no to the plans to build a powerstation in atherinolakos. they are currently building it.


Bay at the place where they are building a thermal powerplant (Atherinolakos)

if this page has a message then its an answer to: '...is crete one of those magic locations with real beautifull places. you know ... soemthing that's a really moving experience ...' the answer is 'yes' .

the message of this page is not: 'hi, get a car and try to see everything in one or two weeks'. it's impossible. and it does not make sense. you'll end up driving instead of enjoying, and you'll see nothing of what I think is the real crete. And you do harm! I admit I travel a lot myself. But better explore a smaller part of Crete in detail on your feet. no joke. go the paths the old cretans went. The beauty is where new roads have not destroyed it.
Consider all those people trying to drive to the most remote beaches with their cars. to many cretans this seems to mean: we live from tourism, they want to go there. others have also suggested a road there. ok, we build them a real big road there. a big parking place. souvenir shops. restaurants.
their 'respect for nature' occasionaly lets them decide 'no hotels there',
but sometimes they'll blast away half of a mountain to make place for the roads.
I mean, isn't that the usual response to the message of 'progress, growth, developement, infrastructure, business (...)' that dictates most of what happens in the country where you live, too? Absurd that men tend to completely change all the fine places: Changing something extremely beautiful is likely to make it less beautiful.

If god or nature or whatever you believe in was considered an artist then we're currently scratching with knives on Van Gogh paintings.

If a place is beautiful because of it's nature, landscape, athmosphere and can be experienced as beautiful because of its beeing beautifully quiet, its beauty will most likely be ruined by 'developing' it with typical 'touristic infrastructure'.
its happening.

Like everywhere else: some of the most impressive places have been 'touristically developed' longer ago. On many of those places it's now hard to believe that these once were the most impressive spots. Many are actually ruined for my taste.
that's why you find hardly any pictures of 'the famous sites of crete' on my page.
I think it's worth considering to stop this and preserve at least a bit of the beauty on this planet for those who aprecciate it. And for .... your grandchildren? (I have to accept that this is just my opinion)

If you are looking for a good book to experience crete: try a hikers / wanderers guide. (And don't forget comfortable shoes ..).

don't drink and drive . walk through crete

Although I have been driving around a lot in crete over the years, (and I feel somewhat guilty - my internet page might have influenced a lot of tourists to do the same) the most impressive moments, the days that I still remember even after years are when I walk instead of drive. instead of trying to go by car even to the most remote places: consider walking. The places where you have to walk are usually the untouched, more beautiful places. And: In most cases it's not just the place you are going to: Often the way there is the most impressive part of the journey.

Let me give you an example:
One of my favourite walks is a 60-90 minute walk through a romantic gorge, that leads to a beautiful beach. Above the beach , on a small hill there are the remains of a minoan settlement.
There are (still) no roads there, and it's not a well known location, but it's mentioned in some of the better books: So you might meet some people when you go through the gorge, but it is still peacefull and quiet. The beach is still a lonely beach. The archeological site is still an 'unofficial one' without fences and such. The gorge is an exceptionaly beautiful nature experience with an almost magic athmosphere. In spring there is sometimes still water in the gorge. I remember bathing in some natural basins in the gorge early in april some years ago. In early summer everything is full of the blossoming oleander. And in autumn the light of the afternoon sun shining straight through the gorge as seen from the minoan settlement is undescribeable. Even for a person who is neither 'aesotheric' nor a 'archeology freak' the magic of the athmosplhere there is very impressive. Take some time. You can almost feel the 'spirit of history', how people used to live there, why they choose that place, what their life was like.
Now there are plans to build a road to that beach through the gorge. Of course this would ruin a lot: The beach is beautiful, because you have to walk there, and because it is quiet and because of the athmosphere. With a big road and everything it would be just an average beach. And it's not even necessary to make it 'accessible': It's a short and easy walk well suited even for children or older people. I even went there with my baby daugther. It need not be made 'accessible' with a big road.
But there are tourists going there, and they are asking whether it's possible to go there with a car. So the authorities consider 'fulfilling those needs'.
In case this has happened to some of your favourite places: Sometimes walking to a place that seems almost destroyed can give you back a bit of its original magic:

example:
One of the beaches that I used to love in the early nineties lost it's athmosphere severaly years ago when they built a big asphalt road directly behind the beach. I stopped going there. In autumn 2000 I made a walk from a small mountain village down to the sea on an old footpath (monopati) along a gorge, where people used to walk. Noone uses that path anymore because the village is now almost deserted and people now use the new roads. It was extremely beautiful. The views on the way were breathtaking. Half the way down to the sea I saw the remains of a minoan settlement (not documented in tourist books or acheology guides). (a lot of the not so well known minoan settlements are on extremely beautifull places, on small hills near an entrance to a gorge, overlooking a particularily beautifull part of the coast.) When arriving at the beach the perspective is different - Imagine a child that walked down there from the village (maybe riding on a donkey) with it's mother or grandmother to spend a day at the sea, collect some salt or go fishing, pick some wild vegetables or herbs on the way. The women telling some old stories to the children.....


This page contains several hundreds of pictures of crete. The older picture are sorted by topic.
Many of the pictures of the last years are sorted rather chronologically. many of my latest pictures are also available in full size. (by clicking on the pictures)
I hope you enjoy it.

If you like my site, please vote for it
HOME
I am also a musician and apprecciate anyone listening to my music :-)


E-MAIL :
minico@ins.at

if you like my site you can also
vote for it in the list of Top 100 Cretan Travel Sites . (thank you!)