Monday, September 22, 2008

THE LARGEST GREEK ISLAND

CRETE - SEPTEMBER 2007

We were in Crete in 2006. We loved it so much that we returned in 2007!



"GORTYNA (GORTYN) was a Roman city. According to the legend, Zeus married Europa under a plane tree in Gortyna, and that tree was permitted to remain green forever. One of the major archaeological discoveries was the Odeon, where the Italian archaeologist Federico Halbherr found the famous Gortyna Code (500 BC) in 1884, the longest inscription in the ancient world. The inscription (located inside the building seen in the photo) is written in a continuous script (named boustrophedon) that goes left to write in the first line, then right to left in the second line... It details the legal rights of the citizens, including the laws dealing with the inheritance of property. It also shows that brothers started being favoured over sisters in the transmission of wealth. It seems however that vestiges of the Minoan matriarchy did survive. For example, if a free man fathered children on a slave, those children were considered slaves; but if a free woman had children with a slave, the children were considered freeborn!"



"BASILICA OF TITUS - Titus preached in Crete, and the Agios Titus Basilica, the best remaining example of an early Christian church in Greece, marks the site of his martyrdom. It was destroyed by the Arabs in 824, but some ruins still remain"



"PHAISTOS (PHAESTOS OR FESTOS) is the second most important archaeological palace in Crete, next to Knossos. With the Psiloritis, the highest mountain in Crete, to the north and the Mesara plain next to it, Phaistos is the site where the famous Phaistos Disc was discovered"




"AGIA GALINI is a lovely harbour village in the southern coast of Crete, with some nice restaurants for a lunch break"


"RETHYMNO - In 2006 I took a photo of the Fortezza that looked a bit blurred. This one seems to be a bit better..."




"CRETA PALACE HOTEL - The beach at the Creta Palace was fair enough, and we had a great time there"



"VIEW towards the mountains from the top floor of the Creta Palace"


"POOL"


"RETHYMNO - In 2006 we took a picture of the Port restaurants during the day. This is a night view!"

45 comments:

Anonymous said...

Back to business, almost as normal, and back to Crete 2007 after Crete 2006…
The other blogs are on English Riviera (the 70s & 80s) and on Rome (the 90s). Nobody cares, but it’s not that boring, I think… ;))

Anonymous said...

Wow, am I the first here!

Crete visited twice and I can see from the pictures that its totally worth it. I will checkout other blog links. Gortyna code - its all Greek to me :P Thanks Gill

Louise said...

The beaches. And the mountains! What a place. No wonder you went back!

Ron said...

Very, very nice pictures! Looks like a very beautiful place. The picture with the mountain in the background is phenomonal.

Love your blog!

joey said...

Wow! Through your lovely photos, I feel as though I joined you on this fabulous trip (and saved tons of $$$ ... thanks for the ticket)

Rhonda Hartis Smith said...

Just beautiful--thanks for sharing your trip--Crete is gorgeous!
Rhonda

SusuPetal said...

Oh, I'd love to go to Crete!
And some day I will!

Thank you for this lovely post!

Unknown said...

Hello Gil
Beautiful and dreamy shots!! I'd like to go there one day..you always makes me want to travel. tks for sharing :D

Anonymous said...

excellent presentation of this wonderful Greek island. well done

lyliane six said...

Moi qui adore les vieilles pierres et les anciennes civilisations, cette île je l'inscris dans mes carnets, pour mes prochains voyages.
La journée je visite, le soir la plage et les dîners au bord de l'eau, ça sera parfait pour mon cerveau et ma peau!!.

Irina said...

Greece is such a beautiful country, and your post confirms it once again! I absolutely loved both nature and architecture, and little Greek fishing-boats are just awesome!
Thank you for sharing your memories.

Daniel Chérouvrier said...

One of our friend has discovered her roots in this country , we ought to make a trip to this wonderful country ( if I understand you recommand it deeply).

PeterParis said...

So complete and interesting, as usual (not mentioning the beauty of the place)!

I found it particulary interesting to see the importance of the role of the mother and how it was described i the code!

Rakesh Vanamali said...

Wonderful pictures....... besides, amazing places...... it is indeed fortunate to be travelling places, right?

Cheers

Joy said...

I love the way your photos depict the images of Greece I had when I was at school. And then I see the resorts! Hahaha. A mix of the old and new.

Thanks for visiting Norwich Daily Photo and leaving your comments. Sorry for the late visit. Recovering from the flu. Have a nice week!


joy
A Pinay In England
Your Love Coach
I, Woman

hpy said...

I have always loved ancient history since my mother gave me a book about Odysseus to read when I was just a little girl. Such adventures! But I have never had the opportunity to visit the islands where he sailed. And that's a pity. Maybe one day.

Lakshmi said...

Im totally fascinated by Greek mythology..and the stories..this destination is in my travel goals

Wendy said...

Welcome back. Wow I can certainly see why you went back.The photos are gorgeous. Haven't been to Greece yet but must go one day.

Azer Mantessa said...

"Zeus married Europa under a plane tree in Gortyna, and that tree was permitted to remain green forever."

now this should explain why a friend of mine presented me a wedding gift of a plastic tree with green leaves. i was like ... "okay ... thank you very much ... it is nice *not sure i was sincere saying that*" ... and i was wondering what's it really about.

now i know or i think, my friend was describing me and wifey as zeus and europa. wow!

you made me call him after all these years. i did not menton about the tree though. the least i can stop wondering.

wow.

thanks.

raccoonlover1963/Lisa Myers said...

Hello Gil. Thanks for visiting my post yesterday.
I always enjoy your posts. Very informative and educational. Great pictures as well.
Have a good week.
Lisa

Marie said...

Très joli, vraiment. But it seems to be full of tourists..... I like quieter places (humm, that is why I like going to NYC ;-)))

Olivier said...

toujours en vadrouille, tu as de la chance. La photo panoramique est splendide, elle fait rêver.

Cutie said...

Wow, the beach is beautiful with blue sea and white sands. It must be really nice. Hopefully there will be achance to visit greece in future. Btw, you take beautiful photos.

S-V-H said...

Thanks for your nice comment on my blog, Gil.

Crete is beautiful, I never was there, but my daughter and she was very excited about and brought back a lot of pretty photos too, like yours!

Pietro Brosio said...

Gil, your trips are always fabulous, thanks for sharing!
The view of Phaistos is really amazing, like all the other pictures.
About Fatima, you're right: there is a great connection between Pope Giovanni Paolo II and Fatima.
Have a nice week ahead!

kyh said...

Beautiful!!! Love the ruins, sea and sand...

Nihal said...

Hi Gil,
Happy, Happy me to see your safe back to home from holidaying in TR:) Although it makes me impatient to be able to read yr notes, you might knock my door for getting help when editing an amazing post, think twice;)

I read your great article about Girit in turkish, or say Crete in english.
Now.
I could write 1000 words about why i think Crete (especially Titus and Rethymno) is awesome!
Appreciate a lot taking some of yr valuable time to feed us. How kind-hearted you are.

In the meantime, there's a celebration in the heart of Istanbul. A cocktail, it's thrilling with lovelies, I promise;)
And, I-give-away. Would love to see you to celebrate my 1-yr-old journalling experience:)

Hope you're having a nice day as you liked to be.

Kindest.

Nihal

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Fantastic photos a fantastic island! I dream of visiting it someday

Pat in NY

Tinsie said...

I like the zig-zag swimming pool. It reminds me of the 2012 Olympics logo. Hehe.

Oman said...

hello sir. visiting your blog feels like i am always at the front seat of a car with extended view of evryplace you have traveled. great job always.

sorry for not visiting sooner. just had a weeklong vacation and the work just piled-up. i'll catch-up on my readings/blog-hops once my sched returns to normal. have a nice day friend.

Cergie said...

Ce message confirme ce que je pensais : la Crète est une destination de rêve.
Ah la mer! Et les soirées romantiques en bord de baie !

Toutefois, les paysages autour des ruines me semblent bien désolés ; j'imagine qu'autrefois ce n'était pas le cas.
Il parait qu'il y a des randonnées à faire pour voir les merveilles botaniques

La statue sur la falaise représente-t-elle Icare ?
Car la Créte, c'est cela aussi : la mythologie !
(Je ne parlerai ni des icones ni de l'écriture, mais n'en pense pas moins...)

Anonymous said...

So it MUST be wonderful when you have returned there. As I see it's a wonderful mixture of landscape, history and beaches.

Shionge said...

Have not been to Greece but now I have Gil ;D

Lara said...

an island full of history and magic, for sure a place that you want to visit again...

leo said...

gil, welcome back. these are beautiful shots of crete. wonder when will i ever get the chance to see it myself?? hmm. thanx for taking the time to visit me.

Lori said...

Hi Gil, I loved these photos. I especially like seeing your pictures when I am stuck at my desk and I can dream of being some place else. Crete must be an amazing place to visit...the sea, the history, the views, wow!

Indrani said...

Hi Gil. Great to have you back.
The shots of these place are amazing! Thanks for the nice comment you left at my site. :)

eye in the sky said...

beautiful beautiful beautiful!

JO said...

Amazing pics - Looks like a fantastic trip. I really love that pool at night! Awesome!

Melissa said...

Wow great pictures. I am going to Greece in the summer and can't wait. It looks so beautiful.

btw, i just a new travel site - baraaza.com. I think you might like it.

Ming the Merciless said...

Thanks for a fun history lesson. I didn't realize Crete has those historical sites.

Catherine said...

I love to see the inscription! According to me; that's the most important picture of your post. Very amazing to read that there was a previous logical way to write (500 BC).Writing on first line left to right, then turning back, right to left on the second line was clever after all. That's a complete surprise!
Concerning the content, laws and code were foundations for the following ones.

Anonymous said...

Hi everybody! I’m getting close to 25000 visitors on the Geovisite counter, since it started counting, which was not yet a year ago. Most of them are silent visitors, so I’m most grateful to all of you that take your time to comment.

Priyank,
I’ll try to get there a third time; still some places left to see…
Gortyna Code is pre-Greek, not yet Greek… ;))

Louise,
And I’ll try again… ;)

Ron,
Thanks! I met a guy whose German parents spent their holidays for fourteen years in a row in Crete… ;))

Joey,
Happy see you back! My pleasure to drive you there… ;)

Rhonda,
You’re right!

Susupetal,
I’m sure you will!

M.Kate,
Amazing that you say I make you want to travel; but, as far as I see, you’re almost always travelling… ;))

Vaggelis,
Thanks! Glad to see that you liked!

Lyliane,
Je crois que tu l’aimeras aussi, mais, quand même, c’est plus facile aimer le Portugal… ;))

Irina,
Glad to see you back! Crete is a lovely place; not that far from your place…

Daniel,
It’s a great place to visit; quite Mediterranean, if you know what I mean!

Peter,
Amazing that story of the role of the women in the early Cretan civilization…

Rakesh,
First time commenting here, I presume. Thanks a lot!

Joy,
That’s true; Homer is there, but also some impressive new places to stay at… ;)

Hélène,
Odyssey (for young people) was also one of the first books I read… ;))

Lakshmi,
Everybody I know who knows Greek mythology loves it, and loves the place!

Wendy,
Greece must be «the» country you haven’t been to yet… ;))
Thanks!

Azer,
So now you know how kind your friend was when he gave you plastic flowers… ;))

Lisa,
Great to read you here!

Marie,
Oh yes, crowded! NYC looks like a desert when compared… ;))

Olivier,
Ce n’est pas vrai; Jusqu’à 2002 je voyageais beaucoup plus…

Cutie,
Great to see you commenting here for the first time, I think. Thanks!

Sue,
If you weren’t there, a relative was… Great travellers in the family!!

Pietro,
Festos is great. Only Knossos exceeds it, but it has too much work by Arthur Evans… ;)

Kyh,
Good taste!

Nihal,
Thanks for your comments and tips, as well as for the help to handle the Antalya posts; it will take some time, however: I’m still around September 2007… ;)
I’m sure you would be able to write 1000 words or more on Girit, and it would surely be a great text, having read yours at Crossroads! And Congrats on the first anniversary of
Your Crossroads blog!!

Pat,
Start packing!

Tinsie,
Zig-zag? I thought you were talking about the Gortyna Code… ;))

Norman,
My pleasure to drive you here…

Lucie,
C’est vrai que les paysages autour des ruines ne sont pas trop aménagées; mais ça est peut-être plus intéressant comme ça…
À Agia Galini je crois que c’est Icare…

Ingrid,
Lara,
It was great and I would love to get there again…

Shionge,
Anyhow, start packing…

Leo,
Never say never!

Lori,
It’s a great place to visit, but I’m suspect: always want to get back to the places I visited… The problem is that I also want to visit all the others where I’ve never been to… ;)

Indrani,
My pleasure!

Eye in the sky,
Thanks!

Jo,
The pool was closed at night, but the beach wasn’t… ;))

Melissa,
Start packing, at least all the info you need… ;))

Ming,
Crete has much more than one would suspect! ;)

Catherine,
That Gortyna Code was the main reason why I made the whole road from Heraklion to Agia Galini… ;)

Jo's-D-Eyes said...

yeh Rethymon is the place where we have been also, thinking back of R. with good memories, just looking at your blog are bringing back the GOOD feeling ....the sea air and nice restaurants,

Happy times in GREECE:)

Anonymous said...

JoAnn,
Thanks! Those happy times were in 2007... ;))