Myths & Minoans

Fly from London Gatwick to Heraklion, the capital of Crete, and transfer to the central, 5-star Hotel Aquila Atlantis Hotel for a four-night stay.

Visit the old harbour, the port for Knossos in ancient times, fortified in the Middle Ages, and bookended by Venetian buildings, the Fort at the tip, the arsenal at the rear. A walking tour of Heraklion includes the Archaeological Museum, replete with Minoan artefacts from vases and murals to the black stone Bull Head, enigmatic Phaestos Disc, iconic Double Axe, and Gold Bee Pendant; the stately exterior of the Venetian Loggia, now the superbly restored Town Hall; and a trio of churches, St. Titus and St. Markos both with a chequered church/mosque past; and the huge 19thcentury Cathedral of Agios Minas, the city’s patron saint, dwarfing the adjacent original chapel (‘Little St. Minas’) founded in 1735.
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Visit the Palace of Knossos, the maze of the minotaur and the jewel in Crete’s crown. Excavated (and controversially reconstructed) in 1878, by British archaeologist Arthur Evans, the 1700BC palace displays impressive artistry in statuary and frescoed halls, and advanced architectural technology with its light wells and complex water supply /drainage systems. Drive into the hills to historic Archanes, peppered with churches, heroic against the Ottomans in the revolt of 1897, and used as the German army headquarters in 1944, when Cretan resistance fighters and British Special Operations abducted the German commander, Kreipe, the audacious tale recounted in the book (and film) ‘Ill Met by Moonlight’. Enjoy a cooking demonstration with a tasting of local food and wine.
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Visit the archaeological site of Gortys, the Roman capital of Crete, its most notable ruins and relics including the Odeon temple of music; the Byzantine Basilica of St. Titus, the first bishop of Crete; and the Law Code of Gortys, 5thcentury BC texts, carved in the Great Inscription, and surprisingly liberal. Continue to Phaestos, the second-largest Minoan palace, built across two terraces, un-reconstructed, and looking out to the Messara plain and the Ida Mountains. Its most famous find, the Phaestos Disc, is still intriguingly undeciphered. Just 3km away, see the remains of the Minoan villa in Agia Triada.
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Travel to Margarites, a picturesque village with pottery shops and studios in its twisting streets. Visit the Museum of Ancient Eleftherna, a very modern structure with artefacts from 3000BC to 1300AD; continue to Arkadi Monastery, a working abbey and legendary landmark of the 1866 rebellion against the Turks, its 12th-century walls encircling 16th-century Renaissance architecture and a Venetian belfry; and to peaceful Patsos Gorge, where a former temple to Hermes and to Pan, god of the forests, is now the ‘miraculous’ chapel of St. Anthony, built in the mouth of a large cave, where a spring is said to carry holy water. Continue to Rethymnon for three nights at the 4-star Theartemis Palace.
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A walking tour of Rethymnon takes you into the Renaissance ‘old town’ area, a vibrant cluster of cobbled lanes, passing timbered façades, ornate balconies, historic churches and fountain-side cafés. Visit the Historical and Folklore Museum, filling a restored Venetian townhouse with displays of local life and crafts in days gone by, and telling heroic tales of Greek resistance in World War ll. This evening, enjoy a cocktail at the hotel’s Gin Bar.
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Travel to Profitis Ilias mountain, to view the Archaeological Site of 13thcentury BC city, Aptera, with a 5thcentury BC temple, Roman tombs, and a Byzantine monastery; the 19thcentury Ottoman fort, built using stones from the site; and the tombs of Eleftherios Venizelos, the most significant politician of modern Greece, and his son, Sofoklis, set beside the 16thcentury Profitis Ilias church, in a pine shaded park, with panoramic views of the White Mountains, Chania plains and Cretan Sea. Continue to the Commonwealth War Cemetery, on Souda Bay, where almost all of the 1,507 graves are those of British and allied servicemen killed in the 1944 Battle of Crete; and to Tzagarolon Monastery, on the Akrotiri peninsula, founded in 1634, home to the triple-domed Holy Trinity church, and as beautiful as it is important as an historic and religious hub. Conclude the tour in Chania, built on the ruins of the Minoan city Kydonia, for free time to explore the fabulous 14thcentury Old Town and waterfront.
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Transfer to Heraklion airport for the return flight to London Gatwick.
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