Kato Symi () is a small historic village of

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

, in Heraklion regional unit, from

Ierapetra Ierapetra (; ancient name: ) is a Greece, Greek city and municipality located on the southeast coast of Crete. History The town of Ierapetra (in the local dialect: Γεράπετρο ''Gerapetro'') is located on the southeast coast of Crete, sit ...

and from

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

city. Today it belongs to Viannos municipality and borders the Ierapetra municipality. It lies about above sea level, south of Mount Dikti in a verdant mountainous area, which is probably the most wooded of Crete. Near the village, at an altitude of , lies the ancient sanctuary of

Hermes Hermes (; ) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology considered the herald of the gods. He is also widely considered the protector of human heralds, travelers, thieves, merchants, and orators. He is able to move quic ...

and

Aphrodite Aphrodite (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and ...

. It is dated from the middle Minoan period and had been used for worship for more than 1,000 years. Kato Simi has been destroyed three times, by Arabs, Turks and finally by the German army in World War II, when it was the center of resistance of the Viannos–Ierapetra area against the Nazi occupying forces.

References

External links

The Minoan religious sanctuary at Simi
Populated places in Heraklion (regional unit) Viannos {{Crete-geo-stub