Kritsa () is one of the oldest and most picturesque

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

s in

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 ...

, Greece, built amphitheatrically on a rock hill, named Kastellos, surrounded by olive groves, at an altitude of 375 m. It is part of the municipality of Agios Nikolaos. During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, it was thought to be the largest village in Crete. Kritsa has been destroyed many times during the last centuries because it participated in all of Crete's revolutions. It is located 10 km from Agios Nikolaos and has about 2200 inhabitants who live in different neighborhoods named Palemilos, Koukistres, Christos and Pergiolikia.

History

Kritsa has an extensive historic record with evidence of occupation as early as the second millennium

BCE Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the o ...

. Near the village, three kilometers to the north, are the ruins of the

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

city

Lato Lato () was an ancient city of Crete, the ruins of which are located approximately 3 km from the village of Kritsa. History The Dorian city-state was built in a defensible position overlooking Mirabello Bay between two peaks, both of ...

, which was noted as one of the most powerful Dorian towns in Crete, with two acropoleis. The oldest settlement in the Kritsa area, on the steep rocky hill south of the village named ''Kastellos'', dates back to the 13–12th centuries BCE ( Late Minoan IIIC). Lato is thought to may have been founded when Kastellos was abandoned. Before the entrance of the village is the old Byzantine Church of Panagia Kera with unique, in technique and importance, Byzantine

frescos Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting becom ...

(13th and 14th centuries CE).Maria Vasilakē, ''Images of the Mother of God: Perceptions of the Theotokos in Byzantium'', 2005, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., - pp. xxxii, 383

Sights and handicrafts

Gatm 2006-05-18 07 Greece Crete Panagia Kera

When Kritsa is lit up in the evening it has the form of a scorpion. Old Cretan customs and traditions are kept alive, and Kritsa is considered one of the most important centers of weaving art. The narrow streets are visited by tourists. From Kritsa there is an interesting and spectacular climb to the

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

Katharo Katharo is a plateau on the Dikti mountain on the island of Crete, in the regional unit of Lasithi. Administratively it belongs to the municipality of Agios Nikolaos, (municipal division of Kritsa). It is from Kritsa (asphalt road) and from Mesa ...

, which provides a panoramic view of

Mirabello Bay Mirabello Bay (also ''Bay/Gulf of Mirabello/Mirabella'') is an embayment of the Sea of Crete on the eastern part of Crete in present-day Greece. It is the largest bay of the Greek islands and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean Sea. The tourist ...

, Agios Nikolaos and Kalo Horio. The Kritsa Gorge is located on the route to Tapes or to

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Lasithi Agios Nikolaos, Crete Populated places established in the 2nd millennium BC