Lakkoi (), commonly spelled Lakki on road signs and maps, is a village on the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

island 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 the foothills of the

Lefka Ori Lefka Ori (, meaning 'White Mountains') or Madares ( from the Cretan Greek meaning 'without coverage, bald, bare of any vegetation for high mountain areas') is a mountain range located in Western Crete, in the Chania prefecture. The White Mounta ...

(White Mountains). The village is situated on the road between

Chania Chania (, , ), also sometimes romanization of Greek, romanized as Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania (regional unit), Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno ...

and the plateau of

Omalos Omalos () is a small village in western Crete, in the Mousouroi unit of the Chania region. The Greek word Ομαλός means even, plain, regular, or smooth, referring to the plateau. Description Omalos is situated at the northeastern corner ...

which leads to the

Samaria Gorge The Samariá Gorge ( or just ''Φάραγγας'') is a National Park of Greece since 1962 on the island of Crete – a major tourist attraction of the island – and a World's Biosphere Reserve. The gorge is in southwest Crete in the reg ...

Geography

Lakkoi is 450 metres high, below the White Mountains which rise another 1,000 metres to the south. Most of the houses cling to steep slopes covered in

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

and

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...

trees, reached through narrow roads or tracks that run down from the main square. The climate is cool in winter, with occasional snow, wet in spring, hot and dry in the summer. In the unusually dry summer of 2007, major brush fires broke out twice, burning about and threatening the village itself.

Economy

Traditionally the villagers have cultivated olives and raised goats, sheep and chickens. With limited work opportunities, the population has declined from a peak of around 2,000 to 219 (2021 census). There are signs of growth as houses are being purchased and renovated by citizens of other

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

countries seeking low-cost retirement or vacation homes.

History

The first historical mention of the village dates from 1263, when the Lakkoi chieftain Pentachtenis took part in a revolt against the Venetians. In a later revolt in 1570 the chieftain George Mousouris became Secretary General of the rebel forces, based in the nearby village of Meskla. After the Ottoman

conquest Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or Coercion (international relations), coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or ...

of the island, the people of Lakkoi were involved in periodic revolts, notably the revolt of 1821-1828 during the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

, where an Ottoman army of 5,000 men led by Latif Pasha of

was routed in a pitched battle at Lakki. In the great rebellion of 1866-1869 Katerina Stamataki of Lakkoi was a distinguished woman revolutionary. During the

Battle of Crete The Battle of Crete (, ), codenamed Operation Mercury (), was a major Axis Powers, Axis Airborne forces, airborne and amphibious assault, amphibious operation during World War II to capture the island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May ...

in May 1941 and the days that followed, four hundred and eighty five men and women resisted the German occupiers, and sixty eight Lakkoiotes lost their lives in the fight for the freedom of Greece.

Notable people

Theodoros Koukoulakis Theodoros Koukoulakis (Greek language, Greek: ''Θεόδωρος Κουκουλάκης'', c. 1879 – 1909 ) was a Greeks, Greek revolutionary and a minor leader of the Macedonian Struggle. Biography Koukoulakis was a member of a well-known ...

Manolis Mantakas Emmanouil or Manolis Mantakas (, Lakkoi, 1891 – Athens, 1968) was a Greek Army officer who rose to the rank of major general, and who became a leader in the Greek Resistance and a politician. Biography He was born in Lakkoi, Chania in 1891 ...

References

External links

Lakkoi Map Reference
{{Platanias div Populated places in Chania (regional unit) Platanias