Halfway on the Pathway ....

We were sitting quietly in the marina at Agios Nikalaos, when the peace was suddenly interrupted with the loud call "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie...". Yes, our guests from Australia, my mother and sister, had arrived and were announcing their presence with the native galah bird-call.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie

We had travelled down from a week at anchor at Spinalonga lagoon to meet them, and were extremely pleased that they had made the long journey from Australia, via Athens, to our little anchorage in Crete.

Kritsa, a Cretan village

Crete is a long way from the Cyclades islands where we'd been cruising, it is the most southern and eastern point of Greece that we intended to visit. So in that sense, it was 'halfway on our pathway' through Greece. It was the nadir turnaround point. We'd made a long overnight sail to get here, and would make an even longer sail, bucking the prevailing winds to leave. But that's not the point of the title....

A gaggle of galah's?

Crete is not really a sailing destination, its long coastline does not offer much in the way of sheltered bays or protected anchorages. So we indulged in the luxury of a marina berth for 6 nights, and decided to explore Crete by car.

Southern wing of the 'Palace' of Knossos.

First point of call on our circumnavigation was Knossos. By now, Megan and I have seen a great many ancient sites, and are somewhat jaded. However, Knossos was distinctly different in two ways, which created interest for us.

View to central courtyard

Firstly, it was organized around the point, rather than the line. Roman ruins, such as Ephesus in Turkey, and the Forum in Rome are organized around the prototypical street, a straight line. There is a sense of the main promenade, a thoroughfare, a processional axis, that the rest of the town accretes around.

Processional street-like quality of the Forum in Rome

There is often a feeling that grand events, such as an army or an emperor arriving, was accompanied by a processional march through the town. Shops, alleys, public buildings, dwellings all sprout from this main axis. Same idea in Greek ruins, such as Heiropolis atop the travertine pools in Pamukkale. The organization is around the central line,  the street.

Rectalinear organisation of Fastos

Knossos, from the much earlier Minoan civilisation, was organized differently; around a point. The central feature of the ruins both at Knossos and Fastos is a quadrangle. The proto-cities of the Minoan culture appeared more around being somewhere, rather than going somewhere. It may represent an evolution in the meme behind the city, from looking inwards to a center of control, to looking outwards, on the way to somewhere else. From contraction to expansion. Anyway, it makes a good story.

Courtyard structures at Knossos

Pithoi, large Minoan storage containers.

Pithoi, with Megan as scale factor.

 It also lead Arthur Evans, the primary archeologist, to postulate the idea that Minoan culture centered around a Palace, with a ruling monarchy. This lead to speculation that some 'rooms' were the King's or Queen's throne room, along with a whole supposed organizational structure.

The supposed 'Queen Room' at Knossos

A Minoan column?

This led to my second observation regarding Knossos, concerning the way in which archeology has evolved. Knossos has a level of reconstruction that is really the creation of Arthur Evans. It feels like his particular fantasy has literally concretized the interpretation of what Knossos was.

An idealized re-creation of a Minoan column

Faux wood beams have been reconstructed from concrete, walls replastered and columns rebuilt.

The 'Kings Room'

Whole temple edifices have been reconstructed. But is this really how Knossos, or Fastos was organised? Megan, with her historical background, has commented on historiography: the study of the process of recording history. In Evan's time, with wild and exotic stories of ancient civilisations such as Eygpt, it seemed proper to paint the entire picture, fill in the details. But now, in an age more sensitive to nuanced interpretation and detailed examination of data, it feels gross to present the ancient city as Evan's imagined it.

Extreme reconstruction!

A particularly contrived example of reconstruction

Whole temple reconstruction

Original limestone fragment with Evan's imagined container.

It feels like Evan's interpretation has been forced on Knossos for all time, and it feels fake and forced. I prefer later reconstructions, such as Ephesus, that may rebuild fallen structures to 'sketch' what the environment may have been like.  I did enjoy some of the reconstructed Minoan artworks however!

Minoan painting

Reconstructed Minoan painting

 From Knossos, we travelled to Rythimon. We planned to take a photo of Phoenix, the boat belonging to our friends Jennifer and Mathias, so that we could email it to them. We thought they were still in the USA, caring for Mathias' father who had taken ill. It was a great surprise when we found them at home. They had just arrived the previous day.

The photo of Phoenix we thought we'd take

Surprise, look who's home!

High point was the harbour in Chania, on Crete's north eastern shore. This old port was intriguing and full of atmosphere. It was enough just to sit and breath it all in.

The port at Chania

Lighthouse at the port in Chania

Another view of the harbour

Chania also illustrated another layer of Cretan history. Crete was home to the first civilization in Europe, but it has successively been host to Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman invasion. Of these, Chania has superb examples of Venetian architecure from 1205 to 1665. In this time, it was known as the 'Kingdom of Candia'.

Venetian style narrow windows and doors.

More Venetian windows and doors

The dominion of Crete by the Venetians, ceded to it after the partition of Byzantine following the 4th Crusades, exposed it to Renaissance art and architecture. Best known exemplar may have been the artist El Greco. Influences from this period seemed plentiful in the gorgeous architecture around Chania.

Round Venetian columns supporting the building.

From Chania, we travelled down the wild southern coast, through tortuous roads that followed the mountains tumbling into the sea.

Southern coast of Crete

View of the southern coast.

Galah's in the mountains!

We stopped at an old Venetian castle at Fragokastello that had a tale of a battle fought against the Turks. In 1828, it served as a fortification for Epirote chief Hatzimichalis Dalianis. After his death, the Turks blew up the castle, and according to legend, the bodies were never buried. The myth now is that every year on 18th May, the anniversary of the battle,  the "Drosoulites" wake up, and their shadows crawl up the walls of the castle to disappear through the gates of the castle. Who said Cretans weren't superstitious.

Castle Frago, built 1371 AD.

Are there ghosts of past warriors lurking in those shadows?

But the title for our story comes from the town of Spili, in the middle of the southern coast.

Dreaming of higher things?

My mother, bless her cotton socks, is somewhat of a Christian believer, in contrast to the stark atheism of Megan and myself. So I couldn't resist making a jibe on this sign, that gave the directions to the 'Pathway to the Holy Spirit'. It is the kind of spiritual road-map that could only exist in Greece.

And here is the blessed road itself.

Stairway to Heaven?

Our happy seeker, with joy in her heart, prepares for the ascent.

The Pilgrim prepares for the ascent.

So that was our little tour of Crete. Halfway on the pathway?  But do we really know the final destination.....

The village of Spili.