Kritsa in Crete

The village of Kritsa is 8 kilometer south west of Agios Nikolaos. It is a traditional mountain village with lots of narrow streets and several Byzantine churches. From its position on the Kastella hill it looks out over the Bay of Mirabello. For tourism Kritsa heavely depends on the nearby 13th century Byzantine church of Panagia Kera. Most of the villagers still live from agricultural and garden products, but the rest of them has either opened a restaurant, or a lot of them have started weaving carpets, rugs, table cloths and clothing, which are hanging outside on the streets. The owners of the shops are usually old ladies that will try to stop you in the street as you walk by because they want you to have a look at their merchandise and hope to sell you some of it.

During the day time the village of Kritsa is overflown by a lot of tourists that want to taste the atmosphere of this Cretan village and want to take a look at the many souvenir shops. There are narrow streets with cobbles, old churches and beautiful views over the sea. There is also a wide choice of restaurants and kafenions in the village. Kritsa is actually quite pleasant. At the entrance of the village is the magnificent Byzantine church Panagia Kera, with its unique wall paintings (open 9.00 - 15.00, no free entree, forbidden to take pictures). Another attraction of Kritsa are the remains of the antique town of Lato, which is situated 4 kilometers north of the village.

The Panagia Kera church in Kritsa

One kilometer before the village of Kritsa, in the site named "Logari" is the old Byzantine church of "Panagia Kera", with unique in technique and importance Byzantine frescoes (14th and 15th century). The central aisle, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin, contains the oldest paintings which reflect a mixture of styles. The south aisle has the best-preserved paintings. In contrast to the more stylized paintings of the period, these paintings display a tenderness and humanity in their rendering of the story of Anna, the Virgin Mary's mother. The north aisle is dedicated to St. Anthony and has pictures representing the Second Coming. There was a 3 euro entrance fee to get into the church and you are not allowed to take any pictures. I suggest you take a look at the outside, peak in an than move on to other equal beautiful churches, like the one in Pirgos, if you want to take a look at equally nice frescoes for free. Also in the south west of Crete above Sougia and Paleochora there are countless Byzantine churches with their doors open, where you can walk in with your camera and make pictures if you want to.

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� Hans Huisman, http://www.angelfire.com/super2/greece/ 2012