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At the small Byzantine church of Agios Ioannis, located near the entrance of the village, starts the footpath that leads to the Minoan sanctuary Traostalos. The Agios Ioannis church lies in front of the cemetery of the village and has an odd shape and a special frame around its door. The sanctuary lies between Azokeramos and Kato Zakros. We started walking when we saw the sign at the church because we thought that the shrine would be on top of the hill in front of us, but when we were on the top (a steep climb), and when we were around it, it was clear that the path went all to the next, even higher mountain. The sanctuary is in fact on the other side of this next, higher mountain. I understand that you do the tour with a car because the road is wide but is is also quite bad (rocks, bumps, etcetera). You could give it a try if you wanted to. In any case there are places where you can turm the car around and go back if you don't want to continuw, but I would definitely not recommend it. We have not finished the hike because it was just too far (and we didn't bring water). Along the way you do have the most beautiful views of green valleys with small villages in it, the mountains and the sea. Altogether, the distance between the church and the sanctuary at Azokeramos is approximately 5 kilometer and up and down two mountains. The sanctuary is located at 520 meters altitude on the top of Mount Traostalos. Remember that you have to walk back again as well.
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