The village of Kandanos on Crete
 
The first thing you will notice when Kandanos appears on the horizon is the very large church with two towers and a dome, that seems to dominate the whole village. Kandanos is the capital of Selino in the southwest of Crete. Situated about 16 kilometers north inland of Sougia and Paleochora, and 60 kilometres away from Chania. Kandanos receives the most rainfall of the island of Crete and a small river flows here all year 
round.
In spite of the fact that the village is a bit larger it still seems to have retained its Greek authenticity with a couple of nice squares, nice small houses and a number of shops and terraces where the inhabitants are chatting with eachother while drinking a Greek coffee. You will not see many tourists here.
Kandanos is home to a couple of nice churches and a World War II memorial monument. The village was almost completely demolished by the Gremans during the war because of their resistance to the invaders. When the Germans destroyed the town it was with the intention to do it in such a way that it could never be rebuilt again. Near Kandanos there are many interesting Byzantine churches, and some of them have interesting wallpaintings.
Kandanos is also the site of an old town and it was already inhabited in The Greek and Roman period. Remains from a very large building with mosaic floors from the 3d century AD have been found here. The town Kandanos was then eventually probably destroyed by the Arabs.
It is believed that one of the Byzantine churches close to Kandanos used to be the seat of the bishop.
|
Hans Huisman, https://www.angelfire.com/super2/greece/ 2007 2008