Cretan Villages

Cretan villages are pleasing to the eye and the soul.

Stone walls curve and lean comfortably into the contours of the land as do the flat-roofed white cottages while domed churches dominate the highest point.

Winding lanes and stone steps lead outwards from the village square shaded by a spreading plane tree. There is always a “kafenion” where old men sit on rickety chairs discussing politics, the olive crop or the lateness of the rains to the sound of gushing water, a mountain spring leaping from the open mouths of Venetian stone lions.