In the footsteps of antiquity and the resistance fighters on Crete - Eleutherna and Arkadi Monastery

Quite spontaneously, we decided at breakfast to take a trip to Eleutherna, a place that already existed in ancient times.

A modern museum nearby provides information about the discoveries made by Greek researchers in the late 20th century.

On the way from the museum to the excavation site we were delayed a bit: a herd of sheep had decided to use the road as well and so we had to wait before we could continue.

The herd also seemed to be traveling alone without any human guidance.

We started in ancient Eleutherna and first hiked up the mountains to a partially preserved defense tower (perhaps from the 2nd century BC).

The entrance to the former aqueduct was somewhat hidden.

Once you had passed through the somewhat narrower opening, you could easily walk along the passage and trace the former path of the water for a while.

A little further on we made a detour to the ruins of the Byzantine church of Saint Anne from the 9th-13th century AD.

Not far away we came across the remains of the acropolis of the ancient city that flourished here between 3000 BC and 1645 AD.

Up to this point we had not climbed many metres in altitude and were now faced with the decision of returning the same way or descending into the valley.

We decided to descend to hike to a bridge dating back to the 2nd century BC.

This one is still surprisingly stable (in contrast to some modern bridges in Germany) and allowed us to cross the river.

We sat down by the river for our lunch break and ate with a view of the old building.

Since we were now completely in the valley, the way back was mostly uphill.

We also passed the necropolis from 1100 BC - 150 AD.

However, the excavations are still ongoing and some parts, such as the necropolis, were not accessible to visitors.

We were still able to take a look at the old buildings through the fence.

We followed the fairly well signposted path (signs indicated which sites were in which direction) and came to the fountain of the ancient city.

A little further on we came across the cisterns in which water supplies were stored perhaps in 700 BC.

These were impressively large and one could walk through the large rooms, although a flashlight was helpful for the rear areas.

Near Eleutherna lies the Arkadi Monastery, one of the most famous sights in Crete.

The monastery was founded in the 13th century by a monk named Arkadios.

It became famous because it played an important role in the Cretan uprising of 1866 against Turkish rule.

The abbot, women and children had barricaded themselves in the powder magazine. Because the men died defending the monastery complex, all hope was lost for those trapped inside.

To avoid being kidnapped, the abbot set fire to the gunpowder supplies and the entire magazine exploded, and only a few survived the explosion. Self-sacrifice became a symbol of freedom (“freedom or death”).

We saw not only the powder magazine, which was never fully renovated and still reminds us of the deaths of those trapped there, but also the rest of the monastery complex.

A bullet from the battle of 1866 is still stuck in an old cypress tree.

The two-aisled monastery church is dedicated to Saints Constantine and Eleni and dates back to 1587.

There are currently four monks living in the monastery who have their private rooms in the inaccessible monks' cells.

A door on the side was open and a visitor went in before us. So we thought that a cell was accessible for exhibition purposes. Behind the door, however, one of the monks greeted us very kindly and had a short chat with us. Now we are not sure whether we accidentally ended up in a private room rather than an exhibition room...

From the monastery we went back to the hotel.