Day 21- Rethymnon

The western swing of our Cretan tour brought us to the Holy Monestery of Arkadi, sitting about 500 m above sea level several miles from the sea coast.

This monestery was built originally in the 13th century by a monk named Arkadios, and was restored during the 16th. However, the real history of this site occurred on November 9, 1866, known as the holocaust of this area.

This beautiful church in the center of the square courtyard is the direct result of the 16th and 19th centuries restorations following the Cretan Revolution from the Turks, who had been dominating the island in the centuries prior to 1866.

See the white arrow in the middle of this cyprus tree? These are the remnants of a bullet stuck in the wood, dating back to the Revolution of 1866. This bullet was certainly fired from a Turkish firearm as their army surrounded the monestery, not knowing what was coming their way from the Cretans.

Here is a reconstruction of the powder room where the Cretans had stored most of their gunpowder and ammunition during the battle. When the Turks invaded, the Cretans all took refuge in this room of the monestery. Once the invaders came close enough to the entrance, they "sought their freedom" by exploding the rest of the powder in theroom, killing all the Cretans and a vast majority of the Turks. It is this holocaust that marked a change in the battle for independence, as it unified the remaining Cretan forces against the Turks and marked a change in relations between Greeks and Turks, a change that has brought tensions between the two ever since.

This prayer room contains remains from the 1866 raid, all of which have have been restored beautifully!

This ossuary (directly translates from Greek to bone room), is a memorial to all those Cretans that perished that November day. And yes, those are real skulls in those cases, including any other skeletal remains from the powder rook, including femurs and other bone fragments.

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I guess the pottery grows on trees in Margarite!

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Way off in the distance is Mount Psiloritis, the tallest mountain on Crete as part of the White Mountain range on the west side of the island.

And let's just take in the view of the sea and the valley!

For the highlights, take a look at the candids section! I uploaded a bunch of photos the other day and more will be up tonight!

For now, ECGT signing off!