Matala to Hora Sfakion

Matala to Hora Sfakion, Crete, Greece, 16 October 2018.

(Click on any image to see it in a larger size, if you are on a PC or tablet at least.)

The map shows the journey for the day, from Matala at bottom right to Sougia at the left. There are two posts for this though and this post covers the journey from Matala to Hora Sfakion.

Another of the wonderful miniature roadside shrines.

Modern church against a dramatic landscape.

Curious structure on a hill. Probably not ancient.

Village from the road at a distance.

Much of the early part of this trip was off the main road in the mountains of the interior. Some of it made for an interesting driving experience. The approach to one village included a road on the walls of a small valley for several hundred metres with only one lane, no passing bays and blind corners. Fortunately I encountered no other traffic there.

Another, larger village across a valley from a greater distance.

In another, the road through a village was so narrow that villagers had to step into doorways to let us go by. A video camera inside the windscreen might have recorded some interesting sequences.

Four goats beside the road.

A village and its church.

We stopped for petrol here and this is a church across from the petrol station.

A distant church on top of a hill.

A ruined castle. It has gun ports, so not Byzantine and probably Venetian.

Another remote church on the same ridge as the castle.

Another village and its church.

I think this has to be Byzantine. It is from the church in the next image.

Ancient church in Kardaki described (in Greek) in Google Maps as “Holy Temple”.

The remote interior.

Kotsifou Canyon.

I marked this on the map not because of its significance but because I photographed the road sign so can identify where it is.

Not far after Kotsifou Canyon, this is a distant view of Plakias on the south coast.

We are now in Hora Sfakion and at the back of the town there are old buildings in a variety of states of disrepair.

Inside this cave is the tiny Church of St Anthony. We didn’t go up to have a look and I think there was a sign at the bottom saying closed.

This is why we came here – to have lunch in a picturesque seaside location.

… and the old buildings provided additional interest.

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There is a second beach a bit further along.

And the narrow streets offer a challenge for truck drivers.

The village prospered during Venetian and Ottoman occupations and must have once been much larger as it is claimed it once had a hundred churches (which probably just means many). During World War II though, it was the point of evacuation of allied forces to Egypt and was heavily damaged by German bombing which may still be the cause of the state of many of the derelict buildings.

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