Crete: Fortezza Rethymnon, Archeaological Museum, Town Tour, Arkadi Monastery

Checkpoint!

Day three in Crete!

We left Heraklio late on day two, and headed for the town of Rethymno. This was also our last official touring day. Our first stop was to the Fortress of Fortezza Rethymnon. This fortress is essentially a much enlarged idea of the Byzantium fortress in Heraklion.

Tomb stone

Mosque

This structure has been restored and is an active part of the town. Concerts and other events are held there. There were old rooms and tunnels to explore as we were told about the strategic way at which it was set up. There were four corners with posts for them to be able to  communicate. There were even old houses that are in the process of being overgrown, as people no longer live in this area. There was a beautiful Mosque there as well. It was build over a church when the fort changed hands (one of many times). There was also a room full of old tomb stones and such. It was literally my favorite part! The tunnels were eerie to see. There were also overgrown secret entrances that are now closed off, but still cool to see.

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the Password is "Fortezza"

Sarcophagus

Next, we visited another Archaeology museum. This museum had only a small display, and a large part of it was still unpublished, so again, we were not able to take many photos. There were still some very cool sarcophagi there. These peoples would bury their dead in caves. The new body would be placed in some of these coffins and left there. However, once another death occurred, the bones would be removed and added to a pile. And the new body would take its place. Kind of morbid in comparison to how we go about handling the dead. 

Fusion

Afterwards, we were given a quick tour of the town. The most interesting part was that you could still see the mixture of Phoenician and Turkish structures. There were many buildings that had stone or clay first stories, but then had additional stories in wood (which would have been the Turkish influence). After the tour, we were given a break for lunch and a swim, if we so desired. Which of course, we did!

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The password is, "RethymnoMuseum"

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The password is, "RethymnoTown"

The Church is Regal

Students in the Gunpowder Magazine

Our last stop of the day was to the Arkadi Monastery. This monastery is still functional. It produces some of the best Raki in Crete. (Raki is essentially Cretan moonshine. Its customary to have it with meals. If its offered to you, its considered rude to refuse. In my opinion its like sipping death, its so strong. But here, you don't take shots like in America. You're supposed to sip it, even if its in a shot glass) The church here is a mixture of Phoenician and Renaissance influences. If you weren't wearing a skirt, they gave you a scarf to tie around your waist. This Monastery has some eerie history tied to it. When the Turks invaded Crete in November of 1866, the people knew that they would be persecuted for their religion. When the Turks came and tried to invade the Arkadi Monastery, they tried to fight the Turks off, about 15000 troops. It was useless. There were about 900, about 2/3 women, children, and elderly taking refuge in the monastery at that time, not really able to defend themselves. So they made a DRASTIC decision. The 900 of them holed up in the gun powder magazines and blew themselves up. They chose death over religious prosecution. The explosion claimed about 1500 Turkish soldiers. Only about 120 women and children survived this. The survivors were taken to prison, suffering horrible conditions, until the Russians liberated them. Many students went into the reconstructed gun powder magazine, but there was a small group of us that chose to stay out. I fully believe that such a tragedy marked that space, and the eerie presence was overwhelming. I could not bring myself to enter.  

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The password is, "Arkadi"

Crete: Knossos, Heraklio Archaeology Museum and town tour

Shadow Dancers

Day two in Crete!

Throne Room. (Original)

Day two in Crete started bright and early. Knossos is arguably the most well preserved/reconstructed Minoan palaces Crete has on display. Arguably. Arthur Evans began excavating in 1900, and did the majority of it in 4 years. Knossos was a gold mind of finds. Everything from wall painting to ritualistic figures were found among the Palaces ruins.  The buildings we see today are not building from antiquity. These are structures that Evans and his team theorized on and reconstructed to help give the public an idea of what it might have looked like back then. Unfortunately, there are flaws with this reconstruction. For one, his team wasn't consistent in the materials they used to reconstruct. Thus, it is difficult to get a unified idea of whats going on. Secondly, the grand staircase was reconstructed according what would be safer for the crew, rather than what was actually there. (You can't reeeeally blame him for that one.) Lastly, wall painting were poorly dealt with and poorly reconstructed. Its virtually impossible to figure out how the pieces might have been put together now, but regardless of that, the copies of the reconstructions were not placed according to where in the Palace they were found. They just kind of picked places randomly. Anne, our Professor-tour-guide, apparently wrote her dissertation, which remains unpublished to this day, on the poor reconstruction of Knossos. Evidently, it was too controversial. All things aside, it was massive and very cool to see.

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The password is "Knossos"  

Crystal Vase

For Libations.

Snake Goddess'

Our next adventure for the day was the Heraklio Archaeological Museum. This museum, unfortunately, only was displaying about a fifth of what it actually has. It has been under construction since 1993 or 1994. It displayed its best Mycenaean and Minoan pieces. This museum, as a whole, is over flowing with material. A lot of it is poorly conserved and displayed. Because 3/4 of the material is unpublished, we had to refrain from photographing certain things to closely or at all. Either way, there was some incredible things to see!

This Crystal vase was an incredible find. It was in thousands of pieces, and a conservator spent years reconstructing it. It's beautiful and delicate. Anne told us that when the conservator finally went to move it, he accidentally dropped it, sending the thousands of pieces scattering once again. So he had to put it BACK together. The bull pictured is actually hollow from behind. Its a ceremonial piece, used in libations to the gods. A lot of gods find the bull to be a sacred animal, and usually prefer those as sacrifices. This piece would probably be used in cult ceremonies. Whatever liquid was being offered would be poured in the back of the head and would come out through the nostrils. In the middle photo are relics called Snake Goddess'. If my memory serves, these were found in/around the Throne room of Knossos. Again, used for ritualistic purposes, they're thought to have some maternal qualities.

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The password is "Heraklio"

Byzantine Fortress

We ended the day with a tour of Heraklio. Heraklio has a wonderful history, due to its place on Crete. Its natural harbor made it a target, as trade was an important part of why the area was so successful. Right on the Pier, a 4th century Byzantium fortification still sits. We sat around the beach, as our professors explained how Crete and Heraklio changed hands often because of where the island is located in the Aegean sea. 

The Church

We saw several other historical places. One was a grand church. Build in Byzantium times, it changed hands between Orthodox and Roman Catholics. Now, the church is fully functional, and displays a mixture of Byzantium/Roman Catholics/Orthodox traits. 

We saw old ship yards and the Lions fountain, which used to be much more grand in ancient times. Heraklio was a charming, lively town. The energy was very different from the hustle and bustle of Athens. It was a nice change of pace for a few days!

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The password is "HeraklioTown"