If you drive east along the coast from Sitia you will see a little village at the sea side from the distance which looks different somehow. Something looks wrong, somehow lost. We stopped at the closed gate to explore the story of the “Dionysos Village” …
Google gave us some hints: The place was built years ago as a 5-star hotel with individual designed flats and financed with a “time-share” model to a lot of different investors.
We could find some quotes on TripAdvisor from hotel guests up to 2016. Some comments on the net explain that the management left the project with the funds and the business model collapsed for the investors.
 |
| doesn’t look bad, but no people around |
 |
| Some of the houses need more than new paint |
 |
| Main square |
 |
| Sales office “closed” |
 |
| A model of the complex seen through the window of the sales office |
 |
| Water dripping in … |
 |
| Pools waiting for maintenance |
 |
| Overgrown path |
But we found some people living there and restoring their property in the complex, even a dog and a cat watched us walking around.
 |
| The souvenir shop |
 |
| The pharmacy just closed …. |
 |
| Flower of the day |
I was there today (May 31, 2024)
Nature did the work: there´s nothing left than ruins. Modern archeology,
It’s a bit scary to walk around there. Had a ‘Walking Dead’ feeling.
We also were here today (21.06.2024). That place is very creepy but some people live here. You can see which houses are inhabited, as only these have been renovated. But nature is reclaiming the rest of the village.
Wij waren er ook in 2024. Vergane glorie maar wij vonden het niet eng. Sommige huizen waren bewoond en je kan nog zien hoe mooi het geweest moet zijn. Mooiexervaring om er eens rond te lopen.