Near Rethymno the Mili gorge was once filled with mills producing the flour for the island, nowadays, there are only some ruins left, but the gorge provides a nice walk along the river. Afterwards, we visited one of the most important monasteries of Crete: Arkadi monastery.
At the entrance to the gorge we found a parking along the road, which was easy, as we were the only ones there. In summer that might be different. From there we descended into the valley and followed the path down the stream. (Parking: 35.337589, 24.503921)
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| Strolling through history |
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| Cliff consisting of pebbles, somehow held together |
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| Old mill |
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| Some bridges had been destroyed by the river during the last winter |
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| Rocks had tumbled down onto the path – very reassuring |
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| Destroyed bridge |
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| Chapel built under the cliff |
After our hike, we drove to the Arkadi monastery, which is also not far from Rethymno. The route took us through narrow villages again, and we wondered how they manage with all the tourist buses going to the monastery in summer. We are always on high alert as soon as we reach a village. You never know how narrow it gets.
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| Outer wall of the monastery |
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| Monastery church with its beautiful front |
The monastery was established in the 16th century. After the Ottoman conquest of Rethymno in 1646 the monastery maintained some of its privileges, such as the right to use church bells. The Ottomans plundered the monastery several times and in 1866 during a siege by the Ottoman army the defenders blew up the gunpowder magazine to save women and children from slavery.
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| Monastery museum |
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| Monks cell |
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| The arrow at the tree indicates the bullet still stuck there |
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| Monastery life |
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| Refectory |
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| Cretan resistance fighters |
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| Flower of the Day |
