Ankara scribbler: September 2023

The next day, after a breakfast of cappuccino and bougatsa -- my favorite Greek breakfast -- we left the Bronze Age and instead visited a late medieval church near Kritsa; Lato, an ancient city located high in the mountains; and a Venetian fortress on a tiny island, Spinalonga.

The church (13th-14th centuries) dedicated to Panagia Kera, the Virgin Mary, is famous for its wall paintings. The church itself is small, but that's typical of churches from the Late Byzantine period. You walk inside a small building, plain and ordinary from the outside, to be plunged immediately into another world.

The religious imagery covering every available inch of surface, floor to ceiling, is overwhelming.

Surprisingly in this Orthodox church, St. Francis of Assisi is here, too -- a sign of the Italian influence which was strong on Crete.

I don't know why the frescoes in this church have survived so well over the centuries. Whatever the reason, it's a blessing.

Across from the church tourist shops abound.

I love the giant lemons.

Our next stop was Lato, a ruined city up in the mountains that was inhabited notably during the Classical and Hellenistic periods, 5th-3rd centuries BC. For defense, the site was great: a good view down to the seacoast, but discouragingly difficult for pirates to reach. And the city controlled the passes from central to eastern Crete, allowing it to dominate the region.

The ruins of stone buildings are spread over the hilltops. It looks like a modest city, without huge religious or civic buildings.

Daily life must have been a challenge: connecting with farm fields, transporting food and other items up & down, and conserving fresh water.

Excavations were conducted by French archaeologists in 1899/1900 and again from 1967-1972. I can imagine that the logistics of working here were difficult.

We were fascinated by an exotic flower, a rather menacing purple bloom emerging from a large plant. This, it turns out, is a Dragon arum (Dracunculus vulgaris). As you can imagine, we weren't tempted to give the flower a sniff, but this turned out to be a missed opportunity. We later learned later that it smells like rotting meat, to attract flies which will pollinate. Had we only known . . .

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After leaving Lato, we headed north toward Spinalonga. We soon became hopelessly lost in a tangle of poorly marked country roads. Eventually we emerged, finding the main east-west highway, and made it to Elounda, a small town north of Agios Nikolaos that has been developed for summer tourism.

I was determined to swim, even though I could feel a sore throat coming on. We parked by the municipal beach. In the back seat of our small car I managed to change into my bathing suit. In late April the water was bound to be cold and indeed, I was the only person out on the beach that afternoon. But after the initial shock, the water was perfect and I felt great! The beach was supplied with showers, but they weren't yet turned on, so I dried myself off and accepted that a salty self was my lot for the rest of the day.

Our last stop was the Venetian fort on the small island of Spinalonga. This was not on the tourist itinerary when I last visited Crete in 1989. I was eager to see it. The Venetians, who controlled Crete from 1205-1669, fortified Spinalonga in the late 16th century, part of their program to protect their Cretan possession against the threat of the Ottomans. The Ottomans did not seize Spinalonga until 1715, well after they had taken over the rest of Crete.

From 1903-1957, the island served as a leper colony, one of the last in Europe. Eventually, as the touristic potential of the island became clear, renovations were carried out and the island was opened for visitors.

The town opposite is Plaka. From here, a short boat ride brings you to the island. We caught the last boat of the day.

We had only 45 minutes to explore the island before the last boat returned to Plaka. Not nearly enough time: at least 2 hours would be needed. But we had no choice.