Akrotiri (Crete)
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Akrotiri Municipality Δημοτική Ενότητα Ακρωτηρίου (Ακρωτήρι) |
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| Basic data | |||
| State : |
 Greece
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| Region : |
Crete
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| Regional District : | Chania | ||
| Municipality : | Chania | ||
| Geographic coordinates : | 35 ° 32 ' N , 24 ° 8' E | ||
| Height above d. M .: | 0 to 528 m (Skloka) |
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| Area : | 112.644 km² | ||
| Residents : | 13,100 (2011) | ||
| Population density : | 116.3 inhabitants / km² | ||
| Code No .: | 740102 | ||
| Structure: | 5 localities | ||
| Located in the municipality of Chania and in the regional unit of Chania | |||
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Akrotiri ( Greek Ακρωτήρι ( n. Sg. ), Ger. 'Cape') is a 112 km² peninsula in the northwest of the Greek island of Crete . The peninsula's earlier names were Kiamon or Charaka in Byzantine times .
As part of the Greek municipal reform in 1997, the five municipalities were merged to form the municipality of Akrotiri, which in turn became part of the significantly enlarged municipality of Chania on January 1, 2011 , where it has been a municipality since then.
geography
Geographical location
The Akrotiri peninsula is located off the north coast of western Crete. The peninsula, which protrudes into the Cretan Sea in a drop shape, is connected to Crete in the south-west by a wide land bridge. Here lies Chania , the second largest city of Crete, in the west , and the port town of Souda in the east . The Souda Bay , which is closed off from the peninsula, is the largest natural harbor on the island.
The southwestern part of the peninsula is formed by a plateau that is 100 to 200 meters above sea level. This plateau ends in the west of the peninsula in the bay of Kalathas (Όρμος Καλάθας). The northeast part of the Akrotiri, on the other hand, is quite mountainous, the highest point of the peninsula is the mountain Skloka in the east with a height of 528 meters.
Community structure
The municipality of Akrotiri is formed from the localities
Economy and Infrastructure
The Akrotiri was originally purely agricultural, in the lower parts gardening and olive cultivation predominate. In recent times there has been a lot of construction, especially in the southwestern part near the coast, the relative proximity to the large city of Chania make this part of the peninsula an attractive residential area, the city of Chania is growing beyond its municipal boundaries to the area of the peninsula. In the same area, the tourism industry spreads near the beach. At Marathi, Kalathas and Stavros there are sandy beach bays. In addition to permanent residential development, entire “villages” of holiday apartments are also being built here.
traffic
Chania International Airport, named after the folk hero Daskalogiannis , is located on the plateau in the southern part of the Akrotiri peninsula. Along with Heraklion airport , it is the second most important airport in Crete. In the area of the airport and along the road connection to Souda and Chania, more and more businesses are settling.
Military base
In the south and east in the area of Souda Air Base and the militarily important Souda Bay there are several military restricted areas .
Today, the US military base with the official name US Naval Support Activity (NSA) also serves the NATO states time and again for global multinational operations, such as the Iraq war, Operation Enduring Freedom against global terrorism, in the Opération Harmattan during the military operation in Libya 2011 . Also nearby is the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operational Training Center-Hellas (NMIOTC), the NATO training center for maritime interventions. The NATO Missile Firing Installation (NAMFI firing range) is also located on the Akrotiri peninsula, northeast of Chania airport .
Culture and sights
Monasteries
- Moni Agia Triada (also Agios Triados Tsangarolon ) was built in 1631 on the southern edge of the northeastern mountain range of Akrotiri. It is a foundation dedicated to the Holy Trinity by two Venetian monks who had joined the Orthodox Church, the Giancarolo (Zangarola) brothers. They renovated an older monastery that had been given to them by a Mourtari family. The buildings, embedded in olive and orange groves, are built in the Venetian Renaissance style. They were rebuilt in 1830 after the monastery was burned down by the ruling Turks in 1821. Moni Agia Triada is directly subordinate to the Patriarchate of Constantinople .
- Moni Gouverneto (also Agiou Ioannou Gouvernetou or Theotokos Gouverneto ) is located four kilometers north of Agia Triada in the mountains and can be reached from there via a 440 meter high pass through a small gorge. The Marian monastery Gouverneto, which is also under the patriarch of Constantinople, looks like a fortress. A large building is built around a central courtyard. In it stands a Renaissance church in Venetian style, consecrated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The monastery, founded in 1548, was rebuilt several times after fires, including after the revolt of 1821, in which most of the monks were killed. It houses a library and a collection of sacred Byzantine objects.
- A path paved with natural stones leads from Moni Gouverneto past the bear cave (see below) down into a gorge that opens out to the sea to Moni Katholiko , a now abandoned monastery that was probably founded in the 5th or 6th century. The monastery church extends far into a natural cave in the rock face. The outer monastery complex is now overgrown by olive trees, among other things. A very large specimen is rooted in a two-story building and towers high through the roof. The monastery was abandoned in the 16th century in favor of Moni Gouverneto because of repeated Arab pirate attacks ( Saracens ) . A special architectural feature of the monastery is the approximately 30 meter long and 12 meter wide arched bridge that spans the gorge in whose depression the monastery is built. The bridge, made of hewn sandstone and natural stone, is, like the other monastery buildings, exceptionally well preserved.
In the vicinity of Katholiko there are numerous caves in the rock walls in which hermits once lived, including the cave of St. John of Gouverneto ( John the Stranger ), who is said to have worked around the year 1100, right next to the monastery . The 150 meter long cave is 40 meters accessible. Legend tells that John of Gouverneto, fleeing from the Middle East on his cloak , landed over the sea on the coast of Akrotiri, below the ruins of today's monastery. Then he lived with 98 companions in the caves there, where he also died.
The gorge, which is spanned by the monastery bridge, is accessible and ends at the so-called "pirate bay" in the sea. The remains of the quarries are also located here, in which the light, porous sandstone ("Aeolos") that was built in the monasteries above the gorge was once extracted.
caves
- Arkoudiotissa (also Arkoudospilios , translated: the she-bear or bear cave ): Located between the monasteries Moni Gouverneto and Moni Katholiko in the north of Akrotiri, this cave is named after a bear - shaped stalagmite . It is believed that the cave already served cultic purposes in the Neolithic and Minoan times. In classical times the goddess Artemis , to whom the bear was sacred, was worshiped here . To the left of the cave entrance is the small chapel of Panagia Arkoudiotissa ( Our Lady of the Bear Cave ) from the 16th century, in whose worship elements of the ancient cult have been preserved.
beaches
The beach of Stavros in the northwest of the Akrotiri and the mountain opposite the place was the filming location for the cable car and beach scenes in the film Alexis Sorbas by Michael Cacoyannis with Anthony Quinn in 1964 . The cameraman Walter Lassally has settled in Stavros. The Oscar , which he received in 1965 for Alexis Sorbas , he had bequeathed to a restaurant on Stavros beach before it was lost in a fire.
literature
- Dagmar Lange, Monika Wächter: Travel Guide Nature Crete. BLV, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-405-15524-X .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Results of the 2011 census at the National Statistical Service of Greece (ΕΣΥΕ) ( Memento from June 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Excel document, 2.6 MB)