Crete Travel Guide

From Rethymno, We take the old main (‘national’) road towards Chania, coming to the village of Atsitopoulo and then to Prines, with an interesting church of St. Nicholas.

After 16 km. along the road we can turn left to visit the village of Ayios Konstantinos, with attractive villas and mansions which have been the summer residence of the Venetian overlords of Rethymno.

In Roustika, nearby, is the Monastery of the Prophet Elijah.

We continue along the main road, traveling through the fertile valley of the river Mouselas to Megali Episkopi, the last village in the Prefecture of Rethymno in a western direction. From this point we can visit Argyroupouli, a village which stands on a charming site at an altitude of 260m., between the Mouselas and Petre rivers.

Here the road divides. If we bear right, we will reach the pretty village of Asi Gonia, in the sub prefecture of Apokoronou. The village stands at an altitude of 480m and will provide a relaxing note with plentiful streams and abundant shade. Since Venetian times, Asi Gonia has been the natural frontier between Rethymno and Chania areas.

In facts, it is now administratively part of the prefecture of Chania, but access to it is easier from the Rethymno side.

Its natural position – easy to fortify and difficult to approach – made it a center for Cretan revolutionaries, as its name, meaning “Rebel’s Corner”, implies (the Arabic word “asi” means “brave fellow” and, by extension, “rebel”).

Turning left in Argyroupoli will bring us to the mountain village of Myriokefala, whose name comes from the “myriad” (“many”) “kefala” (“hills”) in the vicinity. The area is well known for the Myriokefalon Monastery, built at an altitude of 500m, which has its feast day on the 8th of September.