<p style=”text-align: justify;”>The museum is located at a distance of 20 km away of Lameriana. The Museum of ancient Eleutherna – Homer in Crete, the first archaeological site museum in Crete, although smaller in size, are similar to those of Olympia, Delphi and Vergina. The museum created to house the results of the excavations carried out for thirty years in the ancient city of Eleftherna. The originality of this museum is that the objects of the permanent exhibition are updated periodically with new and older finds excavated, so that the public interest is continuous and relates to the discovery and expansion of the excavation work on the site. The exhibition is accompanied by original and modern audiovisual applications.</p>
<strong>Open Tuesday – Sunday 8:00 -15:00, Entry: 2€</strong>
<strong>From 1st April: Open Tuesday – Sunday 10:00-18:00 </strong><strong>Entry: 4€ • 2€ (reduced entry)</strong>
Visit
Museum of Ancient Eleftherna
Sfendoni Cave or Sfendoni's Hole (Zoniana)
Sfendoni Cave is located near the village of Zoniana (Rethymno Prefecture), at a distance of just 25 km from Lameriana. The cave is accessible and one of the most beautiful in Crete but in whole Greece as well, with stalactites and stalagmites.
It has a length of 145m and it is covering an area of about 3.000 square meters. Visitors are allowed to explore the 2/3 of its’ total length on a route of about 270m, along which, they can admire a variety of impressive formations. Large columns create labyrinthine compartments inside the cave and stalactites and stalagmites of different colours and shapes, decorate the cave’s chambers.
Inhabitants of the cave are 4 different kinds of bats and hundreds of invertebrates (molluscs, spiders, scorpions, isopods, diplopods, springtails, etc) some of which are colourless, blind, whereas two kinds only, have been found in Sfendoni Cave as well.
<strong>Open : 10th April</strong><strong> – October: Monday – Friday 10:00 – 17:00
November – 9th April 10:30 – 14:30 at Weekends, Entry: 5€</strong>
Melidoni Cave
<p style=”text-align: justify;”>The cave of Melidoni is just 5.8 km far from Lameriana. Melidoni Cave is located about 1.800 metres northwest of the village. It has an extremely interesting history and amazing archaeological findings some of which are exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Rethymno. Melidoni cave is also called “Gerondospilios”. They used it for religious ceremonies.</p>
<p style=”text-align: justify;”>During the Minoan Civilization, it was a place of worship for Talos. the bronze giant guardian of Crete who protected the island from the enemies. It is of archaeological and historical interest. In October 1823 370 women and children and 30 warriors who hid from Hussein Bey sought refuge in Melidoni cave. When he found out, the cave was surrounded by his army and he asked the Cretan people to surrender. The Cretans denied. The siege lasted for three months. After several unsuccessfull attacks, the Othomans decided to cover the entry of the cave with leaves and other flammable substances which they burnt later on. All women, children and warriors were suffocated.</p>
<strong>Open: April – October 8:00 – 19:00 • Entry: 4€</strong>
The Arkadi Monastery
Arkadi Monastery is just 27 km far from Lameriana. It is built on an altitude of 500m, on a fruitful plateau with olive trees, vineyards, pine trees and cypresses.
It’s exact founding date is not known but it is estimated that it was found by emperor Arkadius in the 12th century. Arkadi Monastery is one of the most important hitorical monasteries of Crete which meant to be the symbol of the Cretans’ struggle for freedom, as it was the place where the tragic holocaust of 1866 took part with the explosion of the wine cellar where the rebels kept the gunpowder. This was the cause of the future liberation of the Cretans that started in 1898. Unesco has nominated Arkadi Monastery as a European Monument of Freedom.
<strong>Open: April – May 9:00 – 19:00, June – August 9:00 -20:00, </strong><strong>September – October 9:00 – 19:00, November 9:00 – 17:00, </strong><strong>December – March 9:00 – 16:00 • Entry: 3 €</strong>
Rethymno
<p style=”text-align: justify;”>Rethymno is the third biggest city in Crete. The old town of Rethymno is one of the nicest places to visit. Walking around the city is like walking into the past. The town with its picturesque narrow streets and its beautiful monuments has many buildings from the the Venetian and the Turkish occupation time. In contrast to Heraklion and Chania, Rethymno has a Greek renaissance character.</p>
<p style=”text-align: justify;”>Near the old town with the picteresque streets with the gardens and the smells from the flowers, the visitor is worth visiting the biggest castle in Crete, the magnificent Fortezza. Other monuments are the small Venetian Port with the Light, the Venetian Lotzia, the Rimonti fountain, the Municipal Garden, the Angels Lady, the Historical Museum of Rethymno, the Nerantze Mosque, San Francesco Church, the Big Door, the Mosque of Kara Mousa Pascha and the venetian mansions of Arkadiou Street. Finally, the visitor may swim in the endless beach of Rethymno which begins east of the port.</p>