Milatos

Milatos is located a few km east of Sissi and Malia, approximately 30 km west of Agios Nikolaos and 45 km east of Heraklion.
Milatos
Beach is a by-the-sea development with many very
good fish tavernas, a fishing port and a nice small beach
in it. There are other beach areas, but they are very rocky.
In ancient times, Milatos (Militos) was an important city
with various colonies, and was one of only seven Cretan cities
that sent troops to fight in Troy.
Milatos Village, with
its kafeneion-tavernas, is a picturesque community about a kilometer
before the coastal Milatos settlement. Many Europeans have bought old village
homes here, and refurbished them in the original style.
Armed
with a camera, a walk through the narrow village streets will
provide you with many wonderful snap-shot memories of your holiday.
Milatos
Cave
Lace up your sneakers and grab a flashlight
and a bottle of water, and off you go to explore this very
interesting site. The entrance to the Milatos cave is about a 200-metre
walk over an old footpath from where you park your car, which
is quite a site itself with an amazing panoramic view of
Milatos Bay.
In the area's intense bas-relief, the gray of the limestone succeeds the
red of the ground. Carob trees, rambling prickly and fuzzy bushes, wild
olive trees and a score of other lush vegetation provide a green backdrop
along the footpath.
Upon entering the cave you will be faced
with total darkness, so a flashlight is absolutely necessary. After 10
meters you will come across a little church built in 1935, together with
a memorial with the bones of those slaughtered by the Turks. (Every year
a liturgy is performed here for those who perished.) The cave itself is
large, measuring 2,100 square meters, with eight small and big entrances.
It is 73 meters long, and its widest point is 63 meters. The height varies
from a half meter to three meters, and its main entrance leads to the cave's
central, and largest, area.
Archaeological findings indicate that human activities in the cave date
back to the Neolithic period.
However, the Milatos cave is really known for a drama
which unfolded with Turkish invaders in February, 1823.
Early in 1823,
the residents of the surrounding area took refuge in the Militos Cave to
hide from the Turkish troops of Hasan Pasha, who were plundering and pillaging
Lassithi.
The Cretan rebel leaders, with a minimal force of about 150 men,
fought the Pasha's large army in and around the cave in a brave defense
of the 2,700 local inhabitants.
The fighting went on from February 3 to
15, until the besieged, suffering from extreme hunger and thirst, dared
a heroic, but devastating escape. The defending warriors were slaughtered,
many of the older ones trampled to death by oncoming Cavalry; the captured
children were sold into slavery, and 18 priests were brutally killed or
burned to death.
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