Siteia - Piskokefalo - Praisos - Handras
- Ziros Armeni - Etia - Lithines -
Pilalimata - (Moni Kapsa) - Makrygialos
- lerapetra - Episkopi - Vassiliki -
Pacheia Anunos.

Starting out from Siteia, we take a
southerly direction towards the Libyan
sea, coming to Pisokefalo 3.4 kms. from
our starting point.

A right detour to the southwest leads,
after a drive of 5 kilometres, to Achladia, where a Minoan villa and a vaulted tomb were discovered. Continuing along the main road, we pass through the villages ofMaronia and Epano Episkopi.
Eleven kilometres from Siteia, the road
branches out. The main road to the
right leads to Aghios Georgios, Sykia,
Papagiannades, while the road to the
left takes us, after 4.5 kms. to Nea Prai-
sos and from there to the archaeological
site of Praisos, the city of the Eteocre-
tans, who were the genuine descen-
dants of the Minoans. The city was very
powerful and built on three hills, on
each of which was an acropolis. It was
surrounded by a wall - except for the
third hill which was outside the walls
and was called Altar Hill.

The city had two harbours, one to the
north on the Cretan sea, called Eteia
(Siteia), and one to the south on the
Libyan sea, called Steles. After a long-
drawn-out struggle, the powerful op-
ponent of Praisos, Dorian lerapytna,
prevailed and destroyed Praisos (146 BC).

The excavations at Praisos, which were
begun in 1884 by Federico Halbherr,
brought to light the first Eteocretan inscription and a multitude of clay figurines. After 1901, excavations were continued by the British School of Archaeology which revealed that the ruins ottoday do not belong to the city of the
Eteocretans, but to a powerful city of
the historic - Hellenic period, while
Eteocretan Praisos was built on a site
not far from these ruins.

On the first hill, which was also the centre of the town, a Hellenistic palace with a drainage system was uncovered.
There was also a stone basin to collect
water and an olive-press.

On the third hill many bronze and clay
offerings were found, shields, helmets,
breastplates, and three extremely im-
portant Eteocretan inscriptions, carved
"boustrophedon" ("as the ox plows", i.e.
from right to left and then from left to
right) on limestone tablets. In this area
various vaulted tombs were also excavated.

From Praisos we continue south towards Handras, from where we take the road to the east towards Ziros.
Here, worth seeing is the church of
Aghia Paraskevi, with its layers of frescoes.

From Ziros, we return to Handras and
continue southwards towards the village of Armeni, to the west of which, just before we come to the main road, is
Etia, where there is a three-storey Venetian villa, a representative example
of Crete-Venetian architecture.

We leave the main road and continue
southwards towards Lithines and Pilalimata.

Thirty-three kilometres from Siteia,
there ia a dirt road to the left, parallel to
the coast, which leads to Kala Nera and
to the Monastery of Kapsa, (7 kms.
from the intersection), which is built on
the side of a steep ravine with a cave. It
is dedicated to Saint John the Forerunner (Aghios loannis o Prodromos). To the west of the monastery is the Pervolakia gorge.

It is believed that the monastery was
founded in the mid-15th century. In
1471 it was destroyed by pirates and
abandoned. It was later restored by a
monk, who added a nave to the church
and dedicated it to the Holy Trinity.

At the 34.5 km. point, we come to Ma-
krygialos, a beautiful seaside settlement with clear waters, a magnificent beach - one of the longest in Crete - modern tourist accommodation, many tavernas, restaurants, bars, discos, etc.
Near the village, a Minoan villa was
discovered, several finds of which are
exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Aghios Nikolaos.

We continue westwards towards lerapetra. For 27 kilometres, our road runs parallel to the coast and passes through many seaside spots with small sheltered coves and transparent waters. Along the coast the landscape is green and pleasant and there are many green-
houses where early fruit and vegetables are grown.

We pass through the villages of Analipsi, Koutsoura, Mavro Kolymbo, Achlia,
Galini, Aghia Fotia, Ferma. Then, after
Ferma and 9 kms. before lerapetra, a
detour to the right towards the north
leads to Aghios loannis. At the begin-
ning of the turn-off very near the main
road, at Koutsounari, there are places
to stay which are traditional and picturesque.

All along the coast from Makrygialo to
lerapetra, a good number of tourist
complexes have been built.
From lerapetra (62 kms. from Siteia),
we leave the coast road which leads
westwards towards Myrtos, and follow
a fork to the right northwards to Pacheia Ammos (see route Agios Nikolaos 2).

We pass through Episkopi and, after
5.5 kms., to the north, on the left of the
road, we come to Vassiliki (24 kms.
from Aghios Nikolaos, 12 kms. from lerapetra).

During the excavations near the village
- which are still going on - Minoan
houses were uncovered, and among
them the so-called "House on the Hill",
belonging to the Pre-palatial period.
Here, too, were found the characteristic
pots of the "Vassiliki" type (Archaeological Museum of Herakleion and of Aghios Nikolaos).

Our route brings us to the Aghios
Nikolaos - Siteia national road, at the 22nd km. point.