The treasure and pride of Crete Island is the remnants belonging to the Minoan civilization, the first advanced civilization in Europe. Forts, fortresses, towers, and massive fortification walls in the main cities of Crete are the marks of a tense past, full of battles and aspirations to conquer the island or to strengthen control and power by its occupants. The architecture of historical cities is a mosaic of Ottoman, Venetian and Greek traditional structures and patterns, reflected even today in contemporary houses.
With its hundreds of monasteries, churches, and hermitages, some of them hosting ecclesial art collections, Crete is an ideal place for religious pilgrimage and worship. Christian history and traditions and pages of Crete’s dramatic past are engraved in its old basilicas, cavernous chapels painted Byzantine churches or Venetian cathedrals. Museums, memorial houses, and collections that highlight the life and work of great Cretan personalities - writers, artists, and politicians - are met all over the island.
It worth visiting the various museums of nature, science, art, technology, or folklore which reveal the richness and uniqueness of the natural environment, but also the creativity, inventiveness, and artistic spirit of the people who have inhabited the island over time. By choosing a day boat trip, you can admire from the sea the port cities, the spectacular shores, and the remote beaches, or you can visit some of the dozens of unpopulated islets that surround the island of Crete, places of mythic, archaeological, historical, or ecological value.
As a result of its mild climate, Crete has rich biodiversity and the recommended moment of the year to witness flora at its best in the spring. The Edenic vegetation of forests, wetlands, rivers, and deltas is a shelter for lots of species of birds, little animals, and insects, being an attraction for bird watching enthusiasts and naturalists, especially in spring and autumn. Crete has more than 4.500 mapped caves and sinkholes, available to experienced speleologists who want to explore their spectacular formations and fauna.
Not far from shores, the seabed is like an endless aquarium allowing snorkelers and scuba divers to admire the magical submarine world and, in some particular places, the caves, reefs, and the relics of submerged settlements, wrecks of ships and planes. Sea exploration, fishing trips, or bottom-glass boat excursions offer tourists the opportunity to discover the diverse and colorful fauna and flora of The Aegean Sea.
