What is a "local" attraction?. I have given below a number of places of interest which are within about 15 minutes drive of The Mill.
Church of St. John the Hermit
The cave Church of St. John the Hermit is located about 3km south of Kolymari. Good views of the White Mountain and the Bay of Hania.
Gonia Monastery at Kolymbari
The Gonia Monastery is situated about 1km north of Kolymbari on the Rodopou Peninsular. The monk's accommodation is situated around a central courtyard. The Monastery has a fine collection of Byzantine icons and frescos. A cannon ball is still lodged in the east sea facing wall, testifying to the Turkish sea assaults on Crete.
If you are visiting, then no shorts or tee shirts.
German War Cemetery
This hardly falls under the heading of an "attraction", but the German War Cemetery overlooking Maleme Airfield is worth visiting as it is inexorably linked to The Battle of Crete which commenced on 20 May 1941 with the first ever airborne invasion of a foreign land.
The young German parachuters initially suffered terrible casualties under the hands of Cretans lying in wait in the olive groves surrounding The Mill, but as a result of miss communication between the Allied Commanders, the airfield at Maleme was lost to the Germans on the second day of the battle.
4,465 German troops are buried at Maleme.
(The British and Commonwealth War Cemetery is at Suda Bay).
Kolymbari
A quite protected fishing village at the base of the Rodopou Peninsular, with a long rather pebbly beach.
No clubs, but two good restaurants, and a number of equally good tavernas overlooking the Bay of Hania. Fresh fish available daily (subject to weather).
New under-used EU funded marina completed in 2005.
Tholos Tomb
Up until 2006, this 3,000 year old tomb was almost inaccessible, being unmarked and hidden in an olive grove near the German War Cemetry. A path has now been constructed, and the site signposted.
In Crete, Minoan burials were made in circular Tholos (or beehive) stone tombs, rectangular Ossuaries (bone deposits) or caves.
For many years, it was thought that the Minoan Civilisation in Crete existed only in the east and central areas of the island, but the Greek/Swedish excavations in Kanevaro Street in Hania, and the Tholos tomb at Melame, and in the vilage of Stylos, near Aptera, about 10km east of Hania, prove the Minoans had a significant presence around, and to the west of Hania.
The Tholos tomb at Maleme belongs to the Late Minoan Period (c.1450 - c.1100BC), or Late Bronze Age Period (also known as the 'Final Palace Period').
In all these burials, provision was made for the placing of cult offerings, and the deceased were often buried with gold grave offerings. Questions remain as to whether or not these Tholos tombs were also the centre for human sacrifice.
The tomb is entered by a stone lined excavation known as a 'dromos'.
World's oldest Olive tree!
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