Viannos Crete
The region of Viannos covers the south side of Mt. Dikti and
many of the mountain villages in the area have houses built in
the old traditional style and contain many old churches. The
whole region is rich in vegetation due to the small ravines of
running water that are characteristic of the area.
The history of Viannos goes back to mythical times and the name
Viennos is purported to come from one of the Kourites who were
the first inhabitants of Kriti (Crete) and lived on the summit
of Mount Psiloritis. They were half-gods who protected the baby
Zeus from being eaten by his father Kronos by shouting and
beating their swords against their shields to mask the infant s
crying.
Ancient Viannus was an
independent city-State which took part in the alliance of the
Cretan cities under the rule of Eumenes II, who was the King of
Pergamos. It was afterwards conquered by its neighbouring city,
the powerful Ierapytna (Ierapetra). the ancient town has not
been excavated or explored yet but in the surrounding areas of
Galana Harakia, Kefala, Hondrou and Rouses, some Minoan remains
have been excavated. During the Second World War and the
occupation of the Germans, Viannes was destroyed and all its
1181 inhabitants were executed by the Nazis. There is an
imposing monument in the village in honour of these victims.
There are two fine head-villages, Ano (Upper) Viannos and Kato
(Lower) Viannos both of which have lovely churches with some
extremely well-preserved wall paintings from the C14th. The
village of Ano Viannos is the capital of the region and is 560m
above sea level. The town today is built on the site of the
ancient city of Viannos and, during the Venetian times, was a
large and prosperous village. This large attractive village of
1.500 people lies around 66km to the south-east of Heraklion. It
is built amphitheatrically on three hills that are shaped by the
slopes of the Diktes Mountains. The village overlooks the sea
through a crevice in the mountain. The surrounding countryside
is lush with many olive, plane and poplar trees and many streams
and rivers running down from the mountains. The village itself
is charming with narrow rising roads, traditional old houses,
stone fountains and small shady squares surrounded by cafes.
Viannos was destroyed twice during the Turkish occupation. Today it
still has a wonderful, old world charm about it. Its steep,
narrow lanes are lined with traditional style houses, all
leading into attractive squares, each with a stone fountain in
the centre. It is lush and verdant dominated by plane trees;
poplars and myrtle all of which provide a pleasant shade in
which to rest in any one of the cafes that exist in the squares.
The Agios Nikolaos Archaeological Museum and the Folklore Museum
are both worth visiting in the area.
Interesting places to visit in and around Viannos include the
church of Agia Pelagias which has murals that date back to 1360
and the church of Agia Yiorgos with murals from 1401. At the
excavation site of Galana Harakia there are 30 large burial jars
which were unearthed. Also, on the village's main road, is an
interesting inscribed Christian tomb. Close by, at Amiras, is
the imposing Viannos gorge and, at Kato Symi is the impressive
cave of Vigla with its stalactites and stalagmites.