After our visit to the monastery of Toplou we made a quick stop at Sitia where we spent few hours shopping for provisions and strolling and then we continued to the miraculously blue beach of Tholos. In the afternoon we visited the archaeological site of Gournia one of the best preserved Minoan villages in the island known also as Pompeii of Minoan Crete where excavations are still going on.
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Once on the main road connecting Sitia to Agios Nikolaos, it is hard to ignore the beach of Tholos [35.15236,25.86093]. Who gave the name aquamarine to the gemstone, should have had in mind the colour of the sea water of Tholos.
The paradise has been already ‘conquered’ by other camper vans but thankfully there were ample space for everybody. It was obvious that this was one of the so-called ‘perfect spot to spend the night’ but we decided to resist temptation and to stick with our program heading west to Agios Nikolaos.
The wind was getting stronger and stronger but we could hardy imagine what awaited us once we arrived at Pachia Ammos. With different weather conditions it would be a lovely stopover. Currently it was too dangerous to get close to the beach as you can see from the photo below.
After a few minutes drive we spot the archaeological site of Gournia [35.11000,25.79357], which is quite spectacular when seen from afar. The site is open every day except Mondays from 8.30 till 15.00 and the entry costs 2 €.
What makes Gournia special is the fact that it is preserved very well. It is an entire village of 50 dwellings dated back to the 1500 BC so we can get a pretty good idea of what life was in this distant era just by walking through the streets.
The archaeologists continue to work on the field so apparently there is more to be discovered!
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