Yorgos

What happened to Crete Gazette Yannis?

We have had no update on options to subscribe for on line delivery and there has been no update on the web-site of http://www.cretegazette.com .

Was it published as a hard copy in July? There are quite a few addicts of your Gazette Yannis living away from Crete who would dearly like to continue getting their updates about life in Crete.

So please Yannis, can we have an update.

Best Regards

Yorgos

A couple of days ago a guest member asked a question regarding a sign he saw at Elafonisi. In response to this question, and because I did not want the response to this question to be lost amongst tales of beautiful sunsets, I am providing it in a new thread.

This tragic event happened in April 1824, three years after the commencement of the 1821 rebellion against the Turks in Crete. Turkish troops reinforced a few months earlier by Egyptian troops and under the leadership of the Egyptian Hussein Pasha attacked and destroyed Apokoronas, descended upon Sfakia, destroying and killing everything in their way and then moved over to the Selino district. Refugees had been streaming south trying to escape in Greek, Sfakian and foreign boats that were evacuating all they could. According to the Cretan historian Detorakis, 60,000 refugees were evacuated from the island in the first few months of 1824.

600 mainly older men, women and children had taken refuge on the island of Elafonisi, protected by 40 armed men, waiting for any passing boats to evacuate them to Greece and near by islands. The Turkish fleet had arrived in the area by then and the one Greek boat that was in the area could not approach the island. The Turkish troops when they arrived, they rode on their horses over the low water separating Elaphonisi from the main island and attacked. Most of the refugees were massacred on the spot, many drowned as they tried to swim away but there was nowhere to go to, the one friendly boat that could take them to safety was kept away by the Turkish fleet. There were only 4 survivors that had hidden in a hole and manager to escape later in a Greek boat.

The events above are described vividly by the Cretan historian Vasilios Psylakis in his 1909 History Of Crete, volume 3, page 417 (From the rewritten in modern Greek and reprinted version of 1970).

Interesting news from Thursday's Kathimerini:

"Greek archaeologists have unearthed the fortifications of a 2,350-year-old city on Crete marked by extensive signs of siege, Culture Ministry officials said yesterday. The archaeologists discovered the remains of a fortified tower, a city gate and a 3.5-kilometer (2.2-mile) wall surrounding the ancient city of Aptera, near the port of Hania and dating to 4 BC, the ministry said. Of particular importance to research were signs of battle from the post-Classical era, and the discovery of newborn infants buried near the tower. (AFP)"

Is anybody esle aware of any more information on this topic? Anything in the local Cretan press? Strange to read something that interesting about Crete in an Athens newspaper reported by AFP, Agence France Presse!

The existence of Aptera and what remains of it are well known but what is the real news?


Yorgos

To all Crete Explorers

Merry Christmas to all of you and best wishes for the New Year.

Looking forward to beeing in Crete in spring time again

From a rather warm down under,

Yorgos

I have been searching for information about an icon of Panagia which is supposed to be at the church of Evangelistria in Fre. I am trying to get more details about a story relating to this icon that is supposed to have been given to Cretan fighters who were fighting in Constantinople and which they brought back after the fall of the city.

Fascinating story, but there is nothing in the various web sites on Crete that I have looked at, although I might have missed some. Can anybody shed any light on this story please?