Local nature
Mother of the mountain peaks
The mother of the mountain peaks, flanked by her two lions, was one of the most revered Minoan goddesses. She appears on seal rings and clay figurines as a powerful guardian of peaks and wild places. Her lineage stretches beyond Crete; for she is closely linked to Cybele, the great Anatolian mother goddess worshipped since Neolithic times at Catalhoyuk in present-day Turkey. There, around 6,000 BC, she was portrayed as a full-bodied, birthing…
The mystical mountains of Vorizi, Spili, Rethymno, Crete
Before dawn reaches the rooftops of Spili, Mount Vorizi is already awake- a silent colossus breathing mist into the morning air. Its rugged grey foothills, rough as ancient stones, cradle pockets of wild greenery. While its peaks dissolve into a shifting veil of clouds, here the mountain meets the sky, a bridge between the heavens and the earth. During the Protopalatial period (1900-1700 BCE), this very summit served as a Minoan peak sanctuary.…
Orchids and Wildflowers of Crete
On Crete, where mountains soar, and the land unfolds into wild gorges, sweeping plains and tranquil meadows, orchids emerge like delicate enchantments of colour and wonder. Seventy species bloom across the island, fourteen of them found nowhere else on earth, each carrying a whisper of myth. One ancient tale tells of Orchis, a handsome wild youth born of a nymph and satyr, who met his fate during the wild revelry of the Dionysus…
Earthy Spirit 