In the little village of Fodele, reputed to be the home of El Greco, you find the usual assortment of tourist tavernas, home made craftwork , a museum dedicated to El Greco, an accent church, a lovely river and pretty walks that you expect to find in a quiet village whose income is made from the reputation of it's famous son. There is a 2000 year old plane tree and a lovely children's playground just tucked over the river - beautifully and lovingly made from wood.
What you may not be expecting is the garden of modern sculptures
In 2014, as part of the 400 anniversary celebrations of El Greco, there was an international sculpture symposium "Chiseling at Malavizi"
This display shows some of the works from that symposium
"Girl with a guitar"
If you would like to see a video of the symposium, interviews with the sculptors and work in progress please take a look here
I thought I should finish with a traditional bust of El Greco who was a man ahead of his time and who broke boundaries. I am sure he would approve of the sculpture garden!
The little Cretan village of Fodele is tucked away in the hills and valleys near to Heraklion. It was the birthplace of Domenikos Theotokopoulous - better known to us as El Greco"
El Greco - 1541 – 7 April 1614
When we visited we found that there was a week of celebrations for El Greco taking place
There is a lovely little river running through the village and a wood build children's pay area over a wooden bridge
Amazing to think that this Plane tree, thought to be about 1000 years old, would have already been an old tree of about 500 when El Greco was a boy!
The main street is simply a strip of tourist shops and tavernas
But the old village is a maze of tiny houses and lanes
Tiny little doorways -
Arched windows
Cool corners
And suddenly amongst the old -the modern!
Many of the shops sell locally made embroidery and macrame
ladies of the village making articles for the shops
The 14c church of the Panagia - built on an even earlier 7c basilica
El Greco is believed to have been born and lived next to this church - from which the family got it's name (more of this in tomorrow's blog)
We stopped at a little cafe for breakfast called "Domenico"
The river quietly drifts by
the water so clear you can see the stones on the river bed
A resident
I tried the home made Orange cake with a Greek coffee
The oranges for the cake came from the owner's orange groves with caramelized oranges on top
Fred tried the small English breakfast and we shared some yogurt and honey whilst enjoying the shade.
You may like to know:
Service: Pleasant and friendly.
Type of food: Typical tourist offerings - with home made cake.
Prices, Very reasonable - not hiked up for tourist trade
"Star ratings"- on the "Guzunder" scale 7.
- Clean, doors have locks, toilet seats present, paper and paper towels available.
No complementary extras offered
Would we return? Yes, certainly, a very pleasant place to stop.
Here are seven films, in order of popularity, all set on Crete.
A couple of them, unfortunately were not filmed here. I have mentioned the places they were filmed so you can watch out for recognisable landmarks - and in the case of Zorba even people who were extras!
Links to Amazon for more information and one whole film on line!
The story of a boisterous Greek peasant with a lusty love of life who takes a young English writer under his wing; together they embark upon troublesome romances, sour business deals and more.
A distinguished British cast, headed by 1950s heart-throb Dirk Bogarde, leads I'll Met By Moonlight--a Powell and Pressburger war film which is based on a true story. British agents conspire with local partisans to kidnap a prominent German General during the occupation of Crete in WWII. They decide to bring the officer to a beachhead, where he'll be transported to Egypt, but the Germans don't take this lying down and their method of revenge capture the Brits by surprise.
The film tells the story of Domenicos Theotokopoulos, better known as El Greco, a great Greek artist of the 16th century with an uncompromising character, who sets off from his homeland Crete (Village of Fodele) and goes to Venice and finallyToledo, in search of freedom and love. There he is confronted by his greatest adversary, the Spanish Inquisition, but his creative consciousness and power make him stand out and overcome barbarity and ignorance.
Being imprisoned and awaiting execution by the Spanish Inquisition, Domenicos (Nick Ashdon) writes out his story, thus parts of his life play out in extended flashbacks. Born on the island of Crete, which was at the time part of the Republic of Venice, he falls in love with Francesca (Dimitra Matsouka), daughter of the Venetian governor of Crete. But his father is preparing a political rebellion and as a result Domenicos leaves the island and moves to Venice, away from the young woman. There he meets the famous painter Titian (Sotiris Moustakas) and the Spanish priest Fernando Niño de Guevara (Juan Diego Botto). Guevara immediately shows a confused interest in Domenicos, and, fighting personal demons - calls Domenicos before the Inquisition where he must defend himself against charges of heresy.
In 1962 wealthy married couple Chester and Colette MacFarland (Mortensen and Dunst) are in the Acropolis of Athens, Greece, when they meet shady tour guide Rydal (Isaac). Rydal is immediately taken with the beautiful Colette and doesn't hestitate when the couple invite him to dine with them. Later in the evening, however, he begins to realise that Chester is hiding a dark secret and soon finds himself embroiled in murder. Rydal helps the MacFarlands evade the authorities but his feelings for Colette cause tension between him and Chester, making the already precarious situation even more dangerous. The action then moves to Hania and Knossos.
Eons after the Gods won their mythic struggle against the Titans, a new evil threatens the land. Mad with power, King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) has declared war against humanity. Amassing a bloodthirsty army of soldiers disfigured by his own hand, Hyperion has scorched Greece in search of the legendary Epirus Bow, a weapon of unimaginable power forged in the heavens by Ares.
Only he who possesses this bow can unleash the Titans, who have been imprisoned deep within the walls of Mount Tartaros since the dawn of time and thirst for revenge. In the king’s hands, the bow would rain destruction upon mankind and annihilate the Gods. But ancient law dictates the Gods must not intervene in man’s conflict. They remain powerless to stop Hyperion…until a peasant named Theseus (Henry Cavill) comes forth as their only hope.
Secretly chosen by Zeus, Theseus must save his people from Hyperion and his hordes. Rallying a band of fellow outsiders—including visionary priestess Phaedra (Freida Pinto) and cunning slave Stavros (Stephen Dorff)—one hero will lead the uprising, or watch his homeland fall into ruin and his Gods vanish into legend.
The daughter (Alice Vouyiouklaki) of Fourtounaki (Dionysis Papagiannopoulos) is forced to become engaged Skandalakis (Spyros Kalogerou). The return of Vrontaki (Dimitris Papamichail) from Athens and flirting with his girlfriend will lead to love, and both young people are unaware that they belong to rival families. Their love, however, will forever end the feud Vrontaki-Fourtounaki.
If you have any other suggestions for films set in Crete please let me know.
