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Agios Nikolaos
Base: Marina of Heraklion, Crete, Greece
Skippered Charters: min time frame: half - day
Bareboat Charters: min time frame: 4 nights
Agios Nikolaos is an exclusively beautiful town surrounding the homonymous, small yet impressive lake. This place is truly scenic with a lot of neoclassical buildings, restaurants, bars, shops and intense night life.
Unlike to all other towns in Crete, Agios Nikolaos is an artistic, romantic, relaxing yet very vibrant place.
Most of the seashores in and around the town, rocky or sandy, are wind – protected and outstandingly gorgeous.
The atmosphere is cosmopolitan and extravagant as a bunch of the oldest top – luxurious resorts of Greece, some of them built more than fifty years ago, are located here. A feeling of leisure, nostalgia and romance hovers all over the place.
Lake Voulismeni, in the center of the town, is definitely unique. A local legend says that the lake is bottomless. Actually, some people talk about a huge hole in the middle of the lake, a kind of tunnel, which goes as far as the Santorini volcano.
Overview
Base: Marina of Heraklion, Crete, Greece
Skippered Charters: min time frame: half - day
Bareboat Charters: min time frame: 4 nights
The town has three fronts to the sea: The Lake and port, the Kitroplatia beach and the Marina.
Lake Voulismeni, the town’s jewel and one of its landmarks is surrounded by several legends. According to one of them Goddesses Athena and Artemis used to take their bath in its waters.
red rock formations and lush vegetation around the lake form a unique scenery. along the shores of the pond lay several bars and restaurants making the place pretty animated at night.
As the lake joins the sea through a narrow strip of water, under the petite road bridge, the tiny island of Agii Pandes appears adding another facet to the three sides of the town. Ferries come and go from the open port area just beyond.
The beach at Kitroplatia is one of the few in Crete to provide that town-center-by-the-sea beach location, together with A bunch of restaurants and cafes and a handful of hotels and apartments.
Walking up to the main square, then down the other side of the town, you will reach the third seafront, the marina of Agios Nikolaos, one of the most organized marinas in Greece. It can host 255 vessels and provides facilities like water, electricity, showers, laundry, fuel, Wi - Fi, car parking.
A lot of interesting churches lay within the streets of Agios Nikolaos including the small church which lends its name to the town.
All around the place you will find stores that sell unique traditional Cretan art artifacts, copies from the local archaeological museums, jewels, spectacular embroidery items. They also sell exclusive local products and delicacies.
Landscape
Base: Marina of Heraklion, Crete, Greece
Skippered Charters: min time frame: half - day
Bareboat Charters: min time frame: 4 nights
Agios Nikolaos area is full of archaeological sites, sacred monuments and statues.
The famous ancient city of Lato is located very near to Agios Nikolaos. It was one of the most important Doric city - states in Crete and is considered as the best preserved city of the Classical era. It is a unique site, in terms of historical significance and natural beauty.
The history of the municipality is marked by the presence of numerous ancient settlements. Most of them were strategically built and there is even a submerged city, the ancient city of “Olous”.
Not far from Neapolis we find the archaeological site of “Driros”. The town was founded in the 12th century B.C. and reached its peak between the Geometric/Archaic and the Hellenistic Ages.
At the opposite side, just a few kilometers away from Kalo Chorio, we find the ruins of “Vrokastro”, a Late Minoan age settlement.
The Archaeological Museum of Agios Nikolaos, Launched in 1969, is one of the most important in Crete. It houses collections of significant findings gathered all around the region of eastern Crete, extending from Malia to the distant Zakros.
Findings are exhibited in chronological order from the Neolithic period until the end of Roman times. Its showcases include more than 1,500 items including the oldest gold and bronze findings in Crete.
Another impressive site whose history captivates both tourists and locals is Spinalonga islet. Opposite the small seaside village of Plaka and next to Elounda, the stone-built island looks like a fortress floating on the crystal - clear blue waters of the Elounda Bay. A true historical jewel.
History
Image Gallery / Location
