Sitia is very much a living town, which happens to have tourism, rather than the other way around.
Sitia has the most cheerful and friendly Cretans you could hope to meet, people who love their town and keep it clean and tidy.
“La Sitia – Of man and nature, the two live in a sublime land, cut off from the crazy ways of busy enterprise” – T.P.
The word “friendly”, applies to the people of Crete and it fits perfectly when considering the nature of the people you meet in the Sitia region.
We would elect the area “ideal for exploration”.
One of the least “touristy” parts of Crete, Sitia as a town, was built up in Venetian times, destroyed and later rebuilt by the Turks, with just a few signs of this history remaining. The region, however, still provides numerous clues and monuments to the area’s early history.
Today, its long sandy beach (equipped by this caring town with showers) offers the pleasures of sand, sea, swimming, and all the windsurfing opportunities in the world.
Sitia is very much a living town, which happens to have tourism, rather than the other way around. Sitia has the most cheerful and friendly Cretans you could hope to meet, people who love their town and keep it clean and tidy, not so much to attract tourists but more because they themselves take pleasure in it and are proud of it.
The uncrowded region of Sitia is home to monasteries (notably Toplou), archaeological sites, palm-forested beaches, sparkling bays, and fascinating treks across the mountains.
To name a few, the surrounding villages of Zou, Ziros, Handras – alive with the activities of today – abandoned Ethia and the surroundings of Karydi, hold much of interest in their ancient buildings and archaeological finds.
Getting to this more isolated region (named Lassithi from “La Sitia” ) takes you on a journey through magnificent countryside, generously supplied with dramatic gorges, intriguing villages hanging onto inland peninsulas or steep hillsides, along a “California-highway-one-like” road. Birthplace of Vitsentzos Kornaros, author of the “Erotokritos”,
Sitia has an atmosphere that suggests if there were an artist’s colony, this should be it.
With a new runway completed, direct, international flights and an increase in the frequency of service to Athens may one day become a reality. We hope that the easier access to Sitia and Lassithi will be met with appealing and thoughtful development; there will most certainly be new tourist facilities.
