Gavalochori: A Tour on Foot

Round-trip distance is 2 kilometers

Embedded Arch, Gavalochori.  Foundation for Gavalochori- Gavalochori: A Tour on Foot
Embedded Arch, Gavalochori. Foundation for Gavalochori
Embedded Arch, Gavalochori.  Foundation for Gavalochori- Gavalochori: A Tour on Foot
Embedded Arch, Gavalochori. Foundation for Gavalochori
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Because Gavalochori is a working village, you will find many things to enjoy just by being here—getting a loaf of bread from the bakery in the morning, enjoying dinner at one of the tavernas, waking to the sound of a local rooster or to church bells pealing, or listening to live music at the old school. But if you want to see most of the historic sites the village has to offer, this tour is for you. Please note that it takes you to only 3 of the churches in the village and not all 12. The route described here covers about 2 kilometers (1¼ miles), and with time for stopping, observing, and resting, you can complete it in about two hours. Some information is provided here about each of the historic sites, but if you want to learn more, additional information is available on the pages devoted to each of these spots on this website.

 

Main Square

The historic tour starts in the main square of the village, Gavaladon Square. Although more functional than beautiful, the square remains the center of the village. It is here that major celebrations and programs take place in the village, and it is an informal gathering space for villagers as well. You will often see (mostly) men sitting at one corner of the square in front of and across from the kafeneio, a coffeeshop/pub.

The monument in the main square is dedicated to people from the Gavalochori area who died in various revolutions and wars on Crete. One statue is of Konstantinos Malinos, a fighter from the second half of the 19th century who helped shake off Turkish rule. The second statue is of lawyer Charalambos I. Papadakis, who also engaged in revolutionary activity against the Turks in the same time period and who later held various political positions on Crete. 

To the left of the war memorial is a stone monument commemorating Christos Moulas, who was killed, along with his copilot, on July 25, 2023, while fighting a fire on the Greek island of Evia. They flew low to drop water on a fire that had been burning for several days before the plane turned sharply into a hillside and burst into flames. The text on the monument reads, “There is no return for me, but eternal will be the glory,” with the first set of lines in ancient Greek and the second in modern Greek. Moulas was the son of Anastasia Kazoyli and Vagelis Moulas, who owned the Arismari Taverna in Gavalochori at the time of his death. 

Also in the main square is a plaque that celebrates the handicraft of lace making or kopaneli (κοπανέλι) that was very important in the history of Gavalochori. The plaque contains two mantinades (μαντινάδες), a type of Cretan poem that consists of two lines of 15 syllables each. The mantinades read, “Daughter of Gavalochori, you need hard work and patience to make bobbin lace, as always is required for fine arts” (Mixalis Piperakis) and “The making of bobbin lace in Gavalochori for many years gave a living income to mother and daughter” (Nikolaos Pagonakis).

 

Plaque Commemorating Resistance to Turkish Rule

To continue the tour, leave the main square and enter the narrow street that leads to the Folklore Museum (you’ll see a sign that points to the museum). On the corner on your left is a plaque on the side of a building that reads, “In 1692, in this place, the Turks brutally murdered the abbot Gavalas Kapetanakis of the Monastery of Kera for fighting and supplying the fortress of Souda” and “In 1750, in this place, Zoumas Kalorizikos, received a martyr’s death for refusing to convert to Islam. Eternal memory [to the deceased].” Both of these incidents refer to the efforts of the Turks to suppress the people of Crete, and both of the men mentioned resisted Turkish rule and refused to convert to Islam.  

 

Historic Corner (“Old Kafeneio”)

Across from the plaque honoring the two men who resisted Turkish rule is the historic corner, a display of items in a fenced-in enclosure. Until World War II, this structure was a complete building that housed a coffee shop. During the war, when the Germans occupied Gavalochori, they couldn’t get their vehicles around that corner, so they tore down two of the four main walls of the building. You can still see the Turkish fireplace here and some items that used to be in the coffeeshop (other items from the building are now exhibited in the museum). The four plaques in Arabic on one wall are from the Turkish cemetery, which once was located where the old school currently stands. 

A plaque at this site says, “In memory of the hero Ioannis Proestakis, second lieutenant, 1940.” When Greek prime minister Ioannis Metaxas refused to allow the forces of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini to enter Greek territory and occupy unspecified “strategic locations” on October 28, 1940, Italian troops attacked the Greek border with Albania. This marked the beginning of Greece’s participation in World War II. Gavalochori resident Proestakis died in the fighting between Greece and Italy.

 

Platanaki Square

Continue down the street past the historic corner, and you will see a cluster of quaint old buildings. This small square, which is 60 meters or less than a city block from the main square (and we are counting a block as having about 315 feet), is called Platanaki Square. Platanaki means “in the neighborhood of the small plane tree” and acknowledges the plane tree in the square’s center. Platanaki Square has long been a gathering place for Gavalochori residents and tourists. It once was the center of the Turkish neighborhood of Gavalochori and contained six coffee houses, some of which also served as bakeries and grocery stores. 

The taverna or restaurant in the square is the Arismari Taverna (arismari is an ancient word in the Cretan dialect for “rosemary”). If you are touring Gavalochori on a hot day, now might be the time for a glass of hand-squeezed lemonade garnished with mint at Arismari. Connected to the taverna is Arismari Art, a shop that offers wine and local artisan products for sale. 

A plaque in the square (sometimes hidden by a bench) marks a historic event in Gavalochori. It reads, “In 1892, a committee was established here for the awakening of the Cretan people from their deep sleep against the Organic Law of 1879.” Organic law is a body of laws that forms the original foundation of a government. In this case, it refers to the Pact of Halepa, an agreement made in 1878 between the Ottoman Empire and the representatives of the Cretan Revolutionary Committee, which was composed of leading Christian Cretans. The agreement was designed to end Cretan resistance to the Turks by making Crete an autonomous state within the Ottoman Empire. Although the Ottoman Empire largely failed to enforce the provisions of the pact, the Muslim residents of Crete were upset because they believed the pact delivered the administration of the island to the Christians. Conflict ensued between the Muslims and Christians, and in an effort to maintain order, Turkish authorities sent military forces to Crete between 1880 and 1896. The plaque commemorates a meeting in Platanaki Square to plan Cretan resistance to those forces.

 

Folklore Museum

If you continue to follow the street through Platanaki Square, in 21 meters (70 feet), you will come to a museum on your right, the Folklore Museum of Gavalochori. It  introduces you to the traditional handicrafts and industries of Gavalochori, including lace making, stone carving, wood carving, pottery, and farming. The museum displays historic objects made, used, and donated by residents of Gavalochori or excavated from nearby archaeological sites. The museum also offers amenities for the weary traveler: It has an intimate, shady courtyard in which to sit and rest for a few minutes as well as a clean restroom.

In the museum, don’t miss the bed that also functioned as a wine press for the stomping of grapes on the main floor—you can see the cover of the wooden trough in the floor next to the bed where the wine would have been collected after the grapes were pressed. Another highlight is the display of stunning lace fabrics and wedding dresses made with silk thread from silkworms fed with the leaves of local mulberry trees. Taking center stage on the top floor is a huge wood-carved iconostasis—literally, an “icon stand”—used to separate the nave or main body of the church from the altar. The intricate sculpture, with its flowerpots, rosettes, twirling vines, and religious figures, was carved of wood from local cypress trees at the beginning of the 19th century and was probably removed from an earlier iteration of the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus to keep it from being destroyed by the Turks. 

After visiting the museum, exit to your left and follow the picturesque stone-paved alley to the dead end. On the left, next to the museum, you will see the ruins of an old olive mill with large traditional arches.

 

Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus

After you leave the alley, turn right onto the stone-paved street. In a short distance of about 75 meters (less than a block), you will see a large church on your right, the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus. It is the largest church in Gavalochori, so it is where services are held on major religious holidays like Easter and Christmas. It stands on the site of the first church in Gavalochori, the Church of Saints Constantine and Helen, built after the arrival of Christianity to the village. The dedication of the current church building took place on Easter Sunday in 1908.

The church has three domes, and traditionally, each of the three domes is dedicated to a saint or a revered religious figure. The middle dome is dedicated to Saints Sergius and Bacchus and the north dome to Saints Constantine and Helen, referencing the origins of the church. The third dome was never formally dedicated, but it commemorates the Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel visited Mary and told her she would conceive and bear a son through a virgin birth. 

The Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus is where regular church services are held in the summer. Services begin at 7:30 on Sunday morning and end around 9:30 or 10:00. Because the church is usually locked, you won’t be able to go inside unless a service or ceremony is being held in it.  

 

Elementary School (“Old School”)

Your next stop is the elementary school, which is 236 meters (2½ blocks) from the church. After leaving the church, turn right, and you will pass a small pine forest on your right. Continue following the main road downhill and then uphill, turning left at the fork. You’ll come to a pale yellow building with a wide expanse of pavement adjacent to it with a backboard and hoop for playing basketball. This building was once “the crown jewel” of Gavalochori—its elementary school, completed in 1913 and built largely by its residents. The villagers had to rebuild the school following World War II because it was used as a barracks by the Germans and Italians who occupied Crete during the war. No longer used to educate children, the rooms inside are now occasionally used for meetings and fundraising events and to store chairs and other equipment for concerts and community celebrations. 

 

Venetian Wells

Retrace your steps back to the main square, and then follow the signs that direct you to the road that goes up the hill to the Venetian Wells.  At the top of the hill, take the road to the left and walk to the wells—the route is about 600 meters (6 blocks). A first glance suggests there is nothing of interest here because the wells near the road have been capped with concrete. But walk back beyond the concrete caps, and you’ll discover many stone-ringed wells that still hold water that were built by the Venetians sometime during the 15th and 16th centuries. You also don’t want to miss the two plane trees whose branches have grown together or “embraced,” making it a romantic spot for weddings and wedding pictures. Also take a peek at the lovely and well-preserved Venetian bridge directly across the road from the wells. 

The water in the wells wasn’t used by the residents of Gavalochori for their drinking water because each house had its own cistern for collecting rain water, but it was an important gathering spot for the villagers until 1969, when a municipal water system was built. It was here that they watered their animals and met other villagers and shared the latest news. The wells are also where the women did the laundry, using open fires built near the wells to heat the water. The leaves of the plane trees scattered through the area were collected by the women and taken home to be dried and used as filling for mattresses. 

You will see two plaques at the wells. The one by the two plane trees that have grown together reads, “At the wells under the plane trees in Gavalochori, there is the phenomenon of the embracing branches (Mix. Piperakis) Cultural Association of Gavalochori.” The second is on a tree next to one of the wells: “My Gavalochori plane tree, which is at the wells, the signs of time can be seen on your trunk” (Nik. Pagonakis) Cultural Association of Gavalochori.”

 

Olive Mill

About 500 meters (5 blocks) from the Venetian wells is an old olive mill, the next stop on your tour. To get there, retrace your steps to the top of the hill where you turned left to go to the wells. Go straight ahead on the road. Don’t take the road that heads to the left and goes uphill, and don’t take the road that does downhill and retraces your steps. About hallway down the hill on the left is a restored olive mill from the 17th century that is marked by a sign, “Pre-Industrial Olive Mill.” A very special archaeological site, it gives you a glimpse into the early olive industry in Gavalochori with detailed information in both Greek and English. The site never closes, and there is no admission fee. Just enter the green doors, and before you is the history of processing olives in Gavalochori represented by three types of olive presses—the oldest with a single millstone, a more modern one with four millstones, and the most recent a metallic one dating from the late 19th or early 20th century.

There used to be about 12 olive mills in Gavalochori—each neighborhood had one or more mills. Today, no working olive mills exist in Gavalochori.

 

Church of the Nativity of Mary and Church of Saint Charalampos

As you come out of the olive mill, turn left and continue down the hill to a small square that is used for parking. As you enter the square, look for a street on your right and follow it to the Church of the Nativity of Mary and the Church of Saint Charalampos. This walk is about 122 meters (1½ blocks) from the olive mill.

The Church of the Nativity of Mary, often called by residents of Gavalochori simply Panagia (Παναγία), which translates as “Virgin Mary” or “Holy Mary,” is really two churches, one a later addition to the other. The Church of the Nativity of Mary, built in 1628, is the original church and is on the right as you face the church, and the Church of Saint Charalampos is on the left. The date when it was added is unknown, but it was probably appended because of the important role that Saint Charalampos played in the history of Gavalochori. He is considered the patron saint of the village and is credited with stopping several plagues and other diseases in Gavalochori and for intervening in various ways to keep villagers safe. 

The Church of the Nativity of Mary and the Church of Saint Charalampos is the church that is used for regular religious services in the winter. Services begin at 7:30 on Sunday morning and end around 9:30 or 10:00. This church is often open, so if it is, take advantage of the opportunity to see the inside of a Greek Orthodox church. 

 

Church of Saint Catherine

After leaving the Church of the Nativity of Mary and the Church of Saint Charalampos, turn right and follow the road past several traditional houses. At the intersection, turn left into the main square. You’ll be back in the square after about 182 meters (2 blocks). At the north end of the square, you’ll have an opportunity to see another of Gavalochori’s 12 churches, the Church of Saint Catherine, which dates back at least to 1200 AD. If you are facing the Fronimos (Φρόνιμος) supermarket that is on the square, about 128 meters (1 block) to your right, you’ll see the church—a white building with a blue door surrounded by a blue metal fence. The Church of Saint Catherine has a special connection to the village because it allegedly belonged to the Gavalas family (for whom Gavalochori is supposedly named) during Venetian rule in Crete. In fact, until 1700, all of the priests of this church were from the Gavalas family. This church is usually locked, so you won’t be able to see inside unless a service or ceremony is being held in it.

 

Main Square Revisited

Back in the main square, you might want to check out The Swallow, a craft shop that features items from Crete and elsewhere in Greece. This also might be a good time to have a meal at Monica’s Taverna or a coffee or beer at the kafeneio, the coffeeshop/pub in the square. During the German occupation of Gavalochori between 1941 and 1945, the building was appropriated by the Germans for use as a German officers’ club, so step inside to see the large paintings that feature scenes from Germany that were painted by a German soldier during that time.

Because Gavalochori is a working village, you will find many things to enjoy just by being here—getting a loaf of bread from the bakery in the morning, enjoying dinner at one of the tavernas, waking to the sound of a local rooster or to church bells pealing, or listening to live music at the old school. But if you want to see most of the historic sites the village has to offer, this tour is for you. Please note that it takes you to only 3 of the churches in the village and not all 12. The route described here covers about 2 kilometers (1¼ miles), and with time for stopping, observing, and resting, you can complete it in about two hours. Some information is provided here about each of the historic sites, but if you want to learn more, additional information is available on the pages devoted to each of these spots on this website.

 

Main Square

The historic tour starts in the main square of the village, Gavaladon Square. Although more functional than beautiful, the square remains the center of the village. It is here that major celebrations and programs take place in the village, and it is an informal gathering space for villagers as well. You will often see (mostly) men sitting at one corner of the square in front of and across from the kafeneio, a coffeeshop/pub.

The monument in the main square is dedicated to people from the Gavalochori area who died in various revolutions and wars on Crete. One statue is of Konstantinos Malinos, a fighter from the second half of the 19th century who helped shake off Turkish rule. The second statue is of lawyer Charalambos I. Papadakis, who also engaged in revolutionary activity against the Turks in the same time period and who later held various political positions on Crete. 

To the left of the war memorial is a stone monument commemorating Christos Moulas, who was killed, along with his copilot, on July 25, 2023, while fighting a fire on the Greek island of Evia. They flew low to drop water on a fire that had been burning for several days before the plane turned sharply into a hillside and burst into flames. The text on the monument reads, “There is no return for me, but eternal will be the glory,” with the first set of lines in ancient Greek and the second in modern Greek. Moulas was the son of Anastasia Kazoyli and Vagelis Moulas, who owned the Arismari Taverna in Gavalochori at the time of his death. 

Also in the main square is a plaque that celebrates the handicraft of lace making or kopaneli (κοπανέλι) that was very important in the history of Gavalochori. The plaque contains two mantinades (μαντινάδες), a type of Cretan poem that consists of two lines of 15 syllables each. The mantinades read, “Daughter of Gavalochori, you need hard work and patience to make bobbin lace, as always is required for fine arts” (Mixalis Piperakis) and “The making of bobbin lace in Gavalochori for many years gave a living income to mother and daughter” (Nikolaos Pagonakis).

 

Plaque Commemorating Resistance to Turkish Rule

To continue the tour, leave the main square and enter the narrow street that leads to the Folklore Museum (you’ll see a sign that points to the museum). On the corner on your left is a plaque on the side of a building that reads, “In 1692, in this place, the Turks brutally murdered the abbot Gavalas Kapetanakis of the Monastery of Kera for fighting and supplying the fortress of Souda” and “In 1750, in this place, Zoumas Kalorizikos, received a martyr’s death for refusing to convert to Islam. Eternal memory [to the deceased].” Both of these incidents refer to the efforts of the Turks to suppress the people of Crete, and both of the men mentioned resisted Turkish rule and refused to convert to Islam.  

 

Historic Corner (“Old Kafeneio”)

Across from the plaque honoring the two men who resisted Turkish rule is the historic corner, a display of items in a fenced-in enclosure. Until World War II, this structure was a complete building that housed a coffee shop. During the war, when the Germans occupied Gavalochori, they couldn’t get their vehicles around that corner, so they tore down two of the four main walls of the building. You can still see the Turkish fireplace here and some items that used to be in the coffeeshop (other items from the building are now exhibited in the museum). The four plaques in Arabic on one wall are from the Turkish cemetery, which once was located where the old school currently stands. 

A plaque at this site says, “In memory of the hero Ioannis Proestakis, second lieutenant, 1940.” When Greek prime minister Ioannis Metaxas refused to allow the forces of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini to enter Greek territory and occupy unspecified “strategic locations” on October 28, 1940, Italian troops attacked the Greek border with Albania. This marked the beginning of Greece’s participation in World War II. Gavalochori resident Proestakis died in the fighting between Greece and Italy.

 

Platanaki Square

Continue down the street past the historic corner, and you will see a cluster of quaint old buildings. This small square, which is 60 meters or less than a city block from the main square (and we are counting a block as having about 315 feet), is called Platanaki Square. Platanaki means “in the neighborhood of the small plane tree” and acknowledges the plane tree in the square’s center. Platanaki Square has long been a gathering place for Gavalochori residents and tourists. It once was the center of the Turkish neighborhood of Gavalochori and contained six coffee houses, some of which also served as bakeries and grocery stores. 

The taverna or restaurant in the square is the Arismari Taverna (arismari is an ancient word in the Cretan dialect for “rosemary”). If you are touring Gavalochori on a hot day, now might be the time for a glass of hand-squeezed lemonade garnished with mint at Arismari. Connected to the taverna is Arismari Art, a shop that offers wine and local artisan products for sale. 

A plaque in the square (sometimes hidden by a bench) marks a historic event in Gavalochori. It reads, “In 1892, a committee was established here for the awakening of the Cretan people from their deep sleep against the Organic Law of 1879.” Organic law is a body of laws that forms the original foundation of a government. In this case, it refers to the Pact of Halepa, an agreement made in 1878 between the Ottoman Empire and the representatives of the Cretan Revolutionary Committee, which was composed of leading Christian Cretans. The agreement was designed to end Cretan resistance to the Turks by making Crete an autonomous state within the Ottoman Empire. Although the Ottoman Empire largely failed to enforce the provisions of the pact, the Muslim residents of Crete were upset because they believed the pact delivered the administration of the island to the Christians. Conflict ensued between the Muslims and Christians, and in an effort to maintain order, Turkish authorities sent military forces to Crete between 1880 and 1896. The plaque commemorates a meeting in Platanaki Square to plan Cretan resistance to those forces.

 

Folklore Museum

If you continue to follow the street through Platanaki Square, in 21 meters (70 feet), you will come to a museum on your right, the Folklore Museum of Gavalochori. It  introduces you to the traditional handicrafts and industries of Gavalochori, including lace making, stone carving, wood carving, pottery, and farming. The museum displays historic objects made, used, and donated by residents of Gavalochori or excavated from nearby archaeological sites. The museum also offers amenities for the weary traveler: It has an intimate, shady courtyard in which to sit and rest for a few minutes as well as a clean restroom.

In the museum, don’t miss the bed that also functioned as a wine press for the stomping of grapes on the main floor—you can see the cover of the wooden trough in the floor next to the bed where the wine would have been collected after the grapes were pressed. Another highlight is the display of stunning lace fabrics and wedding dresses made with silk thread from silkworms fed with the leaves of local mulberry trees. Taking center stage on the top floor is a huge wood-carved iconostasis—literally, an “icon stand”—used to separate the nave or main body of the church from the altar. The intricate sculpture, with its flowerpots, rosettes, twirling vines, and religious figures, was carved of wood from local cypress trees at the beginning of the 19th century and was probably removed from an earlier iteration of the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus to keep it from being destroyed by the Turks. 

After visiting the museum, exit to your left and follow the picturesque stone-paved alley to the dead end. On the left, next to the museum, you will see the ruins of an old olive mill with large traditional arches.

 

Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus

After you leave the alley, turn right onto the stone-paved street. In a short distance of about 75 meters (less than a block), you will see a large church on your right, the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus. It is the largest church in Gavalochori, so it is where services are held on major religious holidays like Easter and Christmas. It stands on the site of the first church in Gavalochori, the Church of Saints Constantine and Helen, built after the arrival of Christianity to the village. The dedication of the current church building took place on Easter Sunday in 1908.

The church has three domes, and traditionally, each of the three domes is dedicated to a saint or a revered religious figure. The middle dome is dedicated to Saints Sergius and Bacchus and the north dome to Saints Constantine and Helen, referencing the origins of the church. The third dome was never formally dedicated, but it commemorates the Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel visited Mary and told her she would conceive and bear a son through a virgin birth. 

The Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus is where regular church services are held in the summer. Services begin at 7:30 on Sunday morning and end around 9:30 or 10:00. Because the church is usually locked, you won’t be able to go inside unless a service or ceremony is being held in it.  

 

Elementary School (“Old School”)

Your next stop is the elementary school, which is 236 meters (2½ blocks) from the church. After leaving the church, turn right, and you will pass a small pine forest on your right. Continue following the main road downhill and then uphill, turning left at the fork. You’ll come to a pale yellow building with a wide expanse of pavement adjacent to it with a backboard and hoop for playing basketball. This building was once “the crown jewel” of Gavalochori—its elementary school, completed in 1913 and built largely by its residents. The villagers had to rebuild the school following World War II because it was used as a barracks by the Germans and Italians who occupied Crete during the war. No longer used to educate children, the rooms inside are now occasionally used for meetings and fundraising events and to store chairs and other equipment for concerts and community celebrations. 

 

Venetian Wells

Retrace your steps back to the main square, and then follow the signs that direct you to the road that goes up the hill to the Venetian Wells.  At the top of the hill, take the road to the left and walk to the wells—the route is about 600 meters (6 blocks). A first glance suggests there is nothing of interest here because the wells near the road have been capped with concrete. But walk back beyond the concrete caps, and you’ll discover many stone-ringed wells that still hold water that were built by the Venetians sometime during the 15th and 16th centuries. You also don’t want to miss the two plane trees whose branches have grown together or “embraced,” making it a romantic spot for weddings and wedding pictures. Also take a peek at the lovely and well-preserved Venetian bridge directly across the road from the wells. 

The water in the wells wasn’t used by the residents of Gavalochori for their drinking water because each house had its own cistern for collecting rain water, but it was an important gathering spot for the villagers until 1969, when a municipal water system was built. It was here that they watered their animals and met other villagers and shared the latest news. The wells are also where the women did the laundry, using open fires built near the wells to heat the water. The leaves of the plane trees scattered through the area were collected by the women and taken home to be dried and used as filling for mattresses. 

You will see two plaques at the wells. The one by the two plane trees that have grown together reads, “At the wells under the plane trees in Gavalochori, there is the phenomenon of the embracing branches (Mix. Piperakis) Cultural Association of Gavalochori.” The second is on a tree next to one of the wells: “My Gavalochori plane tree, which is at the wells, the signs of time can be seen on your trunk” (Nik. Pagonakis) Cultural Association of Gavalochori.”

 

Olive Mill

About 500 meters (5 blocks) from the Venetian wells is an old olive mill, the next stop on your tour. To get there, retrace your steps to the top of the hill where you turned left to go to the wells. Go straight ahead on the road. Don’t take the road that heads to the left and goes uphill, and don’t take the road that does downhill and retraces your steps. About hallway down the hill on the left is a restored olive mill from the 17th century that is marked by a sign, “Pre-Industrial Olive Mill.” A very special archaeological site, it gives you a glimpse into the early olive industry in Gavalochori with detailed information in both Greek and English. The site never closes, and there is no admission fee. Just enter the green doors, and before you is the history of processing olives in Gavalochori represented by three types of olive presses—the oldest with a single millstone, a more modern one with four millstones, and the most recent a metallic one dating from the late 19th or early 20th century.

There used to be about 12 olive mills in Gavalochori—each neighborhood had one or more mills. Today, no working olive mills exist in Gavalochori.

 

Church of the Nativity of Mary and Church of Saint Charalampos

As you come out of the olive mill, turn left and continue down the hill to a small square that is used for parking. As you enter the square, look for a street on your right and follow it to the Church of the Nativity of Mary and the Church of Saint Charalampos. This walk is about 122 meters (1½ blocks) from the olive mill.

The Church of the Nativity of Mary, often called by residents of Gavalochori simply Panagia (Παναγία), which translates as “Virgin Mary” or “Holy Mary,” is really two churches, one a later addition to the other. The Church of the Nativity of Mary, built in 1628, is the original church and is on the right as you face the church, and the Church of Saint Charalampos is on the left. The date when it was added is unknown, but it was probably appended because of the important role that Saint Charalampos played in the history of Gavalochori. He is considered the patron saint of the village and is credited with stopping several plagues and other diseases in Gavalochori and for intervening in various ways to keep villagers safe. 

The Church of the Nativity of Mary and the Church of Saint Charalampos is the church that is used for regular religious services in the winter. Services begin at 7:30 on Sunday morning and end around 9:30 or 10:00. This church is often open, so if it is, take advantage of the opportunity to see the inside of a Greek Orthodox church. 

 

Church of Saint Catherine

After leaving the Church of the Nativity of Mary and the Church of Saint Charalampos, turn right and follow the road past several traditional houses. At the intersection, turn left into the main square. You’ll be back in the square after about 182 meters (2 blocks). At the north end of the square, you’ll have an opportunity to see another of Gavalochori’s 12 churches, the Church of Saint Catherine, which dates back at least to 1200 AD. If you are facing the Fronimos (Φρόνιμος) supermarket that is on the square, about 128 meters (1 block) to your right, you’ll see the church—a white building with a blue door surrounded by a blue metal fence. The Church of Saint Catherine has a special connection to the village because it allegedly belonged to the Gavalas family (for whom Gavalochori is supposedly named) during Venetian rule in Crete. In fact, until 1700, all of the priests of this church were from the Gavalas family. This church is usually locked, so you won’t be able to see inside unless a service or ceremony is being held in it.

 

Main Square Revisited

Back in the main square, you might want to check out The Swallow, a craft shop that features items from Crete and elsewhere in Greece. This also might be a good time to have a meal at Monica’s Taverna or a coffee or beer at the kafeneio, the coffeeshop/pub in the square. During the German occupation of Gavalochori between 1941 and 1945, the building was appropriated by the Germans for use as a German officers’ club, so step inside to see the large paintings that feature scenes from Germany that were painted by a German soldier during that time.

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The Well, Gavalochori.  Foundation for Gavalochori- The Well of Gavalochori
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The Well

240 m from main square
Gavalochori
Pre-Industrial Olive Mill, Gavalochori. Fábio Castel Garcia, Foundation for Gavalochori- Pre-Industrial Olive Mill of Gavalochori
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Olive Mill

200 m from main square
Gavalochori
Church of Saint John, Gavalochori.  Foundation for Gavalochori- Things to See & Do | Gavalochori

Hike to the Church of Saint John in Gavalochori

Round-trip distance is 1.6 km
Gavaladon Square (“Main Square”), Gavalochori. Terry Dorvinen, Foundation for Gavalochori- Gavaladon Square (“Main Square”) of Gavalochori
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Gavaladon Square (“Main Square”)

At village center
Gavalochori
Folklore Museum, Gavalochori.  Foundation for Gavalochori- Folklore Museum of Gavalochori
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Folklore Museum

160 m from main square
Gavalochori
Elementary School (“Old School”), Gavalochori.  Foundation for Gavalochori- Gavalochori: A Tour on Foot
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Elementary School (“Old School”)

400 m from main square
Gavalochori
Old Road to Vamos, Gavalochori.  Foundation for Gavalochori- Things to See & Do | Gavalochori

Walk to Vamos

Round-trip distance is 7 km
Historic Corner, Gavalochori. Terry Dorvinen, Foundation for Gavalochori- Historic Corner (“Old Kafeneio”) of Gavalochori
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Historic Corner (“Old Kafeneio”)

At village center
Gavalochori
Venetian Wells, Gavalochori.  Foundation for Gavalochori- Venetian Wells of Gavalochori
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Venetian Wells

600 m from main square
Gavalochori
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