Heroes and legends in the highlands of Mt. Ida

We will spend the day in and around Mt. Ida (or as the locals call it Psiloritis) reliving its history, exploring its natural environment, and becoming acquainted with the life-styles of the people who live there. We start at Tylissos with its excavated villas dating to the early Minoan Bronze Age. We then ascend to the plateau of Nida (1400 m) and hike the old trail to the Idaion Antron Cave, a site of ancient cult worship associated with the birth and rearing of Zeus. It is a place rarely visited, where myth come alive. Ida is dotted with the dwellings of local shepherds, the so-called mitata that constitute a unique element to Cretan architecture. We will then visit Anoyia, a village known for its hospitality and proud people whose heroic deeds and stubborn resistance to invaders throughout the centuries have become legendary. Here we will enjoy a delicious lunch of lamb-on-the-spit cooked local style.

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