ELOUNDA
Elounda is a world renowned tourist resort with beautiful beaches, clear sea, serene and beautiful environment. It lies 10 km from Agios Nikolaos and the cutting along the side of the road gives you the opportunity to admire the spectacular bay of Mirabello and Korfos. It is built on the southern shores of the homonymous bay, 1 km west of the ancient Olounda which owes its name. It is the favored place of legendary figures from Minoan Crete and of historical figures of our time.
Nearby the village is the ancient all which was a major one hundred cities of Crete, with a population over 30,000. The administrative system of Olous was Eunomia, a type of democracy. In Olounda Tallaios worshiped Zeus, Apollo and Vritomartis a temple dedicated to her. Olounda had 11 different types of own currencies, most of which is depicted on one side Artemis Vritomartis, and the other Zeus aetoforos, or dolphin or stars. The edge of Olous continued during the first Byzantine period. The show’s Basilica Poros with wonderful mosaic, today visited and the Basilica of the pumpkin with the exquisite white marble.
Elounda currently has 2,200 residents living in 4 settlements (Schisma, Pano Elounda, Kato Elounda, Mavrikiano), most of them in Schisma and deal mainly with tourism, but also fishing.
Visitors can enjoy the sea while enjoying a swim in the crystal waters of the beaches of Elounda, which are awarded annually by the European Union’s Blue Flag.
- Adjacent to the harbour is the municipal beach, a well-organized long beach ideal for water sports, with taverns and cafes next to that gathers every year thousands of visitors.
- East of Elounda 200 meters are the winners of the blue flag beach Hiona and Poros.
- Another beach for swimming in Tsifliki, 2 km away, overgrown with trees and two pebble beaches of Plaka village with its crystal clear waters.
- By car, leaving the channel through a dirt road will take you to the church of St. Luke. From there descend to walk down the beach Pumpkin with green water.
