Culture
The Asterousia Mountains offer both visitors and residents a rich cultural repository with a great number of traditions, customs, and habits.
The three important elements of the region is the place itself, the course of time, and the human presence, which have managed to form this particularly interesting cultural identity.
The sanctity of the area, the continuous human activity, the rich natural environment, and the relative isolation of the communities in combination with the beautiful relief of the mountain massif, contributed to the creation of a unique cultural background punctuated by certain traditions, customs, and habits, many of which have primeval roots or constitute surviving elements of the Minoan and Pre-Christian religion.
It could be said that the Asterousia mountain range is unique in comparison to other mountainous areas of Crete, thanks to the longstanding, incessant human presence, which has been confirmed to have existed as early as the Neolithic Period. Therefore, humans and nature have collaborated for more than 4,000 years to form this beautiful mountainous landscape. This continuous human present and the incessant usage of the natural resources of Asterousia have bequeathed consecutive areas that constitute palimpsests of the past and are full of a diverse range of tangible and intangible remnants. For the most part, these are areas that are not inhabited nowadays; however, in the past they burst with life.
The most important cultural monuments of Asterousia
Significant archaeological sites from all stages of history can be found scattered all over the mountain massif of Asterousia. Neolithic places of residence, Minoan settlements, summit shrines, caves of worship, Asclepieions (healing temples), various facilities, and most importantly cemeteries with domed tombs are found both at the coastal front and the mountainous and semi-mountainous zones. Above or near the ancient places of worship one can find a number of Christian places of worship that keep the “sacred memory” of the mountain range alive. At the same time, residential ruins of the Neolithic, Minoan, Archaic, Roman, Byzantine, Venetian, Ottoman, and Modern Period constitute the image that is known today, alongside the natural environment of the mountain of course. Matala, Kaloi Limenes, Lentas, Trypiti, Kofinas, Agios Ioannis, Treis Ekklisies, and Tsoutsouros are only some of the archaeological sites that confirm the constant human presence in the Asterousia Mountains.
The monastic movement in Greece and the Balkans was born and glorified in the Hermitages and Monasteries of the area. The existence of significant religious centers – such as Agioi Efthychianoi, the Odigitria Monastery, Apezanes, Koudoumas, Agios Ioannis in Kapetaniana, Lousoudi, Treis Ekklisies, Agios Nikitas, Agios Antonios, Panagia Martsaliani – played a crucial role not only in the daily life of the residents, but also during difficult periods in history. These places have managed to preserve the language, religious tradition, culture, folklore knowledge, as well as the wisdom of the Asterousia Mountains.