Gouves, about 10 km east of Heraklion, is, as are many other coastal settlements in Greece, a split village. That is, there is an upper village, Ano Gouves, and a lower village on the coast, Kato Gouves, which sits on a 18 kilometer-long, relatively straight east-west portion of Crete's northern coast. Kato Gouves is tucked in between Gournes just to the west, and Analipsi to the east. Topographically, these coastal tourist villages are fairly similar to one another.
Phaistos, or more correctly the Minoan Palace of Phaistos, is located in the Messara Plain in south-central Crete, 55 kilometres south of Heraklion and a short distance from the archaeological site of Agia Triada, the archaeological site of Gortys and Matala.
Phaistos is one of the most important archaeological sites in Crete, with many thousands of visitors annually. Phaistos is "Φαιστός" in Greek and you may find it also written as Phaestos, Faistos or Festos.
Visitors wanting to know the history of Crete, the achievements and the way of life of its previous inhabitants, can visit our museums and admire, from close up, the treasures on view. The visitor can admire a number of finds that come from different periods of time, and different parts of Crete, in the various rooms of the Archaeological Museum , where treasures of the Palace of Knossos hold an important place.
The creation of a large and modern sea Aquarium in Crete was a challenge as well as a vision not only for the local research society but Cretan society as a whole. The impressive response from the hundreds of thousand annual visitors to CretAquarium justifies the painful attempts that were made by the former Institute of Marine Biology of Crete as well as the current single body for marine research in the country -the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research.
Knossos, the famous Minoan Palace lies 5 kilometres southeast of Heraklion, in the valley of the river Kairatos. The river rises in Archanes, runs through Knossos and reaches the sea at Katsabas, the Minoan harbour of Knossos.
In Minoan times the river flowed all year round and the surrounding hills were covered in oak and cypress trees, where today we see vines and olives. The pine trees inside the archaeological site were planted by Evans.
