Sfakia report, April 13th, churches below Komitades Everything you want to ask, read or write about Sfakia, southwest Crete, or Crete island in general.

[jean h]

Yesterday morning, with no warning, the electricity in the village was cut from about 9am until nearly 4pm, because the electricity company was changing a main pole in the plateia and then had to re-hang the cables on the connecting poles. All the businesses were very unhappy - restaurants could not prepare food in their ovens, the bakeries couldn’t function, all refrigerators went off, etc. Those businesses that have their own generators started them up after a while.

Wiltrud and I drove to the historic church of Panagia Thymiani below the road before Komitades. There, on May 29, 1821 the chieftains of Crete started the revolution against the Ottoman Empire, and a celebration is held at the church every year. (The church isn’t open.)

We walked down the slope and stopped at a small cave church after a split olive tree (one branches is still alive), but couldn't open the door.

We continued off-piste to the small Byzantine church of Agios Giorgos, which is just visible up a slope across the dry valley (there is easier access from the road in Komitades, and you can follow a dirt road from Panagia Thymiani). Agios Giorgos church is decorated inside with frescoes painted in the early 14th century by the famous iconographer Ioannis Pagomenos, but every year they fade more and can really only be seen in detail after photo-shopping the pictures.

We spotted some different small flowers, and interesting trees on the way - they will appear in a following post.

It was cool again in the evening, but more people were eating outside.