Author Description

Do you want to discover the natural and cultural treasures of one of the most extraordinary Greek islands from an expert? This is the book for you! (This is the color edition. For a more affordable option, check out the black-and-white edition, which includes the e-book version. Explore the other books in the series for more travel inspiration!) This book describes the largest island of Greece, a land of great natural beauty, many cultural wonders, and striking contradictions: enormous mountain chains, the mythological birthplace of Zeus, the supreme god of the ancient Greeks, covered with snow while overlooking some of the finest beaches in Greece; spectacular gorges, olive groves, traditional villages, and Venetian historical centers. This is the landscape of Crete—what the eye sees. But beyond what the eye sees, this is also one of the most glorious lands imaginable. It is the homeland of the Minoan civilization, the most ancient great civilization in Europe, which has left awe-inspiring palaces, revealing an extraordinarily high standard of living in Prehistory; the godmother of Europe itself, since Zeus—after taking the form of a bull and abducting the Phoenician princess Europa—brought her to Crete, part of the continent that was then named after her. Crete is also the homeland of the artists of the Cretan School, the greatest expression of post-Byzantine painting; the homeland of El Greco, Greece’s greatest painter, a direct descendant of this school who, even in Spain—his second homeland and the country that secured his eternal fame—never ceased signing his works as “Domenikos Theotokopoulos, Cretan.” It is the homeland of Vincenzos Cornaros, author of Erotokritos, the greatest Greek epic poem of modern times and the most significant monument of the modern Greek language and the Cretan dialect. It is the birthplace of Nikos Kazantzakis, regarded by many as the greatest modern Greek author, and of Eleftherios Venizelos, the most influential politi