Goúves () is a village and former municipality in the Heraklion regional unit,

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. Since 2011, local government reform it is a part of the municipality

Hersonissos Hersonissos (, meaning “peninsula”, ''Chersónisos'', ), also transliterated as ''Chersonissos'' and ''Hersónisos'', is a town and a local government unit in the north of Crete, bordering the Mediterranean / Aegean Sea. The town is about 25 ...

, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of . It lies about east of

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

. Goúves is better known for its busy summer resort about 1.15mi (1.87km) north of the village, Káto Goúves. Besides this well developed tourist resort with long sandy beaches, the area has some traditional villages and archaeological sites and Eileithyia caves. Here, there are many accommodations (such as large hotels, boarding houses, and self-catering apartments) along with many restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and shops. To the west of Goúves are the tourist resorts of Kokkíni Háni (also spelled Háni Kokkíni) and Amnísos, both with similar attractions, and, to the east, Crete's largest resort, Hersonisos.

Villages in the Municipal Unit of Gouves

Villages in the area include: * Anopoli - several minutes from Kokkini Xani village, and 5 km south in the mountains at an altitude of 205 m. * Elia Village - located 12 km southeast of Heraklion city, in the inland of Hersonissos Municipality, and just 4.5 km from Kokkini Chani village by the sea. The village is on a small hill, at an altitude of 230 m * Epano Gouves - located on the south side of Gouves village by the north side of Ederi Mountain, just 18 km east of Heraklion city and just 3 km from Gournes village. * Epano Vatheia - is located in the valley of Vatheianos Kampos, at an altitude of 260 m in the inland of Hersonissos Municipality, just 15 km southeast of Heraklion city. * Gournes - a village by the sea and located just 15 km east of Heraklion city in the Municipality of Hersonissos. * Gouves village - also known as Kato Gouves, this is a village by the sea * Charasso village - located southeast of Heraklion city just 27 km from the airport and at an altitude of 388 m, in the inland of Hersonissos Municipality just 10 km south of Gouves village. * Kalo Chorio - located just 7 km south of Gouves village and 25 km southeast of Heraklion city * Karteros Village - located by the sea just 8 km from Heraklion city and is the natural limit of Hersonissos Municipality *Kato Vatheia village - located between Vatheianos Kampos and Epano Vatheia * Kokkini Chani - a village by the sea and located just 12 km from Heraklion city. * Koksari village - located 23 km southeast of Heraklion city and just 5 km from Gouves village * Skoteino - located south of Gouves village * Vatheianos Kampos - located 13 km east of Heraklion city and borders Kokkini Chani village.

Points of interest in the Municipal Unit of Gouves

Amnisos

Amnísos lies about 7 km East of Heraklion city, just beside the

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

and in front of the islet of Dia. There is another

Minoan The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age culture which was centered on the island of Crete. Known for its monumental architecture and Minoan art, energetic art, it is often regarded as the first civilization in Europe. The ruins of the Minoan pa ...

villa in the area dating from 1600 B.C., where some frescoes that are now in

Heraklion Archaeological Museum The Heraklion Archaeological Museum is a museum located in Heraklion on Crete. It is one of the largest museums in Greece, and the best in the world for Minoan art, as it contains by far the most important and complete collection of artefacts of t ...

were found.

CretAquarium

One of the largest and most modern aquariums in Europe,

CretAquarium Cretaquarium (, ''Enidrio Kritis''), also known as Thalassocosmos (, "sea world"), is a public aquarium located near the town of Gournes in Crete, Greece, 15 km east of the city of Heraklion. History The Cretaquarium project was conceived by ...

was founded and operates as part of the HCMR. It is geographically located on the north-western part of the former American Base of Gournes, where together with the premises of the research institutions of HCMR forms THALASSOKOSMOS - the largest centre for marine science and promotion of the Mediterranean Sea world.

Dia island

Dia island is located 6 miles northeast of Heraklion city. It is uninhabited and the home of seabirds and species associated with coastal cliffs. It is one of the NATURA protected areas, due to its status as biotope for endemic plants.

Eileithyia Cave

This cave lies 1 km inland from Amnísos. It was an important sanctuary since

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

times. It was dedicated to

Eileithyia Eileithyia or Ilithyia (; ; (''Eleuthyia'') in Crete, also (''Eleuthia'') or (''Elysia'') in Laconia and Messene, and (''Eleuthō'') in literature)Nilsson Vol I, p. 313 was the Greek goddess of childbirth and midwifery, and the daughter o ...

, a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

goddess of fertility and childbirth of Cretan origin. The cave is rectangular, 64 m long and 9-12 m wide. After the entrance there is an antechamber, which leads to a rectangular room surrounded by cylindrical stalagmites which were probably worshipped by the pilgrims. At the cave's mouth there is a square, known as "The Square of Altars". This courtyard may have been used in ceremonies. The cave remained in use until late Roman times.

Gorge of Karteros

Gorge of Karteros also known as Astrakiano Faragi is located in the Municipal Unit of Gouves and can be entered by Karteros village on the southeast side. It is a hiking trail with ponds and small waterfalls.

Kera Eleousa Monastery

The monastery is located in the Municipal Unit of Gouves, near Voritsi village and just some minutes away from Gouves village. It is a fortress type monastery with significant archaeological ruins, founded in the late

16th century The 16th century began with the Julian calendar, Julian year 1501 (represented by the Roman numerals MDI) and ended with either the Julian or the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian year 1600 (MDC), depending on the reckoning used (the Gregorian calend ...

. Visitors can see the church, the monks' cells and the yard of the monastery.

Minoan villa of Kokkíni Háni

The summer resort of Kokkíni Háni lies in Vathiano Kambo, about 13 km East of

and Northwest of Goúves. At the spot known as Nirou Háni, archaeologists found a well-preserved

villa dating from the ''New Palace period''. The villa had two stories, was about 1000 sq. meters large and had all the typical features of the Minoan architecture: two paved courts, connecting corridors, storage rooms, light wells, shrines, etc. About 40 tripods and huge double axes were found in some rooms, suggesting that the owner of the villa might have been a high priest. Like most of the

buildings, the villa was destroyed by a big fire. The finds from the excavations are now displayed in the

Monastery of Saint John Theologos

This monastery (''Agios Ioannis Theologos'' in Greek) lies in a verdant setting southeast of the village of Anópoli. It used to be part of the Saint George (''Agios Giorgios'') monastery to its North, which was abandoned following the frequent pirate raids in the 15th and 16th centuries causing monks moving to the monastery of Saint John. During the revolution of 1866 – 1869, the monks fought alongside the rebels and deserted the monastery. They returned from the battle to find that it was looted. During the Ottoman occupation of Crete, the monastery was burnt down on 27th July 1896 by the Turks, while the monks living there were massacred. The monastery remained desolated and uninhabited for eight years until it was re-established. In 1904, the monk Callinicos Daskalakis came back to Anopolis from Agarathos, where he had found shelter and, along with other monks, he tried to rerun the Monastery. Since then, the monastery has been functional non-stop. The monastery's Catholicon is not built in the center, but on its northwest side unlike other fort-like monasteries. It is a single-nave, barrel vaulted church and contains a mosaic floor. On the north, there are three tombs, which belong to Archimandrite Gregory Aspetakis, Archimadrite Timotheos Papadakis and the monk Ioakeim Avgerinakis. The Monastery contains a painting of Antonios Alaxandridis and remnants of an olive-oil press west of the Catholicon. There was also the first school that operated in the Monastery after 1840 on the spot of the olive-oil press.

Skotino Cave

This cave, one of the largest of the hundred caves in Crete, is located high on a hill northwest of the village of Skotinó, a few kilometers inland south of Goúves. It is also known as the Ayía Paraskevi cave, this name coming from the church built on top of it. The cave is 160 m deep and 36 m wide. The first archaeological researches on the site were done by

Arthur Evans Sir Arthur John Evans (8 July 1851 – 11 July 1941) was a British archaeologist and pioneer in the study of Aegean civilization in the Bronze Age. The first excavations at the Minoan palace of Knossos on the List of islands of Greece, Gree ...

, the well-known British archaeologist who unearthed and partially restored

Knossos Knossos (; , ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is a Bronze Age archaeological site in Crete. The site was a major centre of the Minoan civilization and is known for its association with the Greek myth of Theseus and the minotaur. It is located on th ...

in the early 20th century. A more comprehensive exploration was done by French and Greek archaeologists in the 1960s. They found a number of bronze and ceramic votive offerings, the oldest of them dating from the earliest

periods, suggesting the cave was an important sacred shrine dedicated to a female fertility

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

, possibly

Britomartis Britomartis (;) was a Greek goddess of mountains, nets, and hunting who was primarily worshipped on the island of Crete. She was sometimes described as a nymph, but she was more commonly conflated or syncretized with the goddesses Artemis, Athena ...

. The cave was still used in

Classical Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archa ...

and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

eras, when the fertility goddess

Artemis In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...

or her Roman equivalent

Diana Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997), ...

replaced the

deity.

Gallery

References

Bibliography

* Fisher, John and Garvey, Geoff (2007). ''The Rough Guide to Crete'', 7th edition.

External links

Gouves Travel Guide
from traveleye.com
Municipality of Chersonissos - Crete
{{Chersonisos div Populated places in Heraklion (regional unit) Hersonissos