The eco park Lasinthos is located in Lassithi plateau near the traditional village of Agios Georgios (St, George), which is one of the more recent villages that got established during the Venetian era and due to the aquaworks that had been done at the time to make Lassithi plateau one of the most fertile lands in Crete! In Agios Georgios village one can visit the folklore museum housed in an early 20th century building, that has collections of items that were donated by the villagers when the museum was opened in the 80s. There are also various collections of manuscripts, paintings gallery, woodworking exhibition, old books, weapons and many more recent objects!
Lassithi plateau, the birthplace of God Zeus, is located 70 Km from the city of Heraklion to the east and 25 Km south of the city of Malia. It is a fertile land at an altitude of 800-850 m and is surrounded by the mountains of Diktis.
The center of the plateau is used as farmland and the 18 major and smaller traditional villages and settlements are situated on the surrounding mountain ridges. The villages are interconnected by a peripheral circular main road with length of 25 Km that due to its flat nature is ideal for biking or hiking!
Sightseeing
A common sight in the Lassithi plateau are the famous white cloth-sailed windmills that mostly were built during the 19th century and used for irrigation purposes and although not functional in irrigations any more they are part of the cultural and scenic identity of the plateau!
Another sight worth seeing are the venetian drainage works Linies, which consists of large water courses that transferred water all across the plateau plains that used to be barren before that.
Near the village of Agios Konstantinos ends the magnificent gorge of Havgas that brings the water of the upper plateau of Katharo into the Lassithi plains and it is part of the European E4 trail. Also next to Agios Konstantinos is the monastery of Panagia Kasteliani and on the opposite side of the plateau is the monastery of Zoodohou Pigis where is also situated the museum of natural history of Lassithi.
Around the Lassithi plateau there is a plethora of caves with the most important of them being the cave of Psychro near the village of Psychro, or more famously known as Diktaon Andro, that in ancient times was of great ritual importance due to the myth of being the birthplace of God Zeus.
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