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Agios Nikolaos

Agios Nikolaos Resort

Agios Nikolaos is a picturesque town lying on a slope above the Mirabello bay, called the ‘bay of the rich’. Agios Nikolaos is not a typical Cretan town and you won’t find there many historic sites. It is rather a tourist resort for the cream of society, perfect for going on walks. You will find there the Voulismeni Lake with the main tourist area on its coast with many bars and discos. The more than 60 m deep and 100 m long lake is connected with the sea through a 60 m long artifical channel with fishing boats passing through. In Agios Nikolaos, you will find a foklore and also an archeological museum.

History of Agios Nikolaos

Agios Nikolaos was founded only around 1870, partially on the ruins of the ancient Venetian fortress of Mirabello dating from 1204. The town was originally called Pros Kamares. This name was later changed to Agios Nikolaos according to the Byzantine church of the same name. From the sea, Agios Nikolaos was protected by a Venetian fortress on the island of Spinalonga that was never conquered. Near the port, there stretches the Voulismeni Lake where the goddess of Athene is said to have bathed according to a legend. The lake contained fresh water until the 19th century when a Turkish pasha made burst the narrow neck of land separating it from the sea. Agios Nikolaos is the fourth biggest town on Crete and at the same time the capital of the Lasithi region.

In ancient times, the little island of Mochlos near Agios Nikolaos was connected with the coast, today it lies in the east of it. Chamber graves including objects from the Minoan period were found there - the findings are currently exhibited in the archaeological museum in Heraklion.

Location

Agios Nikolaos is located on the main road connecting Heraklion with the east of the island. So, if you are travelling from Heraklion to the east, you can’t really miss the resort - it is located before the turn-off to Iereapetra.

With its location around the Mirabello Bay, the region of Agios Nikolaos is called the Cretan riviera - this is the place where the largest and the most beautiful tourist resorts of east Crete are located. Near the coast of Agios Nikolaos, there is the island of Agioi Pántes with a reserve of wild goats, from the north coast in the surroundings of Tourloti, there is a beautiful view on the islands of Psira and Mochlos. The eastern part of the Agios Nikolaos region belongs to the poorest part of the island - there the vegetation disappears, with the green hills often resembling a moonscape. You can also see there the pylons of wind power plants or banana plantations. In the interior of the Agios Nikolaos region, you will find many caves, while the western part is formed by the Dikti mountains with the Lasithi Plateau at the height of 850 m. In the south, you will find the southernmost European town of Ierapetra with hundreds of plastic greenhouses to grow vegetables, with a possibility to make a boat trip to the island of Chrissi.