<The village of Ziros, Lasithi on Crete
Ziros is quite a large village in the southeast of Crete, at a distance of 30 kilometer south of Sitia, and the village has about 750 inhabitants. This is the place where the crossroads are to the south (Goudouras and Makrigialos), the north (Sitia) and the eastcoast (Xerokampos and Kato Zakros). The village is set in a fertile valley, the Armeno-Handratico plateau, on the foot of a mountain (the Engremno). In its streets are many fruit trees, grape plants and also friendly people. There are a couple of kafenions, restaurants, a bank, a gas station and small supermarkets. Most of the people in Ziros live from agriculture and sheep herding and in the area wine and raki are produced.
Near the village, along the road in the direction of Xerokampos, there is a military camp with a helicopter platform, and on the top of a mountain not far from the village you find a radar of the Greek Air Force.
There a couple of attractive churches in the village of Ziros, such as The Agios Nikolaos church, the Byzantine Agia Paraskevi church (from 1523 with a wall painting dating from 1565) and the Agios Georgios church. Besides a wall painting of the Holy Mother Maria the Agia Paraskevi church also has a display of the bones of people that were murdered here by the Turks. One of the squares in the village is dedicated to the freedom fighters and is called Skalioton Heroes Square. The Agios Nikolaos church dates from the 16th century. It also contains some murals but they are not very well preserved. The largest church of Ziros, the white painted Agios Georgios, has quite a dominating presence in the village square and has a bell tower with two bells in it. It is surrounded by beautiful large cypress trees.
Ziros is a nice village to make a stop if you are on the way to your destination (for example Sitia, Etia or Xerokampos). You can eat something or just make a walk through the streets with flowers and fruit trees to see the village. There are not many accommodations to be found in the village, but you can have a look on this page if there is something for rent. If you continue driving in the direction of Xerokampos, you drive over a winding but spectacular road towards the coast and you will have beautiful views on the way for which you will certainly take a stop to photograph.
