This very fertile and green plateau is located in the Lassithi Mountains. In the north it is bordered by the Selena Mountains and in the south by the Dikti Mountains. Crete has quite a number of plateaus, but this is by far the biggest. Throughout the years this plateau has been a save haven for many men and women of the resistance and the local villagers where more than happy to put them up. This eagerness to help and solidarity is still very much seen in the mountain villages of the Lassithi. In Spring the plateau experiences quite a bit of water, caused by the melting of the snow high up in the mountains. The locals have laid out a network of irrigation channels, which transfer this water to the fields, caves and various depots. In the olds days the famous white Lassithi windmills were responsible for getting this water out of the depots and onto the fields; nowadays the modern Cretan farmer prefers a motorized way.
So the numerous postcards, travel books and excursion are quite misleading when it comes to these lovely windmills. They are solely there for the benefit of you, the tourist, to give you the impression irrigation is still done by means of these charming windmills. It is of course what Lassithi is famous for and the locals should really make an effort in restoring some of the old windmills, as this is what people have come to see.
Horticultural this plateau plays an important role as many of the vegetables are grown on these fertile grounds. Especially the potatoes are very much in demand (and I can promise you they make excellent chips from these large potatoes). The plateau furthermore offers some interesting museums (mentioned elsewhere on our website), a few archaeological sites, impressive monasteries and the Dikti Cave (where Zeus threw his daughters of a mountain, as daughters mean trouble). In fact even now the Cretan father is not always too happy to hear his newborn child is of the female kind; this means they have to cough up a rather large sum of money for their daughters such as a house, the wedding, etc. All in all the Lassithi plateau has quite a few interesting sights to offer and gives you an excellent impression of every day life on Crete.
