Myrtos

Myrtos is a coastal village in the west of the municipality of Ierapetra, in the regional unit of Lasithi on the island of Crete in Greece. It is located 14.5 km (9.0 mi) from Ierapetra, the most southern town of Europe and 50.5 km (31.4 mi) from Agios Nikolaos, on the road to Viannos. Myrtos is situated at the Libyan Sea. The population of the village in 2010 is about 600 people.

Myrtos has a rich history, and although many think it is a poor town it has prospered with the advent of tourism. The town (village) is full of tavernas although there is also a little jewellery shop, 2 supermarkets, a few souvenir shops and a bakery. There are a few hotels, apartments and studios.

The area surrounding Myrtos was already inhabited in the Minoan period, but the current village dates from the first half of the twentieth century. Before that it was the location of a small port, where inhabitants from higher surroundings traded for local products, which they shipped to Ierápetra. Only when threats from piracy along the Cretan coast diminished and it became safer to live there did the village of Myrtos develop.

On September 15, 1944, during the Second World War, the occupants of Myrtos were ordered by the German occupiers to leave the village. Many refused to do so, resulting in the massacre of eighteen inhabitants as a reprisal, and the almost complete destruction of the village by fire. In the central square of Myrtos there is a monument to commemorate that event. Near this monument, every year on October 28, Ohi Day is commemorated.

Tourism started at the beginning of the 1970s. Initially Myrtos was especially popular amongst hippies, but later also 'regular' tourists started to visit the village. Since the 1980s some apartment complexes have been built in Myrtos, but tourism in Myrtos is still relatively small-scale and nowhere near as developed as the tourist centres which one finds, for example, on the North coast of Crete.

Myrtos has a subtropical climate. The temperature in the south of Crete is a couple of degrees higher than in the north, because colder winds from the north are blocked by Dikti mountain (whose highest point is 2,150 metres or 7,050 feet).

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Wikipedia