Lodging list in Lassithi Plateau

The fertile soil of the Lassithi Plateau is due to alluvial run-off from the mountains when the snow melts in the spring. The ditches on the plateau were installed by the Venetians in 1631 when they wanted to insure a good harvest. The irrigation was handled by the many visible windmills seen in the plateau. Most of these have been abandoned for the more efficient electrical pumps.

The main crops of the plateau are potatoes and apples. There are also many almond trees which blossom in late January (the Brides of Winter) giving the plateau a wonderful appearance.

People have inhabited Lassithi since Neolithic times (6000 B.C.) except for a period of 200 years during Venetian rule. The Venetians could not control the inhabitants of Lassithi because of its position in the mountains, so, once the people were relocated, they forbade the plateau to be inhabited under penalty of death. You may circle the plateau, visiting its villages along a paved road.