Why Choose Sitia for your Home on Crete?

East Crete's warm and sunny climate, low crime rates, cheaper living costs, and healthy local organic produce all make it the perfect choice for a home abroad. 

Eastern Crete's economy still rests largely on agriculture, not the tourist industry, and it is still very much the unspoilt landscape of traditional Crete.  Local building regulations are strictly defined to preserve the coastline and prevent the over-development seen in recent years in parts of the Mediterranean.

a smart property investment?

The select tourism which has always existed here is inevitably set for future growth in response to the extension of Sitia airport.  Minoan Group, a UK based venture, is planning a large scale exclusive resort near Palekastro, with golf courses, yacht marina and conference centre, while another golf course is also planned for the south coast near Makri Gialos. 

Property prices in the Sitia area have risen steadily in the last five years and continue to do so, but are still very low compared to property in the UK and other parts of Europe.  This gives UK property-owners who want to 'downsize' in the UK and purchase a second home abroad an excellent opportunity to do so here in eastern Crete.

Find out more below about life in this part of East Crete... 

Sitia Town

Sitia town is the capital of the Sitia region.  It is on the north coast of Crete island, about 135km east of Crete's capital city Heraklion, and 70km further east than Agios Nikolaos. 

For a map showing Sitia's location on Crete, click here (map opens in new window).

This picturesque small harbour town has a thriving local population, all-year-round amenities and main transport links.  Sitia harbour has a wide waterfront promenade lined with palm trees, cafes and tavernas, which ends in a long stretch of clean sandy beach.  Numerous more secluded beaches and coves are coastline features of the surrounding area.

Village Life

The Sitia region is full of inland villages surrounded by olive groves and spectacular scenery. 

Agriculture is still the main occupation of the local population, who harvest Sitia's famous olive oil, wine and other organic produce. 

The sense of local community is still very much alive, and Cretans are famous for their hospitality - don't be surprised if your neighbours bring you gifts of fresh local produce to enjoy, and invite you to join them during village festivities throughout the year.

amenities

Sitia town provides all the general amenities, shops and services you would expect and could imagine.

There are English-speaking GP's and specialists both in private practice and attached to Sitia's large modern hospital.

The town also has an abundance of cafe-bars, tavernas and restaurants to choose from.

Outside Sitia town, almost every village has a kafenion serving coffee, drinks (especially the local wine and raki), meze and other small dishes.  Larger villages will also have at least one taverna for dining out and a minimarket for daily necessities.  Most villages are on the route of the regular daily bus services which run between the north and south coasts.

Transport & Travel

Sitia airport currently has all-year-round flights to Athens several times a week.  An extension of the runway to service direct international flights is already complete, with a new, larger terminal also set for completion.  Until charter flights into Sitia are announced, the closest airport for direct UK flights is Heraklion, about a 2-hour drive (the route to Sitia is also well-serviced by taxi or bus). 

Buses are cheap, modern and air-conditioned and depart from Sitia town's bus station regularly throughout the day for all town and village destinations across the region, as well as Heraklion airport and longer journeys throughout the island.

There are two taxi ranks, one located in the town’s central square and the other next to the bus station.

Car-hire is also available.

Ferries operate direct from Sitia to Athen's port of Piraeus and other island destinations.

See our 'Useful Links' page for more detailed travel info...

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Beaches, Golf & Leisure

The coastline of eastern Crete has numerous beautiful beaches - 

Sitia - Sitia town has its own long stretch of sandy beach (awarded the EU Blue Flag). 

Kouramenos (23km east) - small and beautifully unspoilt.

Vai (25km east) - Europe's only palm tree forest, location for the ‘Bounty’ television advert, this is a very large, clean and sandy beach with sparkling azure water.

Xiona (26km east) - very peaceful with a couple of beach-side tavernas, and the site of some significant archaeological finds, including a large temple of the Priesthood of Zeus, and Minoan tombs.

Makri Gialos (30km south) - a popular resort with expansive white sand beaches.

The beaches around Palekastro, particularly Kouramenos, provide some of the best windsurfing conditions in Europe.  Other watersports, including scuba-diving, are available at Vai throughout the summer season.

Golf courses are currently in development both in Makri Gialos and the new leisure resort planned at Cavo Sidero, near Palekastro.

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Local History

Sitia has been inhabited since Minoan times - a Minoan settlement was discovered at Petras, just outside the present day town.  Originally named Iteia, Sitia served both as the port and later capital of the ancient Hellenic state of Praisos.  Plato mentions it as the birthplace of Myson, one of the seven sages of ancient Greece.  As Sitia’s importance as a commercial port for the East and Africa increased, the Byzantines were the first to fortify it, followed by the Venetians, who held Crete from the 13th century and described Sitia as the focal point of the island.  Despite natural disasters, pirate attacks, and periodic local uprisings, Sitia flourished during the Venetian period and was the birthplace of the poet Vitsentzos Kornaros (1553-1613), author of one of the most famous works of Cretan literature, ‘Erokritos’.  After Ottoman occupation in the mid-17th century the town was largely deserted for two centuries (although the architecture of some old town houses today identifies them as wealthy Turkish residences).  The contemporary town was rebuilt in 1870 on the original Byzantine and Venetian ruins.

Kazarma Castle

The castle of Kazarma above the port of Sitia originally dates to the late Byzantine period.  The Venetians restored and extended the Byzantine fortress and its walls and made the Kazarma (or Casa di Arma) their military and administrative base.  In 1538 the Kazarma was all but destroyed in a ferocious raid by the pirate Barbarossa.  In 1651 the Venetians themselves destroyed it to prevent it falling into the hands of the invading Ottoman Turks.  Under Ottoman rule there was some restoration made, and the Kazarma has since been carefully restored and is open to the public.  During summer it is floodlit at night and still cuts an imposing figure on the hill above Sitia’s port today.  It is now the venue for local concerts and other festival art events throughout the year.

Archaeological Sites

There are many significant archaeological sites in the Sitia area, including the ancient cities of Praisos (home to the Eteocretes, or ‘genuine Cretans’ thought to be directly descended from the Minoans) and Itanos (a wealthy ancient trading port, near to Vai), the Minoan palace at Zakros, and the Gorge of the Dead (a Minoan burial site) at Kato Zakros.  Sitia town's archaeological museum exhibits finds from the area spanning 4,000 years, from 3500BC to 500AD.

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