#08 Walking Tour - Matala

Which beach in Heraklion has caves?

The first days of June are just around the corner and our summer swimming has already started on the beautiful beaches of Crete. You will definitely have visited many of them!

But which of all has caves?

Matala is a seaside village located southwest of the prefecture of Heraklion and is about 71 km from our city. Matala is the most famous seaside village, not only for its natural beauty and its people, but mainly for its beach! The beach (which has the same name as the village) is famous for its natural caves, where the hippies lived in the 70's.

Observe carefully the beach with its caves in the photos of our tourist guide This Is Crete:

• Where is the beach?
• Where are the caves in relation to the beach? What is their access?
• As you observe from above the beach, how do you think the caves were formed?

After taking a good look at the photos, find more information about the caves in our tourist guide here.

Many archaeological findings that have been excavated in the area, show that this beach was the port of the ancient city of Phaistos during the Minoan Age. Imagine the port of Phaistos and paint it. Where would the pier be? Where would the ships anchor?

Don't forget to find the paper with the secret key in the photos below. Somewhere it can help us!

Enjoy diving!

#TIPS

• They’re said that hippies lived in caves in Matala in the 1970s. Who are these hippies? And why are they called like that? Known as “the children of flowers", hippies were a group of young people who came together and tried to bring new ideas to the society of that time. Search your books or even the internet (with the help of an adult!) and find more information about them. If there were hippies today, what would it be like
• Explore your books, and also the internet (with the help of n adult!) and discover more about the life of the Minoans in Phaistos. How did they live? How was their life at the port? Find more information about the of Phaistos here.