Kritsa and Panagia Kera

Panagia Kera stands among cypresses just below Kritsa, a triple-aisled church of the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries whose interior is entirely covered with wall paintings, the most complete Byzantine fresco cycle on Crete: the central aisle holds scenes from the life of Christ, the northern aisle the life of the Virgin including the apocryphal childhood stories, and the southern aisle the Last Judgment and the life of Saint Anne, painted in a lively, narrative style with donors portrayed in fifteenth-century dress. Above it, Kritsa climbs a steep slope in white lanes hung with woven textiles, a village long known for weaving and now largely dependent on visitors, though the looms are real. A road continues from the village to the ancient site of Lato in the hills above.

What you actually see

• The fresco cycle - three aisles of Byzantine wall painting, near-complete.
• The donor portraits - fifteenth-century Cretans painted in their own clothes.
• Kritsa's lanes - a white hillside village hung with woven goods.
• The cypress setting - the church among trees below the village.

When to go

Spring and autumn; the church is small and fills quickly when coaches arrive from the coast, so early morning is best. Kritsa's lanes are steep and hot in midsummer.

Honest expectations

The church interior is dim and photography is prohibited, which frustrates visitors expecting to record the paintings. Kritsa's shops sell a mixture of genuine local weaving and imported goods. Parking in the village is difficult.

Nearby

Lato lies four kilometres above the village; Agios Nikolaos is fifteen minutes down the hill.