Sitia
In 1508 a violent earthquake razed almost to the ground the settlement that stood on this stretch of coast at the eastern tip of C...
Updated 8 July 2026
This season · July · Summer
What to do in Sitia now
The story
The story of Sitia
From Minoan origins to Itanos: a history on the frontier
The Sitia area was already inhabited in Minoan times, as shown by the excavations at the site of Petras, just east of the modern centre, where since the 1980s archaeologist Metaxia Tsipopoulou has brought to light a small palace with archives of Linear A tablets, storerooms and a necropolis that tell of an organised community as early as the 3rd millennium BC. In the Greek and Roman periods, the leading role passed to nearby Itanos, a city-state on the island's easternmost point, whose harbour made it for centuries a trading hub contested by the powers of the Aegean. Sitia itself, then called Eteia, remained a minor but vital centre, heir to that network of exchange linking Crete to the Near East.
With the transition to Byzantium and then to the Republic of Venice, which from the 13th century ruled the island as a strategic colony, Sitia grew in importance as a port controlling the route to the Dodecanese. It was precisely in this period that the town suffered the harshest blows of its history: pirate raids, recurring epidemics and, in 1508, the earthquake that destroyed much of the settlement, forcing the Venetians into a rebuilding effort that lasted decades.
Venice, the pirates and the Kazarma fortress
The most recognisable symbol of Venetian Sitia is the Kazarma, the sixteenth-century fortress that overlooks the old harbour from a rocky rise. The name derives from the Italian "casa d'arme" (armoury house), indicating its function as a barracks and garrison against attacks from the sea, at a time when the Cretan coasts were a constant target of pirate and Ottoman raids. Damaged in turn by the 1508 earthquake and reworked several times since, the structure today hosts concerts and open-air performances in the summer months, keeping alive the role as a hub of public life it already held in Venetian times. Climbing up there at sunset, with a view sweeping across the gulf and the rooftops of the old town, remains one of the best ways to understand why the Venetians chose precisely this spur to defend the town.
The Monastery of Toplou, fortified sentinel of the hinterland
About twenty kilometres from the centre, isolated on a semi-desert, wind-swept plateau, stands the Monastery of Panagia Akrotiriani, universally known as Moni Toplou: the name, of Turkish origin, means "with the cannon", a memory of the artillery that once defended its walls against pirates and raiders. Probably founded in the 14th-15th century, the monastery played a dual role for centuries, spiritual and defensive, and during the Ottoman occupation and the Second World War it was also a centre of clandestine resistance. Inside is kept "Megas Eimi", an eighteenth-century icon considered one of the masterpieces of post-Byzantine Cretan painting for the narrative richness of its tiny scenes, along with a collection of manuscripts, engravings and liturgical vestments. The monastery still owns vast agricultural land, where it produces its own oil and wine, sold in the shop attached to the visit.
The Vai palm forest and the Sitia Geopark
On the north-eastern coast, not far from Itanos, stretches the forest of Vai, Europe's largest natural palm grove: thousands of specimens of Phoenix theophrasti, a Cretan endemic palm distinct from the date palm, grow here thick almost down to one of the island's most photographed beaches, with golden sand and turquoise waters framed by the deep green of the fronds. The area is protected as a nature reserve and falls within the broader Sitia Geopark, recognised by UNESCO as a Global Geopark for the variety of its geological formations: limestone gorges, sea stacks, marine caves and a karst landscape that tells millions of years of the Earth's crust history. Walking the geopark's trails, often marked with information panels, is a way to understand how geology, biodiversity and human settlement have intertwined in this remote corner of Crete.
The eastern coastline: wind, silence and beaches all different from one another
The coast that runs east and south of Sitia is among the least developed in Crete and offers a surprising range of marine environments. At Kouremenos, a few kilometres to the north, a steady, reliable wind has made this bay one of the Mediterranean's most renowned destinations for windsurfing and kitesurfing, with well-equipped schools and a shoreline of pebbles and sand open to the Sea of Karpathos. Closer to the centre, Chiona beach offers calm, shallow waters ideal for families, while to the south, beyond the mountains, Xerokampos retains an isolated atmosphere made of sandy coves reached via scenic roads through terraced olive groves and villages still living to the rhythm of agriculture.
Wine, raisins and the table of Sitia
The Sitia area has a long winemaking tradition, recognised by the protected designation of origin "Sitia", which showcases native grape varieties such as Liatiko for reds and Vilana for whites, grown on the slopes sloping down to the sea. Between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the town was also a major export port for raisins, gaining commercial fame throughout the eastern Mediterranean; that agricultural vocation is still found today in the extra virgin olive oil, the pasture cheeses and the honey-and-almond sweets served in the seafront taverns. Every summer the town celebrates its cultural roots with the Kornaria festival, a showcase of music, theatre and dance dedicated to Vitsentzos Kornaros, the Cretan poet who wrote the Erotokritos and who is linked by family tradition to this part of the island: concerts, re-enactments and shows enliven historic squares and courtyards for weeks.
- Climb up to the Kazarma fortress at sunset for the view over the old harbour
- Visit the Monastery of Toplou and the Megas Eimi icon
- Swim among the palms of Vai beach, arriving early to avoid the crowds
- Try windsurfing or kitesurfing in Kouremenos bay
- Explore the Minoan excavations of Petras and Sitia's small archaeological museum
- Walk a trail of the UNESCO Geopark among gorges and karst formations
- Taste the Sitia PDO wines at a local winery or directly at the Toplou monastery
- Stroll along the harbour in the evening among the fish taverns
FAQ
Quanti giorni servono per visitare Sitia e dintorni?
Qual è il periodo migliore per andare?
Come si arriva alla spiaggia di Vai e conviene andarci presto?
Sitia è adatta a chi viaggia con bambini?
Dove si parcheggia in centro a Sitia?
Sitia è comoda come base per visitare l'estremità orientale di Creta?
Getting there
- Aeroporto di Sitia (JSH), scalo regionale a circa 1 km dal centro, con voli stagionali interni
- Aeroporto Internazionale di Heraklion "Nikos Kazantzakis", a circa 130 km / 2 ore e 15 minuti d'auto
- Da Heraklion si segue la strada costiera nazionale verso est passando per Agios Nikolaos e Ierapetra; il tragitto attraversa paesaggi collinari e tratti panoramici sul Golfo di Mirabello prima di scendere verso Sitia.
- Il porto di Sitia ha collegamenti via traghetto con Kasos, Karpathos e Rodi: utile per chi vuole proseguire il viaggio verso il Dodecaneso senza tornare a Heraklion.
Perfect for
Kouremenos è tra le baie più affidabili del Mediterraneo per vento costante, ideale per windsurf e kitesurf, mentre Vai e Chiona regalano bagni più tranquilli.
Petras, Itanos e il museo archeologico di Sitia raccontano quattromila anni di storia, dalle prime comunità minoiche alle città greche di confine.
Il Geoparco UNESCO di Sitia e la palmeto di Vai offrono paesaggi unici in Europa, tra gole carsiche, coste rocciose e l'unica foresta di palme autoctone del continente.
Il festival Kornaria, il Monastero di Toplou e la produzione di vino DOP Sitia mantengono viva un'identità contadina e letteraria radicata nel territorio.
Lontana dai flussi di massa della costa nord di Creta, Sitia si presta a un turismo lento fatto di passeggiate al porto, degustazioni e spiagge poco affollate.
To see
