Driving off the beaten track in Crete often brings lovely surprises, and in this post I’ll look back to the time we found the remarkable village, Avdou. Why did we stop there? No idea. I can’t remember if we were driving through the pretty Lagada Valley on our way to or from Lassithi. It is a lovely road with access to for off-roading, horse-riding, hiking, walking and bird-watching.
However, for something completely different, I recommend a visit to Avdou if you’re in the area. Don’t go midday day in July if you’re hungry though, we only found a small supermarket open, and that was the delight.
We hadn’t wandered far before we saw painted ‘shop’ signs. Some, outside a kafenion or shop made sense, others were fixed above empty properties. Once we realised these the signs told the commercial history of the village, the quest was on…
Each sign had a pictorial description and the dates of operation. Some, like the tinner, had closed their doors many years ago, while the most recent I saw had served local folk until 2002. The slide-show below shares a good selection.
Back in Kritsa I showed the photos to a couple of local people and they laughed aloud at this one. No, I didn’t realise, it was the place to get your rams castrated!
There are many empty shops in Kritsa and I’d love to see an initiative like this. Not only would it be a great contribution to local history, it would encourage visitors to wander beyond the main street of shops and imagine what a vibrant village it must have been when people worked and shopped locally.
Kritsa, at the heart of it all 
those are wonderful, what a beautiful way to show the history of the place, such a shame they are all closed today. I bet the villages were thriving places when they still had all their little shops
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You are right, Amanda. It went to prove what a range of businesses a thriving community needed. Something to think about on a weekly trip to the supermarket. X
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Love the signposts, especially the χιστηριο. Sounds hysterical. It’s always sad however in Greece to find so many villages that are empty now with shops boarded up. Worse now because of the crisis.
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You are right, the last few years have been difficult. There are some new businesses opening in Kritsa this year… not ones the rams need to worry about though. 😁 x
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What a lovely idea💙 Many shops have closed in recent years in the village where I live in the south west Peloponnese….so sad to see the shutters pulled down and the building all closed up.
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Hi Gill, it seems a fab idea, perhaps it will spread. X
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The village does look empty. Poor rams!
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Hi Jan, it was funny how the signs seemed to make the village feel alive. Didn’t see any people…or rams. X
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An interesting way of learning Greek!
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😅😆😁
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What a wonderful idea with signing the houses this way. A lot of times we have thought about abandoned houses, what they had been used for in further times. We visited Avdou a yeara go on our way back from Lasithi, but only to have diner. Next time we´ll also have a walk here. Thank you for ths tipp.
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Lovely story Yvonne it’s what I like too…surprises …thanks for sharing.!!
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Hi, Wim. Glad you enjoyed the post and thank you for letting me know. 😀
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That is such a lovely idea, but also sad at the decline in the economy and for those who’ve lost their livelihood. x
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Yes, you are right. x
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We are renovating an abandoned house in west Crete, so the building won’t be lost!
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That must be so satisfying, good luck. I will visit your blog to learn more. X
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i have a small house in the mountains near ziros that was a liitle like the “goat house”in mama mia before i spent time and money renovating it.there are only2/3 kafenions in the village and it still i would say is a working village.like all of greece there are always numerous abandon/neglected properties but on the plus side many that are well kept.i learnt a long time ago the old and the new side by side are part of what makes greece what it is.some visitors cannot see that comparing with their own countries.
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Lovely to meet you here, David – you are very welcome. We still have Ziros gorge on our ‘to do’ list. It won’t be this year, but we will stay nearby a couple of nights to really explore out of season. My home village of Kritsa also has many neglected properties among the habitable. Perhaps that is one of the reason us ‘incomers’ seem to be welcomed as we bring another house back to life. As you say, it all adds to the charm. Best wishes, Yvonne x
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Thankyou yvonne.i am not sure if you looked at my blog so i will explain briefly.i just created a new blog on wordpresss however i imported a blogger blog and all those posts went into new blog which was not the plan.i have lots of blogger blogs re crete/greece.anyway i am coming to my house end of september and my new blog should see new posts although it is not entirel greek focused.i said a brief explanayion haha. David
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Hi David. Feel free to post a link to your blog here – then I, and other people, can take a look. BFN X
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