Αρόλιθος Παραδοσιακό Χωριό

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(Τύλισσος Ηρακλείου)

Τύλισος, Ηράκλειο / Ηράκλειο

A journey to Crete of past times

AROLITHOS is the unique private traditional Cretan village. It lies just 11 kilometers away from Heraklion, along the old national road connecting Heraklion with Rethymnon. Built on the slope of a mountain, in the wild Cretan landscape, the village is a beauty on the map of the Cretan nature, bringing the older back memories from their lifestyle and showing the younger the simplicity and beauty of the past.

AROLITHOS is a family run business. It has been set up with much passion and love for the Cretan tradition. Its target is to project the Cretan tradition, the ethics and customs of the region, the architecture and the values of the Cretan people, by a work that will stay alive through the centuries.

AROLITHOS could be characterized as a tourist complex which represents a Cretan village with various Cretan Art workshops, two traditional houses, an ‘‘A’’ class hotel, a restaurant and a tavern, café and traditional café, as well as a small church for weddings and christenings.

Crossing the narrow streets, the visitor of AROLITHOS will have the chance to closely see the genuine traditional weavings on looms and the hand-made embroiderings.

The traditional blacksmith is one of the workshops that present a great deal of interest. The old blacksmith presents to the visitors of AROLITHOS with pride and joy the way according to which hot iron takes its form and becomes a pickaxe, a fire shovel, a horseshoe, a spade or any other tool for the cultivation of the earth.

In the weavings exhibition, the village’s biggest shop, visitors can see the Cretan looms, the traditional weavings, the embroidered and the knitted items, which the Cretan housewives used to decorate their houses. In the same room, there are ceramics, silvery, carved furniture and antiques. Also, our visitors can see the collection of unique in Greece collection of postal cards picturing landscapes of AROLITHOS.

Unique opportunities for our visitors are the two traditional houses, which represent the form of Cretan houses during the least century. The simple and on the same time comfortable way of life is presented and proved with the items the people of the past used to serve their needs.

After the walk along the narrow little streets of AROLITHOS our visitors can rest at the picturesque café or the modern café with the panoramic view to Heraklion, enjoying a Greek coffee and the wonderful Cretan Raki.

In the great square of AROLITHOS is the village church in which the wedding and christening ceremonies take place, whose party later takes place on the restaurant next to the church.

The famous Cretan Nights are organized in the restaurant, with the dance and music group, which presents dances and songs from Crete and all other Greece, in a programme taking about two and a half hours. On the village square as well, during the summer period, any kind of social events take place inside a beautiful natural landscape (able to accommodate up to about 1200 people).

One of the activities of the restaurant is also the organization of special events concerning dinner or lunch for conference guests and groups of special interest. Furthermore, one of the most interesting activities of the village as a whole is hosting visitors from cruise ships who enjoy Cretan dishes and enjoy themselves with music and dances.

An indispensable part of AROLITHOS is the Hotel section, which consists of thirty-six rooms, capable of accommodating eighty persons. Most of the hotel’s rooms have private heating and cooling as well as a small balcony with view of the Cretan nature. Part of the hotel has been renewed and is offered for accommodation during the winter. Generally, in AROLITHOS there is an attempt to extend the business period beyond the classic summer time, so that it can contribute to the general attempt to strengthen the motives for winter tourism.

Our wish and purpose is that visitors get a unique experience in the area of AROLITHOS and not forget their roots, the civilization and tradition of their country.

In this attempt, we have added the new creation in the area of AROLITHOS, which is THE MUSEUM OF COUNTRY HISTORY AND POPULAR ART. The museum is a cultural collection of great interest, because of the variety of the exhibits and their importance in relation to Crete’s civilization. The museum is open all year round and hosts excursions with visitors that are interested in country history.

AROLITHOS is a Cretan word, which means “a rock’s hole gathering rainwater”. The village AROLITHOS has this symbolic name because it concentrates the tradition and beauty of Crete. AROLITHOS lives in tradition. That way, every visitor escapes for a while from the tiring everyday routine and is transferred back into an older, pure and genuine time.

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