Area History Βιάννος Κάτω Σύμη Κρήτη

Dikti is a divine mountain according to mythology, since Zeus, the god of gods, was born here, in Diktaion Andros.

Dikti is a divine mountain according to mythology, since Zeus, the god of gods, was born here, in Diktaion Andros.

The Sanctuary of Hermes and Aphrodite at the location of Krya Vrysi is just 5 kilometers from the settlement of Kato Symi. Here are the most important antiquities of the Municipality of Viannos.

The sanctuary is one of the most important of antiquity, as well as the only known place of worship in Crete and Greece that functioned for many centuries without interruption. It was founded around 2,000 BC.

The location of the Sanctuary is identical to the Sacred Mount, according to Ptolemy, which is located between ancient Tsoutsouras and Ierapytna (present-day Ierapetra).

Worship in this area began in the Middle Minoan Period and continued until the Roman imperial years. Finds from the sanctuary of Symi are today in the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion.

Today this archaeological site is open to visitors and is a beautiful route. From the height of the site the view towards the Libyan Sea is panoramic.

Nikos Syngelakis or Hatziagnostis the Symian was born in Kato Symi in 1799, a Chaini before the Revolution of 1822. He was the terror of the Janissaries of Viannos.

Kato Symi Viannos: Modern History

The role of the inhabitants in the modern history of the island of Crete was also important. In the mountains of Kato Symi, the guerrilla resistance was organized in 1942, with the help and participation of the Symians during the German Occupation.

During the German occupation, in 1943, a German expeditionary force went to the village to punish the residents for killing 2 Germans at the Symi outpost. At the entrance to the valley, a well-fortified guerrilla force attacked the Germans, on September 12, of whom 84 were killed and 12 were executed. Other sources speak of 70 dead on the German side.

The Nazis' revenge was immediate and inhumane, since they destroyed all the villages of Viannos from the Myrtos River to Amyras, and executed all the male residents of the area.

The "burnt villages" of Viannos paid a heavy price for their resistance to the occupier.