Sea, entertainment, archaeological sites, myths and legends are all in the coastal settlement of Tsoutsouras.

The settlement is divided into two, Tsoutsouras and Pera Tsoutsouras, but their borders are not easily seen.

Tsoutsouras is about 60 kilometers from Heraclion and under the Kastelliana district of the Minoa Pediados municipality. Pera Tsoutsouras is under the Asterousia municipality. According to the 2011 census, 93 people live in Tsoutsouras and 23 in Pera Tsoutsouras. The population is usually increased during the summer.

There are many taverns, cafeterias and hotels. There is no humidity in the climate of Tsoutsouras so it is ideal for people with breathing problems.

In the village there are many things worth doing like trips to the mountains through rivers, to the hilltops through mountain paths, in beautiful beaches and magical bays.

Archaeological findings and ancient settlements have been found around the settlement. There is also the mountain with the magnificent caves that have to do with many ancient objects and many myths.

BEACH

There is a small port in the settlement and two bays, that are about 2 kilometers long, are in the east and the west of it.

The beach is sandy and is on the Libyan Sea. There are many umbrellas and tamarisks for protection from the sun.

The beach is full of salt and iodine so it is thought as curative.

HISTORY

The ancient and powerful Inatos town was in the place where Tsoutsouras is today. It was a worship place of the goddess of birth and an important port of the ancient Priansos and the southern Crete generally. During the Post-Minoan era, the town was under Knosos.

During the Historical years Inatos was the official port of Priansos, the largest autonomous city of the era in the south-eastern Mesara plain. The trading with Palestine, Syria, Egypt and northern Africa took place in there. The large temple of Eileithia was probably built in that period and when the cavern of the Minoan goddess worked again as a worship place.

It is said that the Saracens disembarked in that bay in 828 (Middle-Byzantine Era) and, after their installation there, they attacked and conquered Crete.

The findings in the mountain and the caves prove the habitation there during the Proto-Christians and Pre-Christian Years.

The area was desolated for many years and inhabited again by the residents of the inland that went to the area in order to take advantage of the fertile grounds and the fishing.

Tsoutsouros is stated for the first time in the 1940 census. It was under the Monofasi district and the Kasteliana community then. In the official census it was recorded that only 8 people lived permanently in the village.

The village played an important role during the German and Italian Occupation. The Tsoutsouros bay was used for contact with the Middle East, boarding and disembarkation of many boats, safe transfer of the allies or the Greek partisans.

PLACE NAME

The name of the settlement came from the Venetian word “Zuzzuro” that means bay.

MYTHS

There are many myths, traditional stories, fairy tales about Dragons, monsters, “Sarantapichous” etc.