Original subtitles

(THEME MUSIC)

PETER MANEAS: In the first four series of My Greek Odyssey,

we visited islands of the Saronic,

the Ionian, the Dodecanese,

the Western Cycladic,

and the Northern Aegean.

In series five, we're seeing the Southern and Central Cycladic.

Islands you've never heard of, like Levitha, Anafi, Donousa,

and ones you know well, like Santorini, and the big one,

Crete.

In this episode, I'm heading to Heraklion,

where I'll be exploring the urban expanse

and checking out the major landmarks that every tourist should see.

I'll also be making my way to Knossos,

the ancient palace where the story of the Minoan people was unearthed.

There, I'll be getting an in-depth education

about this once flourishing civilisation

that thrived for hundreds of years.

I'm also going to visit a winery employing old-world techniques

to create unique wines with the flavours of Crete.

Heraklion,

capital of Crete,

and fourth largest city in all of Greece.

And I'm about to say something that may offend a few people,

specifically my best mate

and the godfather of my son, who is Cretan.

It is the ugliest city I've ever seen in all of Greece.

That said, ugliness is on the outside.

Come to Heraklion,

just put that facade away and dig deep

because it is the cultural and historical capital of all of Crete.

There are beautiful museums.

There's a lot of history, the Minoan, the Venetian.

There's a lot happening here,

and I'm looking forward to unfolding that

so that you can see beyond that facade

that people see when they come into this city.

I don't want to get killed walking across the road either.

Our previous port of call was Agios Nikolaos,

about 60km to the east.

It's a lot smaller and more peaceful than Heraklion,

and also much prettier.

Look, you've got a couple of 100,000 people living here,

so of course, it's going to be built up.

Most of the development happened through the '60s and '70s,

much like in Athens.

Rapid low-cost construction with little care for aesthetics,

means you get a mix of buildings that can look a bit untidy.

There are some architectural highlights

amongst the mess of suburbs.

Most apparent are the remnants of Venetian times.

There are water fountains, churches,

and fortifications throughout the city.

But it's down at the port

where the most impressive historic buildings can be found,

including the Koules fortress

and some imposing ramparts that protected the city for centuries.

Any visit to Heraklion should start with a walk around the port.

It's the nicest and most historic part of the city.

Coming from the port,

I suggest you walk down Dedalou Street.

Now, Dedalous is actually Icarus' father.

You remember Icarus.

He flew to Icaria,

fell in the sea,

wings, feathers, wax.

Started here.

Can you believe it? That far. Wow.

Anyway,

it's not a bad street.

It's starting to look a little bit prettier.

Ah, I think so anyway.

The shopping here is as you would expect from a major city.

There's boutique outlets, souvenirs, local art and craft,

as well as the mundane,

like grocery stores and chemists, if you need to resupply.

This is Morosini's Fountain,

aptly named because the Venetian Morosini built it in 1629.

And it's the first point of running water for all of Heraklion City.

This is where the locals meet for coffee,

have their cheese pie,

and just talk all morning with a coffee in their hand.

As the urban area grew,

it enveloped many historically important monuments.

Some were integrated in a manner that respected their importance,

while others were almost lost

amongst the hotchpotch of commercial and residential buildings.

Keep your eyes peeled as you never know what you'll stumble across.

Now, through the centre of Heraklion,

you'll find Market Street,

and it's pretty much a commercial city,

so you're gonna have the same leather bags, the gift stuff.

It's not stuff I really like to buy,

but there are people that want this stuff.

And occasionally,

you might see a very original shop,

and you got to be careful

because these guys are good salesmen and they can trap you.

You could be caught like I was.

I ended up buying a t-shirt for Irenaeus.

There's one shop I've been told about that I need to go to.

Something that, today doesn't work,

roasting and grinding their own Greek coffee.

Let's see if we can find it.

Here it is.

I think it's been in the family for three generations.

(SPEAKING GREEK)

Costas. Costas, Panagiotis.

(COSTAS SPEAKS GREEK) Costas, do you speak English?

Just a little bit.

Ah, fantastic. Now, I've heard about your coffee.

Ah. I understand you roast your coffee,

and you grind it. Is that right?

Yeah. Greek coffee as well?

Yes.

Greek coffee.

Ten different types of Greek coffee.

Very light, light, medium, medium strong, strong, very dark.

Filter coffee. Right.

You know the filter coffee? Yeah.

And Italian Espresso.

I'm not interested in that.

I'm interested in the Greek coffee.

Now... First, one tip.

Yeah? Some people,

they listen, Greek coffee.

They believe that in Greece we have coffee plants,

but the...

The exactly... The bean.

The...

When we say Greek coffee, it's the taste.

Oh, OK.

With the Greek coffee, you can make also filter coffee

or espresso. Oh, OK.

The difference is the taste.

OK. Alright.

So, do you have decaf Greek coffee?

Yes. Can I try it?

Yes.

I'll make you a coffee.

Fantastic. He's going to make me a coffee.

Wonderful. First, grind.

He's going to make me a decaf Greek coffee

that has been grinded and roasted.

Awesome. Woo!

First, a little sugar.

A little bit of sugar. Yeah.

Not too much sugar.

One teaspoon of coffee.

Wow.

COSTAS: And mix.

This is the traditional way of making Greek coffee.

The Bunsen burner.

(CHUCKLES)

Mix a little and wait.

We've got to wait for the coffee to...

A little bit of boiling, right?

Not exactly boiling.

But it's got to rise.

Rise. OK.

And we've got kaimaki.

Eh.

And we've got kaimaki. Coffee with a little kaimaki.

A little bit of kaimaki. Yes.

The kaimaki is that surface tension, that light brown colour.

And if you've got that light brown colour on the surface,

you know it's a good coffee.

And it's got a fair bit of it.

Not full, pretty average, but anyway.

But it's decaf, that's probably why.

Pretty good.

For decaf, that's pretty good.

Me, I don't like it.

I want original coffee.

You want the real Greek coffee. Yes.

Yeah.

Mm.

Well, you know what?

I might buy some and move on.

This wonderful variation of coffee

was introduced during the Ottoman occupation

and has become part of the Greek lifestyle worldwide.

It generally originates from an Arabica bean

that's roasted at a specific temperature,

and ground down to a much finer powder

than your typical espresso coffee.

This combination creates a distinctive creamy flavour

with comparatively low levels of caffeine.

It's rich in polyphenols and antioxidants.

I'm told there are studies proving that

a daily cup of Greek coffee

can improve your cardiovascular health and increase longevity.

The local tradition involves slowly sipping a coffee

accompanied by a glass of water and a biscuit,

while debating local politics.

There's nothing better.

I'm getting the fresh stuff.

I don't eat yoghurt, and I'm buying decaf coffee.

It's almost sacrilege in Greece,

but hey, we can't all be perfect Greeks.

It's the middle of the 1600s,

and for 200 years,

the entire Eastern Mediterranean had been occupied by the Ottomans,

with the exception of Crete.

The Cretans under Venetian rule had held out quite well,

until 1648, when the Turks really poured it on

in what would be known as the Siege of Candia, right here.

For 21 years, they defended.

But in 1669, with the sinking of the French ship, La Therese,

they surrendered.

And Christianity's crusade against Islam ended right here

after 600 years.

I'm about to go and see the fort right now.

Forts like this are found across the Mediterranean.

Some more grand than others.

They were built to protect shipping routes in the region,

from Europe, North Africa, and the Far East.

The ruling nations sought to establish footholds in these areas,

so they could safely move spices, textiles,

and other in-demand materials between trade partners.

Europe, in particular,

had a huge appetite for exotic spices, art, fabrics, and the like.

This made for lucrative business that warranted protection,

not only from invading regional powers, but pirates as well.

Beyond defending their wealth,

there was also empire expansion

occurring under the guise of religion.

It seems peace had to be constantly fought for.

In the end, what was it really all about?

The Venetians negotiated a surrender with the Ottomans

and kept three islands in around Crete that had safe harbours.

Thousands of Cretans died,

but their Venetian trading route to the east stayed.

Well, was it about Christianity, or was it about their trading route?

You make up your mind.

Throughout the ages,

ego and wealth are the drivers for most wars around the world.

All it takes is a manipulative, greedy leader,

and nations will take arms.

Those that make decisions that lead to conflict

typically use fear and prejudice to galvanise people around their cause.

Countless lives are lost in this pursuit of power and fortune.

And at the end of the day,

those that fight and die for it never really see the spoils of war.

These grand fortifications are a testament to battles of the past,

and a reminder of humanity's constant state of conflict.

When you're coming to Crete,

there are two museums that you need to see,

and both of them are here in Heraklion.

One is the Archaeological Museum,

which has got all the ancient stuff in it.

And then following on from there,

we have the Historical Museum of Crete,

which we're in right now.

And on the ground floor, you get a nice introduction.

And it follows through in chronological order.

It starts with the early Byzantine period,

mid-Arabic,

then to the Byzantine period,

Venetian, going right around the room.

You see this wonderful model.

And then you've got World War Two,

and coming into the 20th century.

And then you can go up through three floors.

It's an easy walk-through.

And take your kids, they'll love it.

The model's awesome.

This model gives us an idea

of what Heraklion looked like in the mid-17th century,

just prior to the Ottoman attack.

While through the years much has changed,

the general layout and port area, in particular,

are still recognisable.

The museum presents a tangible timeline of Crete's history,

starting from the early Christian era,

right through to the middle of the 20th century.

It was a particularly turbulent period

with various ruling powers, wars,

and rapid social and political change.

The collection includes a vast array of stunning sculptures

that tell the story of living conditions and society on the island

in an artistic way.

Statues, stone reliefs, religious motifs,

and tombstone engravings

span over a millennia of Crete's past,

showcasing the diverse culture

and shifting religious balance the island has experienced.

The rooms dedicated to the Ottoman and modern periods

showcase the rapid Islamisation of Crete under Ottoman rule,

starting in the middle of the 17th century.

The story then progresses

into the building of the national consciousness,

largely led by the Christian inhabitants in the late 1800s.

It follows the growth of the revolutionary fervour

that ended with the union of Crete to the rest of Greece in 1913.

Completing the museum is a collection of art.

The modern stuff isn't so much to my liking,

but there are several other works here of great significance.

The principal reason I came to this museum

was to see these two pieces of rare artwork

by El Greco, the famous Cretan artist.

And one is of St. Catherine, the Monastery in Sinai,

and also the baptism of Christ.

And they sit amongst

a bunch of other wonderful pieces of iconography

from the Byzantine times.

Level two has a section set aside specifically for Nikos Kazantzakis,

probably Greece's most famous writer in the modern era.

This room here is an exact replica of his office,

and the books in it are all his original books.

Kazantzakis was a ground-breaker,

and he wasn't really appreciated until after his death.

Kazantzakis is best known

for the cinematic adaptions of his literary works,

including, 'The Last Temptation of Christ',

and 'Zorba the Greek'.

The latter winning three Academy Awards.

He studied and travelled all over the world,

and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature

in nine different years.

One of the many great quotes attributed to him

that I personally relate to goes,

"Happy is the man, I thought,

"who, before dying, has the good fortune to sail the Aegean Sea."

Kazantzakis died in 1957,

and the Archbishop of Greece at the time

didn't permit his body to be exposed for public veneration in Athens.

However, when the body arrived in Crete,

it was exposed in the Cathedral of St. Minas for one day.

After this,

the funeral was conducted

while fanatics burnt books outside the church.

The body was then accompanied by thousands of Cretans

to the grave atop the Bastion of Martinengo.

His grave is austere with a wooden cross

and a plaque engraved with his famous phrase,

"I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I'm free."

When discussing Greek history,

for those well versed in the subject,

one of the first topics of conversation

is the Minoan civilisation and the Palace of Knossos.

It's one of the most visited archaeological sites in Greece.

And therefore, generally, it's packed with tourists.

So when you had Prince Charles, who was he with?

Just with Camilla?

He was with Camilla.

Did he like it? Yeah, yeah, he did.

And then he came up and visited us at the Research Center and saw...

Right. ..what we were doing up there,

which was great. Yeah.

Luckily, we had Professor Bennett on our side,

so we were given access prior to the site opening.

He's the Director of the British School at Athens,

which is an archaeological institution.

In our conversation,

a name you'll hear come up a few times is Arthur Evans.

He was a British archaeologist

and led a team that excavated this site in the early 1900s.

It took decades to dig up and rebuild the massive area.

And along the way, they rewrote the history books.

So the Minoans, Crete was not inhabited forever.

So the first people who came and settled here

are the agriculturalists, obviously farming here.

Came probably around about 7,000 BC.

So the...

They were the first...

The antecedents,

the first people who lived here,

and it was their descendants who built this stuff

some 5,000 years later.

And we don't know their language, what they spoke.

There had been people visiting the island even before 7,000,

but they were hunter-foragers.

They came, they hunted, they went away again.

So the first agriculturalist, actually the first evidence,

is about seven metres below our feet here out the side of Knossos,

right next to the river down here,

and about five kilometres in from the sea.

But this was, in its time,

the biggest or best, and strongest city in all of Europe.

So around about 1,500 BC,

this was the biggest city in the whole of the Aegean area,

the biggest city going west all the way to Britain and Spain, et cetera.

The only larger cities at the time were way over in Mesopotamia.

And it was part of a network of cities interacting with each other

throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, Egypt,

round through modern Palestine, Israel, et cetera,

up to Turkey, and so on.

What made these people so special to be able to build palaces,

three palaces here in Crete?

What was it?

What I think happened is that around 2,000 BC,

the Aegean became connected to the Eastern Mediterranean.

So a lot of ideas flowed.

The idea of writing and the technology of the sail,

which collapsed the distance

between the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean.

This type of masonry you see here,

this cut stone masonry probably came in at that time.

And of course, lots of ideas.

So ideas about cult, ideas about...

As I said, about writing, and so on.

And that really transformed a civilisation,

which was based on agriculture.

Very rich area, Crete, and so on.

The scale of this site is immense.

And to think, what we see now is just the palace.

In ancient times, it was surrounded by a bustling town.

So, professor, this is the square?

Absolutely.

And what happened here?

Well, this would be a place

where people would watch events going on here,

and the events would be ritual events,

probably dancing.

But one theory is that the bull-leaping took place here,

where young, athletic people would charge the bull,

grab it by the horn, and vault over its back.

So could everybody watch these events here?

I don't think everybody,

but the Knossian elite would be invited in as it were to watch this.

It was quite a...

Although it's a big space, it's quite a constrained space.

And one theory about the way the buildings around the central court

mimic the way in which many parts of Crete have mountains

surrounding valleys inside.

So the building itself was part of the environment, if you like.

It was embedded in the environment

in a way that we could probably do to mimic in the modern world.

Yeah.

These guys were way ahead.

They were, yeah, yeah.

We're still catching up in many ways.

Yeah.

Professor, this looks like a very elegant building.

Very deep.

Right next to the square.

Yeah, so this was two storeys below the level of the square,

and another one above.

And this is some of the best preserved actual architecture.

Most of this is real.

It's been restored,

but not reconstituted as other parts of the palace are.

But this is some of the most elaborate architecture.

Probably elite staterooms,

possibly for receiving foreign dignitaries

coming in from the south,

and for the living space of the elites who lived here in the palace.

How do they understand the colours?

How do they get the colours there, the red oxide colour on the columns?

So we have lots of representations of architecture in Fresco,

and many of them from Santorini, for example,

where you actually see the columns painted red.

And they're always painted red.

So that seems to be a consistent colour.

I'm not 100% sure,

but they do leave an impression in the soil next to them,

and it may be some of the colour is actually preserved there.

So this is stuff that Evans would've rebuilt?

The columns have been rebuilt, yeah.

A lot of the other architecture

has simply been put back in place and cemented in,

rather than completely rebuilt.

And underneath it all, of course, drains.

There's a... The place is drained as well?

There's drains all the way under here.

So which suggests of course, that they were planned

because they had to build on top of the drains.

You can't put them in afterwards...

Yeah. ..as you well know.

And all of the area,

the draining off the central court,

draining off the central court that way, and so on.

Wow.

And it's big enough for someone to crawl through.

One of my colleagues crawled through and did a sort of...

Is that right? Yeah.

A crawl through? Yeah, yeah.

Wow.

Alright, well, let's go have a look at some of these other buildings.

Sure, yeah.

The Minoans obtain their wealth

by using their significant naval power

to control commercial trade throughout the Greek islands.

They shipped olive oil, timber, wine, food, cloth, herbs,

and even purple dye across the Mediterranean.

They also traded in precious stones and metals.

This wealth is what allowed them to build such grand palaces

and have a thriving population.

In addition of course, to things like drains, etcetera,

you can't support a population of something like 20,000 people

without having things for them to eat.

And these are two very early storage jars.

Each of them would contain well over 500l

of either grain or wine,

but this is one of the smaller store rooms

and much larger store rooms

on the other side of the palace over there.

And in the documents, the Linear B documents

from the latest phase of the palace,

we have records of grain,

one of which includes 96,000l of grain in storage

at a place in South Central Crete,

but recorded here at Knossos, and that's in the Heraklion Museum.

Right.

So, there actually isn't much in the rooms here.

It's all at the Heraklion Museum?

All the finds. Right.

Especially the small finds and the valuable finds

are down the road in the museum.

Absolutely.

I think that's where we should continue.

Absolutely. After you, mate.

Yeah. Thank you. Yeah.

We think about iconic monuments and buildings around the world

like the Colosseum in Rome, the Eiffel Tower in Paris,

and the Empire State Building in New York.

In its time, this palace was arguably far more significant

than any of them.

Apart from its grand size,

it was also the most progressive construction of the period

and the continent's power centre.

By now, you should know I love a good museum.

They are a wealth of knowledge

and provide so much more depth to the experience you can have

when visiting archaeological sites.

So, these are some of the large-scale Frescos

that we were talking about.

And these are actually in relief,

which is yet another technique, particularly popular at Knossos.

So, it's almost as if the person is embedded in the wall

or coming out towards you.

And then these are actually from a new,

not from Knossos, from a place called Pseira.

I love the depth of feel in them. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah. Look at the detail on the... Yeah.

OK, that's restored,

but it's restored from the fragments that are preserved.

It's so impressive.

Restoration work like this takes incredible amounts of research

and an attention to detail beyond the average person.

They need to find comparable works,

look at the fashion of the time,

understand the techniques used by the artisans,

and then apply it in a way that doesn't harm the fragile material.

The people carrying out the restorations

have to be artists themselves,

knowing how to blend colours and wield a brush.

I can only imagine the immense pressure they must feel,

knowing that they hold so much responsibility

and are dealing with ancient artefacts

that are one of the kind.

So, here we have one of the many Frescos from Knossos,

and you can probably see that it's a bit like a jigsaw

with lots of raggedy edges.

And it's the bits that are standing out that are the originals

and the rest has been restored

to give you a sense of the whole image.

Right.

These people are the Michelangely of the Bronze Age.

I mean, they're painting these Frescos all over the palace.

They don't come cheap and it's depicting a ritual.

It's depicting a bull leaping scene.

As you see on the left-hand side,

someone's grabbing the horns of the bull.

You see the middle of the action, vaulting over the back of the bull,

and alighting hopefully safely at the other side.

Females on either side and a male vaulting over the back.

And this is one of the many, many Frescos found here at Knossos,

and a number of other sites around the Aegean.

Some of them are like this,

a scene that you couldn't grasp in one view.

They may depict a ritual as this one does.

Some of them depict rituals happening in the palace itself,

or it may be a story,

like some of the ones that we find at Akrotiri, for example,

or they're life-size as if the person on the wall

is actually participating in the same ritual

that live people are participating in.

That's amazing.

I mean I just look at this and there's so much activity,

and you know, it's a dangerous sport.

Yeah. People often talk about the idea

that Minoan art has life in it.

Yeah. As opposed to Mycenaean.

Yeah. And later on.

It really is full of life.

You can just grasp it that.

I feel like taking it off the wall and taking it home,

but I don't think that's going to happen. Is it?

I don't think you'd go very far.

Wow.

Frescos were created by applying watercolours

to freshly laid plaster.

One of the reasons they last so long

is that the colour soaks deep into the material.

Typically, they were done on ceilings, hallways

and exterior walls

where you wouldn't normally hang a painting,

but wanted to decorate the space.

They were popular in palaces,

places of worship, and the homes of the wealthy.

So, we can tell this is an advanced civilisation

by this range of objects,

which were literally thrown away into a tomb.

We have semi-precious stones.

We have gold, we have blue glass, we have ivory,

which was imported and carved obviously.

And the gold beads and the blue glass beads

that you see here

were all each individually made to be identical, one to another,

by using moulds.

They didn't have glass for mirrors like we do.

So, they polished up bronze

in this circular mirror at the bottom.

And it has an ivory handle.

It just shows the richness really, of the ability to have the bronze.

Not only that, but also to have a handle,

which is in ivory, which of course...

But Professor, you say that they're an advanced civilisation.

I can see they're a wealthy civilization,

but where can you tell they're advanced?

Well, not only in the skill involved

and the craftsmanship involved in producing these objects,

but of course, a lot of this was recorded

in writing, on clay tablets,

which documented essentially the economy of these centres.

And that writing is regarded as one of the major achievements

of advanced civilisation.

And we have that evidence?

We do have that evidence in the Linear B script recording

an early form of Greek from Knossos

and from other places on the mainland as well.

And where is that?

That's right behind us, in the gallery behind.

Can we go and have a look? Sure. Of course.

What you're looking at are carved pieces of pottery

that contain Mycenaean Greek script.

It's the earliest known form of the Greek language

and dates back to the 14th century BC.

So, here we have a very small selection of the 4,000 or so tablets

that were found here at Knossos.

They're written in a script, we call Linear B.

It records an early form of Greek, which is why we can read it.

And this one, for example, second one down here,

records 96,000l of grain preserved at a place after harvest

in South Central Crete. Amazing.

And of course, that reminds you of the big patharia

that we saw in the palace.

Here, we have records of military equipment,

but these particular ones are of chariots.

Some of them disassembled, so ready to be assembled for use,

stored at Knossos,

but also at a couple of other places, including Chania.

It's like someone's car collection. Absolutely. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

And then one of the things that we can do

with the Linear B documentation

is understand the scale of the textile industry.

So, these are dealing with the sheep

who produced the wool, about 10,000 head of sheep

throughout West Central and Central, and East Central Crete,

which were shared.

The wool went to workshops, which are recorded here as well.

And the workshops produced textiles, which eventually ended up in storage

at the palace on little tickets like this,

saying that there were sort of 20, 25 in this case,

bundles of textiles of a certain quality

associated with particular members of the elite.

Wow.

And this tablet in the middle is amazing,

because it's the largest tablet we've found in Linear B.

It has, I don't know how many lines,

but there's about 20, almost 30 lines of script on it.

Wow. Tiny, tiny script.

And these were never baked, deliberately.

There were sun-dried and stored.

But because they were never baked,

you could actually rewet the surface and make corrections on them.

Wow.

Which suggests that they had an importance

more than just as ephemeral records.

(GASPS) Look at the detail.

JOHN: Yeah.

So, I think I'm going to have to take a class

or maybe 100 classes.

Well, you can get the basics in maybe five.

But to get it expert, a lot more than that.

Yeah. Yeah.

Amazing.

Professor Bennett made it all seem so simple.

Thanks to his wealth of knowledge and way with words,

I learned a huge amount in a very short period of time.

This ancient civilisation

had brought together artists, craftsmen, scholars,

and unique skills from far-reaching parts of the globe,

and built an advanced culture that flourished for hundreds of years.

You get the feeling that at its time,

Knossos was the centre of the ancient world.

Despite the vast amount of material found at sites like this

and unearthed at other Minoan settlements,

as well as the century or more of research into their civilisation,

there are still a lot of unanswered questions

about their social structure, governance, and religion.

But through the work of Professor Bennett and his team,

some of these unknowns will eventually become clearer.

However, it might take another 100 years or more

of painstaking work by archaeologists and academics.

Until that time, we can continue to speculate,

and if you like, romanticise about this ancient civilisation.

Many big businesses in Crete

have held onto the traditional family structures

that they began with.

Thereby keeping the personal touch

and core values

that corporate organisations quite often lose in their growth.

An example of these values is found in the Cretan hospitality industry.

Many of the hotels and resorts are owned and run by families.

This resort, just outside Heraklion,

has been in the hands of the same family for generations.

They employ locals who bring passion for not only their work,

but the island, which adds to the authenticity.

Also sourced locally is much of the produce

and award-winning mixologist, Stavros,

who combines local flavours in his beverages.

So, it's easy to make.

Everybody can make it in their house.

It's one part of gin and two parts of tonic,

everybody can do it.

OK. That's pretty simple.

Yeah. It is.

Small details, just use a lot of ice.

Everybody likes to be very, very chilled,

and something that makes it very different is the garnish.

Sounds not so important, but it's important.

Three beautiful Greek green olives. OK.

Works very well with this gin, Votanikon.

Tell me, what do you think?

Wow, this is different.

This is much, much different. Huh?

It's herbaceous

and I can feel it at the sides and rear of my tongue.

There is that definite green.

It's 21st century, man.

STAVROS: Mm-hm. It's beautiful.

Imagine, 20 different botanicals from different places of Greece.

Not from one, not from two,

from different places all around Greece.

Wow. All around the islands.

This is beautiful, man.

Yeah.

What are we making now?

We're going to make a nice and refreshing spritz.

It's a new spritz.

It's coming from Greece.

The name is Athenian Spritz.

Athenian Spritz. Yeah. And why?

Because we have Athenian vermouth.

Vermouth generally is a drink that we need this nice green plant.

That is out of the famous artemisia absinthium.

You very much need this plant inside,

otherwise, law doesn't allow to get the name vermouth.

Wow. Nice and soft too.

So, of course, of course, there is artemisia inside.

But what makes different is all the other aromatic herbs and spices.

We use some tonic water instead of soda.

Everybody knows soda.

We use tonic water and a splash of Prosecco

or whatever, brut wine or sparkling wine, doesn't matter.

A nice slice of orange for extra flavour,

and in the end, something really important.

I want to give a lot of freshness.

Right, right.

Lemon. Everybody loves lemon.

Right. Around the rim.

And makes that... It's going to be very powerful.

Just pressure like that for some essential oils.

You see, make some magician tricks like that.

OK. Everybody likes to watch.

Come on, man. I'm going to drink it now.

OK. OK. Go on. Alright.

It's yours. It's yours.

So, the normal Aperol Spritz is very strong

and this is mellow, rosy, fresh.

You can taste a bit of citrus in there.

And some more herbs from Greece.

Like, you can see, I have some various citruses,

some Greek herbs, like for example,

there are olive leaves inside and oregano and thyme, and citruses.

So, it's a lot of treasures from Greece.

I think this is something that Helen, my wife would like.

But me, mate, I got to tell you,

the botanical gin and tonic, I really like it.

OK.

(SPEAKS FOREIGN LANGUAGE) (SPEAKS FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(SPEAKS FOREIGN LANGUAGE) Bravo, fantastic.

Crete, and all of Greece for that matter,

is known for its many microclimates and the abundance of wild herbs.

In recent times, they've modernised their use of them

and combined these herbs that were traditionally used in cooking

with Western alcoholic beverages

to create some wonderful flavours, that even I've taken a liking to.

Mind you, I'm not about to become a mixologist

to be able to make these drinks,

so it's probably still going to be the occasional wine or Ouzo for me.

From a modern twist on the traditional,

to a journey into the past.

Every night at this resort,

they have cultural performances that use local talent.

In this instance,

we were treated to an example of the famous Cretan dancing.

One thing this island has done incredibly well,

is maintaining their cultural identity

and not in a manner that's just seen in touristic performances.

Every day, Cretans will learn to sing their traditional songs,

how to play the local instruments,

and do folk dances that have been staged for centuries.

It's a source of pride and identity for them

and put on show at weddings and festivities,

or in this case,

at tourism venues where visitors can get a taste for the local culture.

There are over 30 million olive trees in Crete.

They're everywhere.

But there's also an abundance of grape vines,

and in turn a huge wine industry.

In fact, this is one of the oldest wine-producing regions in the world.

Having been in the game for centuries,

you'd expect Cretans would've mastered it, and they have.

And to learn more about what makes the wine of Crete so unique,

I headed to the town of Thrapsano,

where they're using an ancient method.

Eva, you and your husband have this small winery.

You haven't been doing this for long.

What made you start doing this in the middle of your life?

You know? Yeah.

Exactly the middle,

because my father started to make Tsikoudia raki,

as we called it in Crete.

It's a traditional.

And planted the vineyards about 2014.

And we love this thing.

Right. It's very interesting to make grapes

and then turn it to wine.

It's very, very interesting.

And now the past two years,

we are trying to put it in the clay pot.

It's a very, very interesting thing to do.

Why are you doing in the clay pots?

Is this...

It's a traditional thing here in Thrapsano.

It's very traditional

because everywhere, you can see a clay shop, everywhere.

Right. So, you are bringing back the old ways?

EVAGELIA: The traditional.

And I understand you've won an award for your wine from the pots,

from the clay pots in Berlin.

Yes. Two years ago, it won a double gold,

the Takimi orange wine.

We make it in amphora. Yeah.

It's totally natural wine and it was very good.

Right. Very, very good for us.

And so you want to grow this winery and grow it in the family?

Yes. And make it through the years to my sons.

Yeah.

And keep the traditional alive.

That's fantastic. Mm-hm.

I mean, there's a lot of small wineries in Crete.

Yes, but in the nut forest, nobody did it.

Nobody's doing it. No.

And we are only Thrapsano.

We have to keep the traditional alive.

Well, I think it's time for me to try that wine.

Let's go.

There are 25 potters in the tiny village of Thrapsano.

The one I visited is responsible

for manufacturing the pithoi used at the winery.

Can you believe they're still making pithoi

in the 21st century for wine production?

It's a method that the ancients employed,

not only for the ageing of wine,

but for storing oil, olives, and other preserved foods.

This pottery factory

is like a lot of other businesses around the island.

It's family owned and run

with multiple generations all lending a hand.

They produce not only pithoi

but all sorts of clay items

for everyday use and decorative purposes.

It's an art form that has been handed down through the centuries

with techniques having changed minimally in that period.

In ancient times,

groups of potters would travel to villages

and make pots and jars on-site

because transporting such large and fragile things

was too difficult in the mountainous terrain of Crete.

This workshop might have employed some modern methods

to increase production,

but it's still very hands-on work

and requires an artisan's touch

in order to turn the mounds of clay

into the wonderful items you see here.

Andrea has been doing this in his family

for several generations,

so many that he can't remember.

His grandfather taught him the technique.

Now, these babies are going in

and they're going to be in there for 48 hours at 1,050 degrees.

Then they're going to rest for 24 hours,

come down to ambient temperature.

And then he fills them up with water for 24 hours.

Then they're ready to go to the winery.

This is one of the babies that we are looking at.

In actual fact, there are a number of them behind there,

and there's some other stuff that's going out as well.

The pots go into the kiln and are fired for several hours

before being stacked, checked for faults,

and eventually trucked off for sale or to local wineries.

As you can see, the work they do is amazing,

and they're producing on a large scale,

despite their mostly traditional methods.

EVAGELIA: Here, we have the Takimi wine.

It's 100% Vidiano.

Yep.

And it's a type of orange wine, a Cretan variety.

Right, OK. Local variety Vidiano.

100% Vidiano.

Now I'm no connoisseur, but...

Mmm. Mmm.

It's nice. It's different.

It's different. It's different.

It's very different. Very nice.

And what have we got in this one here?

Here we have a 100% kotsifali, also in pithoi.

Yeah. 12 months, and it's natural wine.

So, this has been in here for 12 months.

12 months, yes.

And did you have the grape skin in there for a while as well?

For two weeks. For two weeks.

Almost two weeks, yes.

And this is about ready now. It's resting 12 months.

Yes, it's ready.

I must say, I've tried your wines before.

I love your Rose. Ah, thank you.

I think your Rose is... It's very good.

And I'm not a wine connoisseur but I like it.

It's something I think Helen will drink as well.

Let's see. Also, it's a natural wine.

This is a natural wine? Yes.

This is a natural wine.

I don't know what a natural wine means,

but it's a natural wine.

You know what? I like that one better.

This is nice but I like that one better,

and I love your Rose.

Mmm. Mmm.

I like this one better. You like this one better?

Yeah. Well, you're a wine connoisseur.

I'm not. You know?

It's always about taste.

Yeah, it is.

It is, and it's subjective I suppose.

Of course. Well, it's won an award.

The other one's won an award, so it must be good.

It is. It is very good.

This is fresh. That's why it didn't get an award.

Right, but listen, I love this.

You're keeping traditions.

That's all on you and Eva.

This is wonderful what you've done here.

We are trying to keep the tradition alive.

Bringing it back, bringing back the ancient ways.

It's fantastic.

I should say, but you haven't got a glass,

stini yasas. Stini yasas.

Thank you so much. Well done.

Well done. Thank you so much.

Yiamas. Yiamas.

The Cretan wine industry is alive and well.

They're producing modern varieties

that you'll come across at restaurants

and in bottle shops around the world.

But what really excites me

is that there are producers willing to bring back to life

ancient techniques that create a uniquely Cretan flavour.

In the next episode, I'm headed to Rethymno,

where my education on Cretan culture continues.

I'll also be exploring one of the key events

in the battle of Crete during World War II,

and getting a taste of the local cuisine.

Captioned by Ai-Media ai-media.tv