About Mirthios

The Municipality of Myrthios includes the settlements: Myrthios, Calypso, Kampos, Kokkina Chorafia, Plakias, Phoenix. Myrthios is 36 km from Rethymnon and has a nice view to Plakias bay and the Libyan Sea. It is the birthplace of the great linguist, Georgios Hatzidakis. It is the second-largest Municipal Apartment with 536 inhabitants according to the 2001 census and is characterized as a traditional settlement.

According to the tradition, the name of the village comes from the word “myrtle”, because once in the center of the village there was a great myrtle which today does not exist.

The inhabitants of the village are not all genuine Crete. Many came mainly from Greece, but there are settlers from Sfakia and other parts of Crete.

Originally, Myrthios was built near the sea, but the frequent raids of the pirates during the Venetian domination forced residents to move to higher hills. The original existence of the village near the sea is revealed by the old aqueduct found there.

The basin that spreads all over this area is called Gialia from the gulf. Today there are some small caves near Myrthios at “Paligremnos or Ganotis”. The inhabitants used them as shelters during the German Occupation to protect themselves from the bombing.