Rethymnon. The smallest of Crete's three main north coast towns, Rethymnon retains more varied remnants of its Venetian and Turkish past than do either Hania or Heraklion, although arrival through the dreary modern suburbs may not give this initial impression. The Loggia (Meeting House), Porta Guora (Great Gate), Rimondi Fountain, old harbour, and Fortetza (Fortress) are the best relics of the Venetian occupation (1211-1646), while the Ottoman Turkish period (1646-1897) is represented by mansions, enclosed wooden balconies, mosques and minarets, and the old harbour lighthouse.
Modern tourism has led to development stretching 16km east along the coast, linking what were once fields, orchards, and a few scattered houses into a now almost continuous line of tourist accommodations filling the strip between the sea and the north coast motorway (the National Road or Ethniki). Beaches that were once home to nesting turtles are now covered with serried ranks of sunbeds and umbrellas. The suburbs, eastwards, are Perivolia, Misiria, Platanias, Adelianos Kambos, Sfakaki, Stavromenos and Skaleta.
Inland (south) of the Ethniki motorway, development has been sporadic, mostly by enlargement of the existing villages and settlements. South of the central town are the foothills of 858m Mt Vrysinas, where a winding surfaced road links the villages of Myli, Khromonastiri, Rousospiti, Agia Irini and Mikra Anogia. To the west of Vrysinas, the main road south goes via Armeni to Spili and Agia Galini, with a side-turn to the popular south coast resort of Plakias. To the southeast, a road runs via Prasies and the deep Prasiano valley, to the northern end of the fertile and picturesque Amari valley. Further east, the hinterland behind Adele and Stavromenos is mostly low-lying agricultural land with numerous, often rather unmemorable villages – while in the hills beyond is the Arkadi Monastery, Crete's monument to national resistance.
Rethymnon is the main town of the eponymous province (nomos), which is divided into four eparchies (eparkhia): Rethymnon, Agios Vasilios, Amari and Mylopotamos. These are further subdivided into the newer local authority grouping, the dimos, which is usually a cluster of villages. Dimos names are as follows: in Eparchy Rethymnon (Arkadiou, Lappeon, Nikiforou Foka, Rethymnon); in Eparchy Agios Vasilios (Finika, Lambis); in Eparchy Amari (Kouriton, Syvriton); and in Eparchy Mylopotamos (Anogion, Geropotamou, Kouloukouna). Dimos names have usually been chosen to be politically neutral, not thereby favouring one particular village within the dimos, and so are mostly those of ancient, mythological or historical sites or heroes. They are therefore often not directly indicative of the area they cover.
