Axos

The village of Axos is 46km southeast of Rethymnon. It is above a fertile valley north of Psiloritis where there is an abundance of water; a public fountain is still in use dating from the Middle Ages. Axos was an important ancient Greek city probably built at the time that the Dorians came to Crete (around 1000 B.C.). Its harbour was in Bali and there was a large wall around the city. It was also important during Byzantine times as testifies the large number of Byzantine churches in the area. There were 46 churches and nine of them still exist today.