Amid fields just outside Kamilari stands a fenced-in, extraordinarily well-preserved circular Minoan tomb with 2m-high stone walls. Side rooms were used for ritual purposes. Follow signs to Tympaki and, just after the small white church, look for signs to the right and then, about 500m on, to the left. You can drive through the olive groves on a dirt road for about 1.2km. This is also a pleasant walk.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
27.49 MILES
Crete’s most famous historical attraction is the Palace of Knossos, the grand capital of Minoan Crete, located 5km south of the city of Iraklio. The…
Heraklion Archaeological Museum
28.34 MILES
This state-of-the-art museum is one of the largest and most important in Greece. The two-storey revamped 1930s Bauhaus building makes a gleaming showcase…
9.19 MILES
Gortyna (also Gortyn or Gortys) has been inhabited since Neolithic times but reached its pinnacle after becoming the capital of Roman Crete from around 67…
1.57 MILES
Phaestos was the second-most-important Minoan palace-city after Knossos and enjoys an awe-inspiring setting with panoramic views of the Messara Plain and…
20.3 MILES
The 16th-century Arkadi Monastery, 23km southeast of Rethymno, has deep significance for Cretans. As the site where hundreds of cornered locals massacred…
11.49 MILES
Although just a huge and fairly featureless hole in the ground, Ideon has sacred importance in mythology as the place where Zeus was reared by his mother,…
20.27 MILES
A must-see for anyone visiting the ruins of Eleutherna is the accompanying modern museum that contextualises the ancient city through the exhibition of…
23.28 MILES
About 2km outside the village of Melidoni is this stunning cathedral-like cave, an evocative underworld of stalactites and stalagmites. A place of worship…
Nearby attractions
1 MILES
In an enchanting spot 3km west of Phaestos, Agia Triada encompasses vestiges of an L-shaped royal villa, a ramp once leading out to sea, and a village…
1.57 MILES
Phaestos was the second-most-important Minoan palace-city after Knossos and enjoys an awe-inspiring setting with panoramic views of the Messara Plain and…
2.09 MILES
Well worth a detour to Vori, this nonprofit museum lifts the curtain on how rural people lived on the island until well into the 20th century. The English…
4. Agia Marina Donkey Sanctuary
2.3 MILES
This place is for animal lovers. The passionate folk at Kiwi-run Agia Marina Donkey Sanctuary feed and care for abandoned donkeys. At research time, 22…
2.66 MILES
The Minoan site of Kommos, 3km north of Matala above a fantastic wide and sandy beach, is believed to have been the port of the mighty palace-city…
2.86 MILES
Located 2km north of Matala near Pitsidia and reached by a steep and winding road, the sun-kissed sands of Kommos hug Messara Bay in one of the region's…
4.05 MILES
Matala’s sightseeing credentials are limited to these famous caves where hippies camped out in the 1960s and 1970s (Joni Mitchell immortalised the scene…
4.25 MILES
Easily overlooked, this pint-sized chapel was carved straight out of a cliff, apparently during Venetian times. It contains some lovely icons and a carved…