If you feel like not swimming, it is worth visiting the Early Minoan settlement at Vassiliki, at distance of 4 kilometers at the South. The settlement is one of the earliest of Minoan Crete, dated to 2600-2300 b.C.; the big villa excavated here is considered architecturally as the precursor of the great palaces of Knossos and the other Minoan centers of Crete. You should also see the Middle and Late Minoan cemeteries excavated in the area. The place is also the seat of the Institute for the Study of Prehistoric Aegean of Eastern Crete; the objectives of the institute are excavations, preservation and restoration of the finds.
If you like to know more the area, don’t miss to drive up to the small traditional village of Monastiraki, just 3 kilometers far away at the Southeast; you will see nice stone houses, the old watermills and the church of Aghios Stefanos. Close to the village at the West, there is the Ha gorge; its entrance is at the slopes of mountain Thrypti and its exit, via a torrent, at the sea, some 500 meters eastern to the village of Pachia Ammos.
If you have or you may rent a boat, it is worth going to the islet of Konida, within the cove of the village.
A series of cultural activities are organised in summer by the Cultural Association of the village; attending these events is a good alternative in amusement.
Two local feasts (“panighyri”) take place on the 15 th of August, in honor of the Assumption of Virgin Mary, one at the village of Vassiliki and another at the Monastery of Faneromeni.
Access from Aghios Nicolaos is possible by public bus, with regular service, taxi and rented or private car and motorbikes.
Pachia Ammos, beside the village
Situated at a distance of 20 kilometers from Aghios Nicolaos, on the main road leading to Sitia and Ierapetra, just beside the village of Pachia Ammos at the East, this is a long pebbly beach, open to the North and affected by the winds, which raise big waves when blowing. A series of tamarisk trees offer their shade, so desirable in summer.
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