Zaro’s: Water of Love

Normally in the Bugle when describing days out, we stick to the Rethymnon Nomos. However, if you are venturing South East past Agia Galini you may find that you are seriously tempted to tiptoe across the border to the Heraklion region. Just glimpses away from the Passport Control (no, we are not being serious) are the attractions of Festos (fantastic Minoan palace untouched by Evans with panoramic view), Agia Triada (site from the days when they really knew how to build holiday villas) and Gortys (ancient code of laws — hey, now there’s a thing). Well, all these places needed water. Or, to put it another way, these places were built because they were close to water. So, where did the water come from?

Springing to Life

Springs near the village of Zaros have been supplying the region with drinking water for thousands of years. In the village of Zaros itself, you can still find remains of the Roman aqueducts and canals that supplied water to Gortys. Today you will find the Zaros brand of bottled water on sale across the island. On a recent reconnaissance mission, Bugle staff were kindly given an informative tour of the bottling plant by quality and production manager, Dimitris Kalogerakis. The firm —Votomos SA— which was started in 1980, is partly co-operatively owned and has brought valuable revenue to the region. We were surprised to learn that whilst 95% of the sales are within Greece, since 2007 the company has been exporting to Denmark and Canada. Competition with other Cretan brands such as Samaria and Lyttos is tough— competing against Lyttos is particularly difficult as Lyttos is owned by Coca-Cola. However, Zaros holds its own. The company operates a round the clock shift system, and in the height of summer employs 55 people on its production line. As far as possible, the company seeks to minimize its impact on the environment and actively promotes recycling initiatives. Obviously, there aren’t as many steps from start to finish in the water bottling process as there are in wine bottling, but it was still fun to watch the machinery at work. Thanks to all at the bottling plant for their hospitality.

Around Zaros

There are several sights and attractions in and around Zaros itself. Aside from the archaeological sites, there are several monasteries in the area, including Moni Vrondisi which has a Venetian fountain and 14th Century frescoes. Above the village there is a man made lake, and from here you can hike through a gorge to the Rouvas forest, passing by springs and waterfalls on the way (this trail is part of the E4 hiking route). You’ll also find an outdoor pursuits centre near the lake, (Eleonas, see below) where you can try mountain biking, horse riding and even archery! Further afield there are the caves at Kamares, and of course it’s not far from the South Coast and the beaches at Matala. Given its picturesque location, Zaros itself seemed remarkably unspoilt by tourism when we visited—a typical Cretan mountain village, proudly maintaining local traditions of arts, craft and music. And, Zaros is the only place to get fresh trout on Crete!

BBC Trip to Zaros, Saturday 19th April, Lunch at 1pm

This is actually NOT an organised trip in the conventional sense, save for the fact that we plan to meet for lunch on Saturday 19th April at 1pm at the Trout Farm—Taverna Votomos, which you will find next to the Hotel Idi, on the way out of Zaros towards the lake. Some of us plan to stay overnight (Saturday to Sunday), if you wish to do the same, there are various options available. In Zaros itself there are a few pensions including Hotel Studios Keramos, which is a traditional guest house serving Cretan specialities for breakfast. Tel:28940 31352, www.studiokeramos-zaros.gr on the web. Out of town there is the Hotel Idi mentioned above, which is a hotel with pool, Telephone 28940 31301/2 www.idi-hotel.com on the web, (they also offer olive-picking holidays by the way!) and near the lake you will find the more upmarket Eleonas, (which is also the outdoor pursuits centre), telephone 28940 31238, www.eleonas.gr — even if you don’t plan on staying overnight in any of these places, we recommend that you check out their websites. If you are planning to come to lunch with us, please let Anna Capernaros know by Monday, 14th April, email at ananke@ret.forthnet.gr or phone 28310 57305 (landline) 6938708410 (mobile). Getting to Zaros is relatively straightforward from Rethymnon. Two options: You can take the main road South via Spili, Timbaki etc as far as Mires (just past Festos but before Gortys). On your way out of Mires there is a left turn signed to Zaros, which is approximately 10 km North. This route is obviously the most convenient for the archaeological sites, but also has disadvantages of ‘industrial agriculture’ (greenhouses) round Timbaki—still, all part and parcel of real life on Crete, so perhaps worth seeing in this respect alone. . The other option is to take the scenic ‘Psiloritis’ route, which follows the mountain round and brings you into Zaros from the North, via the monasteries mentioned above. It is no exaggeration to say that this is an absolutely stunningly beautiful drive. Surprisingly, time wise, we didn’t find that there was much in it either way (windy mountain road offset by traffic in Timbaki and Mires)— allow around 1 hr 45 minutes to 2 hours from Rethymnon. See you there!