Koustogerako

Periphery: Crete
Prefecture : Chania

Koustogerako (greek Κουστογέρακο) is a small village in Chania Prefecture on the island of Crete, Greece. It has 76 residents (2001 census source) and it's within the municipality of East Selino (Anatoliko Selino).

The village is built in a wild, beautiful position, at an elevation of 510m. Deep gorges and steep mountain cliffs surround the village. Southwest of the village at a height of 200 m. is the cave of Cyclopas, possibly related to the epic poem Odyssey in the story of the Cyclops.

Koustogerako has a dramatic history. It was burned twice by the Venetians, as the birthplace of Kantanoleon, a famous rebel against Venetians and once again in 1821 by the Turks.

Finally, the Nazis razed Koustogerako, because it was a partizans resistance center against the Germans in World War II. The famous Paterakis family from Koustogerako gave some of the fiercest and most renowned of the guerrilla fighters resisting the Nazi occupation. In 1943, the Germans scourged the villages of Moni, Livadas and Koustogerako. They herded the women and children of Koustogerako outside the church and lined them up in front of a machine gun. The men had climbed the rocks above the village but Costis Paterakis, with a single shot, fired from 400 metres and killed the machine-gunner before he could open fire, causing the rout of the occupying troops. The Nazis returned the next day and destroyed the village. It was the fourth time in history that Koustogerako was burning out.

Nowadays there is a memorial in the village, with a big black statue of a partizan. Koustogerako is also a starting point for mountain walks on Lefka Ori.

  • Sougia / T.δ. Σούγιας [ 262 ]
    • Sougia / η Σούγια [ 109 ]
    • Koustogerako /το Κουστογέρακο [ 76 ]
    • Livadas / ο Λιβαδάς [ 24 ]
    • Moni /η Μονή [ 53 ]

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