Koutsouras – a village on the south-east coast

Koutsouras: a village on the south-east coast

Koutsouras lies on the coast road in the south-east of Crete, some 22 kilometres east of Ierapetra, 55 kilometres from Agios Nikolaos and a few kilometres short of Makrygialos, at the point where the spurs of Thrypti come down almost to the Libyan Sea. The place is young: only around 1950, when there was no longer anything to fear from the sea, did families from the mountain village of Stavrochori move down to the more fertile coast. Just under eight hundred people live here now – 775 at the census of 2011 – which makes it the largest village of the district and the seat of the municipal unit of Makry Gialos, with a police station, a pharmacy and a clinic. It brings three worlds together in a small compass: holiday accommodation and tavernas by the water, olive groves on the slopes, and the greenhouses in which vegetables ripen the year round. In the centre stand the churches of St Catherine (Agia Ekaterini) and St Antony (Agios Antonios); the latter is venerated by the inhabitants as patron of their village.

Legend, festivals and excursions

A local legend attached to Koutsouras tells of the deliverance of its people in great danger: during a raid in Ottoman times they took refuge in the church, whereupon the sanctuary split open and offered them a way out into the open. The villagers count the miracle among the proofs of their saints’ protection. In summer there are concerts and popular festivals, many of them under the pines of the Dasaki directly beside the beach, about a kilometre and a half west of the centre; on 15 August the feast of the Dormition of the Virgin is kept. The shore at Koutsouras is also a starting point for trips to the gorges and beaches of south-eastern Lasithi.

The beaches are of coarse dark sand or shingle, with tamarisks for shade along the main village beach, and the water is clear and usually calm. At the entrance to the village, beside the Dasaki and the little harbour, is the pebbly cove of Apigania; a little further on comes Kalamokanias, one of the finest beaches of the district. It takes its name from the “kalamokanades”, the black-and-white stilts with long red legs that rest by the stream mouths here on passage in late summer. A kilometre east of the village the sandy beach of Koutsourelis shelves gently and suits children. The Dasaki is also where the Gorge of the Red Butterflies comes out, descending from the mountain village of Orino – a walk of about 6.5 kilometres with streams, rock pools and waterfalls, best done in spring or autumn. Koutsouras was once known, too, for its peanuts, which were regarded as the hallmark of the district; today only a few farmers still grow them. Tavernas and restaurants stay open throughout the year, so that the village serves well as a base out of season too.