Avdou

Avdou village lies deep in the Cretan island, right at the foot of the Lassithi plateau mountain range. It is approx. a 15-minute drive off the Northern coast, 30 km from the Heraklion airport and 32 km from the port. The earliest recorded reference to "Avdou" is in 1381, in a Venetian state document stating the area as a benefice belonging to Michel Quirino. Excavations in the area unearthed a building with mosaics, probably part of an extensive complex of an early-Christian basilica. The village is dotted with frescoed Byzantine churches. Near the Avdou settlement there are two caves, Faneromeni and Aghia Fotini, where archaeologists found artefacts dating back to the Neolithic period. Avdou probably took its name from the prophet Havdeu whose church existed in nearby Kontaria.