CRETE (GREECE) Lasithi plateau

Описание: The Lasithi Plateau is a high endorheic plateau, located in the Lasithi regional unit in eastern Crete, Greece. Since the 1997 Kapodistrias reform, it is a municipality whose seat is Tzermiado and the second biggest village is Agios Georgios. The municipality has an area of 129.9 km2.
The Lasithi Plateau stretches 11 km (6.8 mi) in the E-W direction and 6 km (3.7 mi) in the N-S direction. It is approximately 70 km (43 mi) east from Heraklion and lies at an average altitude of 840 m (2,760 ft). Winters can be harsh and snow on the plain and surrounding mountains can persist until mid-spring. The plateau is famous for its white-sailed windmills, (more accurately, wind-pumps), made to a local design, that have been used since the 1920s to irrigate the land. Despite there being around 10,000 in the past, most of them have been abandoned in recent times in favour of modern diesel and electric pumps. Because the water table is close to the surface of the ground, the bodies of the dead are often housed above ground during burial, in stone mausoleums, or decorative stone boxes. This is because the plateau is endorheic, and there is impermeable rock just below the surface of the ground. Floodwater from the plateau is diverted via a 3.5 km tunnel to Aposelemis Dam reservoir.
There are several caves of archaeological interest in the plateau and surrounding mountains. The Psychro Cave in the Dikti mountains near the village of Psychro is reputedly the birthplace of Zeus according to Greek Mythology. Zeus is also said to have used the cave as his hiding place after abducting Europa. The archeological site of Karfi, believed to be the last outpost of the Minoan civilization is located in the mountains immediately north of the plateau.
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