<The village of Ano Vianos on the island of Crete
Ano Vianos is situated 65 kilometer southeast of the capital Heraklion on the road Heraklion - Arkalohori - Ano Vianos. The village of Ano Vianos is situated at an altitude of 500 meters on a fertile plain and doesn't attract many visitors. There are many flowers and a lot of narrow alleys with white painted houses. On the eastern side of the village there is an enormous tree where the people gather in the shade and talk to each other. At the entrance of the village is the large quite new church with modern frescoes inside. The village is quite large and has all kinds of amenities.
On the walls of two of the churches in the village, the Agia Pelagia church and the Agios Georgios church, there are frescoes from the 14th and 15th century. I tried to locate the Agia Pelagia church. It's very small and I didn't find it. The other church is situated on the right hand side below the village along the road leading towards Keratokampos. This church was closed when we found it. In the wider area of Vianos there are Byzantine churches, Minoan remains and clean beaches, amongst which the pebble beach of Keratokampos and the pretty and large beach of Tsoutsouros. On the route to the lower village of Kato Vianos you will pas the Byzantine Sotiras church (on a graveyard) with frescoes and also on the route to Keratokampos you will pass and old church with remains of frescoes.
The famous early twentieth century journalist, Yannis Kondilakis, came from this village. During World War II, the Germans killed 400 women and children and razed the villages of the area. In remembrance of these events an impressive monument was placed in the nearby village of Amari.