The Caves of Matala

The village of Matala is one of the oldest villages in Crete and is situated on the South coast in the Messara region some 75 KM from the Cretan Capital City of Heraklion

The Caves of Matala and the village of Matala have long held a very special place in my heart. I first visited Matala in 1978 when it was little more than a fishing village with very little tourism. How things change. The modern village of Matala has changed beyond all recognition compared to the village I remember from 1978.There are countless gift shops, hotels, restaurants and bars. The caves are the one constant, un-changing presence in the village. They have changed little save for the constant erosion of the sandstone cliffs by the Cretan winds (known as the Meltemi), and Old Father Time.

The caves were carved out of the sandstone cliffs by late Neolithic settlers who were the first inhabitants of the area. Habitation continued throughout the Minoan Period during which time Matala served as the port for the ancient settlement of Phaistos. Situated on the main road from Mires to Matala, the ruins of the Minoan Palace at Phaistos are still a major tourist attraction today and are well worth a visit. The middle of the first millennium BC saw the rise of Gortys to become the main power in the Messara region. Gortys thrived following the coming of the Romans in 67BC, and replaced Knossos as the capital of Crete, a position it enjoyed until the arrival of Arab rule in 828AD when Chandax or Heraklion as we now know it became the capital.

In 796AD the area was struck by an earthquake, almost destroying Gortys.

Throughout all these years Matala still served as the main port for Gortys which had by now spread over a wide area and seen a large increase in the population.

During the Roman and early Christian periods the caves were used as tombs, and legend has it that Brutus was known to frequent one of the caves which is now known as “Brutospeliana." The middle ages see the caves used as a leper colony. The last leper colony in Europe was incidentally on the Cretan island of Spinalonga from 1903 to 1957 with the last inhabitant, a priest leaving in 1962.

The 1960s saw the arrival of Hippies to Matala with the caves being used as shelters once again. Not popular with the locals and the police, the hippies were eventually driven out by the police. Although they were not popular with the locals at the time, there is still a hippy feel to the place. One only has to visit one or two of the tavernas on the waterfront or visit the market to find evidence of this. To this day there are still a handful of die hard hippies living in beat up camper vans and selling jewellery on the beach during the season.

Several well known singers visited Matala during the hippy period, including Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens and Joni Mitchell who wrote "Come on down to the Mermaid Cafe and I will buy you a bottle of wine and we'll laugh and toast to nothing and smash our empty glasses down" in her timeless song "Carey." Sadly the Mermaid Café is no more.

In Greek Mythology, Zeus in the form of a bull brought Europa across the sea to Matala where he changed into an eagle, took her to Gortys and had sex with her.

On my last two visits to Matala I have stayed at the aptly named Europa Hotel. Does the feeling of passion and well being I have whenever I visit Matala perhaps have a connection with Mythology I ask?