The Milatos cave.

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Written by: Mr. Routaki
November ’08

On the Sunday after Easter a memorial service is held in the cave near Milatos, to commemorate the murder of 3600 Cretans. This execution was done in 1827 under the orders of the Turkish general Hassan. These 3600 people, mainly women and children, were hiding in this cave from the bloodthirsty Turks.
However, when the occupiers found out where the inhabitants were hiding they started large fires in front of the cave causing the people inside to burn alive or die of suffocation. The ones that were trying to escape through the fire were shot to death. The people that fled deeper into the cave also died because in the mean time they discovered that the cave is so deep that you need oxygen to breathe.

The soot on the ceiling of the cave can still be seen today as proof of this horrific story. On just a few metres from the entrance, lies in the darkness of the cave a chapel with a shrine with the remains of those that were killed.