The Village Where Devils go to Party!

48 Hours in Kapetaniana

A ghost story has brought us to Kapetaniana and the wind knows it. All night it howls mercilessly around this isolated, mountain village, high up in the Asterousia Mountains - rattling at the windows, moaning in the chimney like a wild thing. Its violence seems to shake the foundations of the fortified house where we’re staying, and sends the electric lights flickering around the rough, stone walls, sculpting faces in the shadows...

The story that lured us here tells of the ‘Order of a Thousand Devils’ – The Misiriotiko Tagma, known locally as The Tama - who rise every night from the Libyan Sea to slither up the steep river gorges to Kapetaniana. Legend has it that the Tama have always taken the best houses in the village for themselves, tormenting the inhabitants with plagues and misfortunes – causing the deaths of children and livestock - until the residents decide to leave. At night, it is said that you can see the guttering shadows of devils with horns dancing wildly in the firelight…

The ghost story echoes some of Kapetaniana’s true history: The village began its life as the monastery of Vathmou in 1401, with houses and storerooms growing up around the Byzantine Panagia Kyrie Eleison church. For a while the place flourished, supporting other monastic communities close by, but was gradually emptied of residents by plagues and then abandoned in the early 1700s. The village was only re-settled and re-named when the ‘Captains’ from Sfakia, 130 kilometres away on the South West coast of Crete, claimed it as a well-hidden place of refuge and strength during their revolution against the Ottomans in the 19^th century.

According to legend, ‘The Tall House’ was the last house to be built and then claimed by The Tama, with no one daring to sleep there at night. Today, no one sleeps there still - as The Tall House is home to the taverna and reception that form the heart of Thalori Retreat – an innovative ecotourism venture that has renovated many of the fortified houses around the village as guest accommodation.

When my husband Craig and I explore the village early the morning after our arrival, the wind has dropped and the scent of roses is so strong that it hangs heavy in the narrow alleyways. Pomegranate trees are laden with fruit, there are inviting, sunny spots to sit around almost every corner - and Thalori’s infinity pool glistens on the edge of a panorama that falls to the sea 750 metres below.

We bump into an elderly lady hanging out her washing right on the edge of a perilous drop – and I’m delighted to discover that there are still fifty permanent residents here, in what would otherwise be a ghost town outside tourist season – and that Thalori’s fifty-something owners, Markos and Popi Skordalakis, are still cultivating their farm alongside restoring the old houses. While she drinks her morning coffee at the huge antique reception desk, Popi, her head tilted in a way that shows off her perfect, gleaming haircut and quick, dark eyes, tells me that although people still drift to the north coast seeking employment, there are now real opportunities in sustainable farming, beekeeping, salt production and tourism in Asterousia, and that young people are beginning to stay. As if to prove her point, Eva and Georgia, the lively young women who are serving breakfast on the stone terrace of The Tall House are both in their early twenties…

But life up here does feel isolated and must require meticulous planning, especially in the winter. There’s no shop, and the nearest town of any size, Agioi Deka on the Messara Plain, is forty minutes drive away, down a road that our guidebook describes as ‘one of the most exciting on Crete’ – code for ‘very high and pretty scary’!

After a hearty breakfast of eggs, homemade bread and local honey, Craig and I examine an impressive map pinned in the entrance of The Tall House, which shows 4x4 tracks and points of interest in the surrounding area, along with walking and climbing routes. In 2020, the Asterousia Mountains became part of UNESCO’s protected biosphere programme - and its wildlife, with birds of prey like Golden Eagles, Bonelli’s Eagles, Griffon Vultures and Buzzards, are huge draws for hikers like us.

We follow a dusty track towards Mount Kofinas, which looms on the horizon 1230 metres above sea level and which is ominously shaped like a shark’s fin. All along the path there are families of goats grazing precariously and tattered metal signs warning of unstable cliff edges. It’s so dramatic and rocky, it’s a bit like walking on the dark side of the moon – and yet every so often, there is a miraculous trickle of water and a patch of greenery – a natural spring bubbling up from the mountainside to sustain some of Asterousia’s 1800 plant species.

The day quickly turns humid and we stop to drink water in the grounds of the 14^th century Trion Ierarchon Filagri (Three Hierarch’s) church, with the remains of a ruined monastery arranged in a circular labyrinth of stones around it. This was Crete’s first ‘university’ – a place that attracted scholars from across the island and offered instruction in medicine, philosophy, theology, astronomy and grammar. It was also a scriptorium where the message of the Christian gospels, arriving here in Europe from the East, was written and copied. Surviving examples of the work made here are held in libraries around the world, and are highly prized.

At the peak of our walk, the loose, stony climb and the view literally take our breath away. A huge fishing vessel seems suspended between heaven and earth, in a place where the Libyan Sea and the sky merge together with no horizon. We’re so high, the light seems miraculous - all human life is very far away - and it’s easy to understand this as a place where people came to be closer to God.

Back at The Tall House, ravenous and aching, we discover that the evening menu is varied with several tasty-sounding specials - and we’re pleased to note too that the taverna doesn’t take advantage of its captive audience. Prices are comparable to the village tavernas we’re used to frequenting in the east and it’s clear some people come up here and stay just for the food. The place is packed tonight, the largest table taken by a party of ‘slow cyclists’ (an organised group with electric bikes) on the final night of their Cretan tour - and the dining room is suffused with the rich aroma of roasting meat: A lamb is cooking in the taverna’s huge fireplace, fat dripping into a metal tray beneath.

Suddenly, three Greek men at the head of the biggest table are introduced to us all as musicians from the village of Margarites, close to Rethymnon. They produce a lyra, and two mandolins and begin to play a mix of traditional music and their own compositions. Neither staff nor guests need to be asked twice. The dancing begins right away and continues into the night.

When we finally drag ourselves to bed at one in the morning, there is still dancing in The Tall House, shadows guttering on the walls - like devils in the firelight…

We came to Kapetaniana in search of a ghost story - but we’ll be back for the food, the warm welcome and the rough grandeur of Asterousia.

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If you like this article, you may enjoy my quest to find the inspiration behind Joni Mitchell’s song ‘Carey’ in Matala. You will find it in my archive of stories here on the Substack website claireleesingham.substack.com.

And if you like Claire in Crete, you may also enjoy my award-winning short story, Ann Hilder - a mystery inspired by the work of the artist LS Lowry and his shadowy ‘godchild’ Ann. The story is published as a small paperback book and as an ebook on Amazon at https://amzn.eu/d/bMidwmh

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