Caves Matala

This guide to the Caves Matala near Heraklion follows Roman-era tombs cut into the cliff two thousand years ago, and what happened when a wandering crowd of young foreigners in the 1960s realized an empty tomb makes free rent. It traces one arrival in particular, a heartbroken Canadian singer named Joni Mitchell, who moved into a cave here after a chance meeting with an American cook working a beachside cafe. She spent weeks sleeping on beach pebbles laid over the old stone burial slabs.