Lygaria beach

This guide to Lygaria beach near Heraklion opens with competing stories behind its name, one tied to a wild shrub and another to a Venetian nobleman named Ligaras. It follows the whitewashed chapel on the hillside above, remnant of a monastery first recorded in 1610, and the long stretch of Venetian rule on Crete that was drawing to a close around that time. You'll also hear why sailors once chose this particular cove as a sheltered anchorage.