Mournes

The village of Mournes in the prefecture of Rethymno is located 3 km west of Spili and borders with Miksorrouma on the north.

The village of Mournes is built amphitheatrically in a shallow little valley at an altitude of 600 meters.

It was named Mournes because of the plant of mulberry, which used to thrive in the area in the past.

The exact date of the foundation of the village of Mournes is not known. The settlement is reputed to have been flourishing during the Venetian period, as it is proved by the murals of the nearby churches, but it was deserted either during the Venetian-Turk war for the conquest of Crete, or during the first decades of Ottoman rule.

The residents of Mournes actively participated in the Cretan Revolt, in national struggles for the liberation of Macedonia, in Balkan wars during 1912-1913 and in Minor Asian campaign for the Greek-Italian war in Albania.

The old dilapidated monastery of Malathré, with only ruins of the temple remaining today, is one of the attractions of the area.