Vistagi

The village Vistagi belongs to the prefecture of Rethymno and is located approximately 35 km from the city of Rethymno.

The Vistagi is an animal breeding village, built at the roots of Psiloritis, at an altitude of 600 meters, where a hiking trail for easier climbing the magnificent mountain passes.

The village makes its appearance in documents of 1583 as Pistagi. According to a local tradition, the village was founded thanks to a goat, who escaped from the herd and, when she returned, her beard was wet, so the shepherd followed her and found that there was plenty of water nearby. The current settlement of Vistagi was transferred to this new location.

In Vistagi, several Byzantine churches can be admired, such as the church of Christ the Savior, the church of Agios Georgios and the church of Agia Paraskevi, where the tomb of the poet Georgios Hortatsis lies.

Near the village Vistagi the Tafkos of Mavri is located, a rather unexplored chasm, with vertical slopes and huge halls. It is rumored that there are skeletons of Cretan ibex, which had disappeared from the area of Psiloritis as of the Ottoman period.