Rodanthe, a young woman from Kritsa, in East Crete tragically died in the heat of battle in 1823, disguised as a male rebel.
Now honoured as Kritsotopoula, Girl of Kritsa, Rodanthe featured in the annual memorial service held last Sunday, 14th May. Kritsa residents wearing traditional dress provided a guard of honour in front of the beautiful monument carved by Kritsa’s British sculptor, Nigel Ratcliffe. This year, the many people watching the event included a group of people from INCO, the local foreign residents association.
This sculpture stands where the battle raged, just before the archaeological site of Lato, three kilometres from Kritsa.
A local teacher read an account of the battle referring to Rodanthe, as Spanomanolis (Beardless Manolis) with credit to rebel leader, Captain Kazanis from Lassithi. To close the event representatives of the police, military and security forces and civilian groups laid laurel wreaths at the base of the sculpture.
The INCO group returned to Kritsa for a walk through the village with Yvonne Payne, Kritsa resident and author of the novel Kritsotopoula, Girl of Kritsa. The highlight of their walk was a visit to the Kritsotopoula museum, in Rodanthe’s home courtesy of Nikos Massaros, a direct descendent of her family. For information about Kritsa and the route to Rodanthe’s house, you are welcome to visit Yvonne’s website – click here.
Following lunch at Aristidis Cafe in the heart of Kritsa, some of the group visited sculptor Nigel Ratcliffe in his studio.
To buy Kritsotopoula, Girl of Kritsa visit Nikitakis Gift Shop, opposite Aristidis Cafe in Kritsa, Eklektos Bookshop in Elounda or Amazon. For information about INCO – click here.
Photos courtesy of INCO member Janette White
