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Architecture
Characteristic of the area is the variety of architectural styles. Folk architecture of Crete coexists with the bourgeois standards and the neoclassical elements. It is distinguished by simplicity, moderation, human order and the use of local materials. The construction and the aspect of the traditional houses ensured coolness during summer and warmth during winter. The residence served the needs of the rural and stockbreeding economy as well as the social life of the people. Techniques of goods production have been rescued for centuries at Psiloritis. At Zominthos area, there is the cheese factory since the Venetian period. The center of the stockbreeding life was the shepherds’ shelters (mitato), the small rock build round houses that were used as places of dairy production. Their architecture has age-long roots since they are built with the use of schists without the use of cohesive materials but with the technique used for ancient arched Minoan tombs. We come across a plethora of shepherds’ shelters (mitato) around Psiloritis not only from the side of the Municipality of Rethymnon towards Nida but also from the mountainous zone of Amari towards Vorizia, at the forest of Rouvas as well as at the mountainous Malevizi village. The bridges are also a big chapter of folk architecture. At Eleftherna village, the visitor will come across the bridge of the Hellenistic years. Rock build bridges and old cobblestone pavements can be found at Ano Meros of Amari as well as an impressive arced bridge (Sima Kamara) at the provincial road of Amari and Rethymnon. The bridge of Kampos at Garazos village can be found at Mylopotamos. Near the rivers, wind mills are rescued not only from the side of Mylopotamos but also in the area of the Municipalities of Rouvas and Zaros. There, until very recently the residents were grinding their grains. At Gonies the reconstructed wind mills of the village prevail. Factories for the production of olive oil could be found in every village. The factory of the Monastery of Diskourios is still working, while the one of the Monastery of Arkadi at Kapsaliana village has been reconstructed. At Margarites village the old workshops of pottery at the area of Tsikaliara are interesting. At Panormo village the locust bean mill that was working until 1950 was rescued and reconstructed.
