Modern Hercules and why every third architect on Crete

Many of us, remembering our childhood, remember how we were conquered by ancient heroes and were looking forward to the next cartoon about ancient Greece, gods, demigods and mythical animals. But not everyone loved to eat Hercules porridge, which endowed the growing body with Hercules' health and mind. How do Iraklis live today? Let's take a look at the Greek island of Crete and make an overview of the city, which to this day bears the name of the famous Hercules.

Heraklion is the capital of the largest island in Greece. It was in these parts that a highly developed civilization between Europe and Asia was born several millennia ago BC. The Minoan civilization on the wings of Pegasus sent culture to Europe. It was here that Hercules, aka Hercules, aka Iraklis, performed his seventh feat.

When I first visited Crete, I expected to see beautiful women in white tunics and half-dressed, perfectly built men entering buildings, sparkling with their whiteness and towering to the skies. But everything turned out to be much simpler.

Architecture without much variety. Residential buildings have a maximum of five or six floors, but they look much higher. This is due to the fact that any building starts as if from the ground floor, which is usually not a residential building and, accordingly, the ceilings are several meters higher than in residential premises.

The average home of a simple Greek usually starts with a living room combined with a kitchen. The curious thing is that the concept of a hallway does not exist. That is to say, you go straight to the table. It is not customary to take off your shoes, whether for guests or for household members, especially to change shoes in house slippers. And you don't walk barefoot, especially in winter, since the floor from the very front door is lined with facing tiles, sometimes marble. This is strange to me. Of course in the summer it is good to put your feet on cold tiles in the forty-degree heat. But in winter? The winters in Crete may not be as harsh as in Russia, but it is also cold and very damp. How can you explain this? Practical? But for me, parquet is even very practical. Even stranger is the fact that many homes lack any heating. No stove, no fireplace, no central or autonomous heating. Even if you see batteries in apartments, be sure that in winter they are colder than the snow queen itself. People are saved here by electric heaters.

What about furniture? It may be the most diverse, or it may not be at all, since rooms often allow only a double bed and two bedside tables to be placed and there is nowhere to turn around. The largest rooms in the dwelling of modern Hercules are the living room with the kitchen, or the dining room with the same kitchen.

Let's go quickly to the restroom. Everything here is like everyone else's. Except for the fact that there is no way to take a bath and soak up the soft foam, since the bathrooms are most often equipped with showers. For me, this is a big minus. Taking a bath after a hard day at work is the best medicine. Maybe such a pleasure is characteristic of people who have known freezing temperatures? And in Crete, below zero only in the mountains. Well, what about the ancient Minoans?! In their urban planning, they paid special attention to baths with saunas and swimming pools. Maybe it's a matter of taste?

Another important part of any apartment is the balcony. It is not customary to glaze balconies, but there are sheds. All balconies are supplied with water, so that housewives can freely do what they love, abundantly watering flowers and the balcony itself from a hose, so that everything is perfectly clean. But here's another interesting detail. A spillway is provided on the balcony in the form of a small hole, but a downpipe is not attached to it. Therefore, even on the sunniest day, it is better to keep an umbrella with you, in case all the housewives have a bath day at once. Personally, the absence of a drain pipe does not fit in my head. How can you explain this?

Another interesting feature in the architecture of the city is the family high-rise buildings. This is where an architect diploma comes in handy. The profession of an architect is prestigious all over the world, and in Crete it is also a family pride. The Greeks value family very much, and their families are large and it is customary to live closer to each other. And if one child in a family has become an architect, it means that they have a chance not to part and live side by side, but each in his own apartment according to an individual layout.

Parents, brothers and sisters, grandchildren, nephews... All under one wing of one big and friendly family. There is no greater joy for parents when their children are with them all their lives. How do you think? I think the Greeks can be envied in this. Family is the most important thing in a person's life.
I wish you great family happiness! Build a big house too, plant a tree and give birth to good people ...

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