between Chantras and the ruined medieval settlement of Voila a group of students and teachers participated in a special experiential activity: the audio walk It is an original way of exploring the landscape where sound becomes the main guide for travelers It is a conscious auditory experience that invites walkers to "listen" to the environment with all their senses The sounds of nature – from the rustling of leaves and the chirping of birds to the distant bells of villages – compose a soundscape that reveals the soul of the place In a world overwhelmed by images and visual stimuli audio walks offer the opportunity to connect with nature and culture through their acoustic identity which respects biodiversity and enhances the experiential understanding of the place The place does not "speak" only through its images the roar of history that resonates in the ruins of Voila – all are woven into an acoustic journey that connects the past with the present Soundwalks are exploration routes in nature or the urban fabric where emphasis is placed on observing and recording the sounds of the environment They are a form of experiential experience that enhances conscious listening aiming to deepen the connection with the landscape educational or ecological dimensions and are often organized in areas of natural or historical significance Nafplio at the epicenter of world yachting with the 10th Mediterranean Yacht Show Samaria Gorge “War Zone” – “Others Decide, We Pay the Price” Argosaronic Islands: Need for a long-term strategy and modern infrastructure FedHATTA | Tourism Bridges between Greece and the Chinese province of Guizhou Top distinctions for Greece and Santorini at the American Leisure Lifestyle Awards 2025 HOTREC | Supporting SMEs in European Hospitality Delta | Athens is in 5th place in American searches for 2025 TripAdvisor Awards 2025 | Elafonisi Beach World's Best Beach - 9th in Crete, Sani Beach Award ATM'25 - Tourism | The fight against food waste at the forefront of sustainable development easyJet holidays | Fam trips to Santorini, Skiathos and Rhodes Chania: The next actions of the “Tourism Partnership” Navarino Challenge returns on May 9-11, 2025 Three Greek beaches among the world’s 50 best – Triumph for the Ionian The “Typhoon” that saves the Greek coasts from garbage EOT at the “Arabian Travel Market” | Interest from Gulf countries, India, and Australia CERT to manage Vasilitsa Ski Resort – Investment of over 20 million euros Is American tourism in Europe “slowing down”? What do professionals see for 2025 and 2026 This is Athens & Partners | The 7 partners renew their collaboration - the joint actions FedHATTA: Dynamic presence of Greek travel agencies at the international Dubai exhibition ATM 2025 Ryanair announces new offer for Prime members on June flights Thomas Ellerbeck | “Rhodes can become a model of sustainable tourism internationally” The Times | The perfect time to experience the authentic side of Santorini Chania: The Alternative Tourism Festival returns to the Venetian Port Angela Gerekou: "Tourism is a force for good and Greece can play a leading role" New flights to Greece in 2025 from 4 airlines Crete welcomes Reveil 12 – Festival of Sounds and Ecology Greek tourism - 3rd quarter | 97% of arrivals in Athens and Thessaloniki Modernization aid for the marinas of Symi and Messolonghi HOTREC Assembly: Focus on challenges and reforms in European tourism AEGEAN 2025: Passenger growth and fleet expansion with an eye on the international market FedHATTA Cooperation with Shaanxi Province, China Greek academic in finalists of European Sustainable Energy Awards 2025 Thessaloniki museums join forces to promote the city GNTO introduces “Sustainable Greece” to British Agents Strategic meeting for cruises in Santorini A message of friendship and cooperation at the friendly Greek-Turkish football match in Chios Municipality of Xiromero | Diving tourism: Request for sinking of a decommissioned warship The first La Quinta by Wyndham in Batumi, Georgia Double racing event in Megalopolis on May 11: Festival Enduro and Theater Run 2025 Explora Journeys: Start of the summer season with the luxurious EXPLORA I from Piraeus Strong start in 2025 for Aegean and SKY Express Xanthi Tastes: A Gastronomy Festival with a Cultural Flavor Rhodes: These are the five-star hotels with the highest revenue – Which ones “fill up” first Greek Tourism/Webhotelier: The Winners and Losers in Online Bookings for 2025 GNTO | Promotion of Santorini in target markets Unprecedented blackout in Spain, Portugal, France Greece can play a leading role in the global sports tourism scene Rhodes | Event for the protection of biodiversity Attica, the …Caribbean of the Germans Agios Nikolaos | Cruise season kicks off with arrival of luxury Silver Spirit Operational Plan: “Cretan Food Culture 2026-2030” Destination Management and Promotion Organization in Thessaloniki Kefalonia: The authentic character of the island through the “Travel Reimagined” project Hoteliers vs. Booking.com: The European uprising has begun Tourism | Greece 4th choice for Europeans' holidays in 2025 - what the ETC survey shows New high-standard heated swimming pool in Chania, aimed at sports tourism Greeks Traveled (A Lot!) in 2024 – Where They Went, How Much They Spent Greek-American Dean Spanos brings the NFL to Greece – Opportunities for promotion in the USA Lesvos: The season begins with birdwatching tourists MSC Cruises: Strengthens its presence in Greece with 6 cruise ships New Luxury Arrival in Crete | JW Marriott Crete Resort & Spa Opens on June 2 "Peloponnese Trails" inaugurated today: New network of trails for sustainable tourism Knossos: 125 years since the excavations of Arthur Evans The Spanish TV show “Viajeros Cuatro” in Corfu Wyndham - Soliteight | 40 Super 8 hotels in Spain and Portugal Airbnb: Final price now displayed in accommodation searches Investments in the beaches of the Attica Riviera The Municipality of Chania at the “From Crete to Side” Festival in Turkey Region of Central Macedonia: Tourism Promotion Activities in Poland and the Middle East Region of Crete | Connecting Minoan Palatial Centers with Archaeological Sites Biodiversity protection plan is in full swing in Elafonisi Record participation in the ATHENA International Olive Oil Competition | Chania 8 - 10 May Communities at the heart of tourism development Booking.com | No to limiting tourists, yes to infrastructure investments Thessaloniki’s dynamic presence at the World Tourism Summit in Hong Kong easyJet | Summer 2026 sales open Cruise | Turkey doubles its share, new opportunities for Greek ports Aid for the upgrade of the tourist shelter of Astakos and the Marina of Alimos Preparing the settlement of Kionia for the tourist season: An example to follow The action of the region of Crete "Let's go for... Greens" concludes this weekend “Art is our Language”: Campaign for the 70th Anniversary of the Athens Epidaurus Festival Tourism | Nostalgia drives Brits’ travel choices ΕΟΤ China | B2B meetings with Chengdu's t.os - Flights to Athens in June State-of-the-art conference center at Theartemis Palace Hotel in Rethymno Zagori: Collaboration with Impact Hub Athens for sustainable tourism and innovation Cooperation Memorandum between Development Athens and Piraeus University on Tourism Kos: New advertising campaigns with Jet2 and National Geographic Traveller UK Five cruise ships in Souda by Saturday Imbros Trail Run & Hike 2025: A sporting tribute to the History of Sfakia Cultural Days and Sea Routes in Piraeus Religious Tourism | The University of Palermo comes to Panagia Nafpaktiotissa Audio Walk in the Sitia Geopark: A Different Exploration Experience in Crete AEGEAN “takes off” Larnaca with a new direct flight to Rome Juneyao Airlines: More direct flights from Shanghai to Athens in 2025 Alltours: Familiarization trip to Greece for 250 travel agents Nations Cup Beach Volleyball is coming to TUI Magic Life Candia Maris on May 16-18 Navarino Challenge returns on May 9-11, 2025 Traditional Easter in Naxos: Unique Customs and Local Cuisine Annual revenue of over 43,000 euros for Airbnb in Mykonos and Santorini Destination Management and Promotion Organization established in Heraklion  What the Israeli Ambassador discussed at the Chania Chamber ATM'25 - Tourism | The fight against food waste at the forefront of sustainable development PM at 1st Greece-Saudi Arabia High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council on Monday Greece's Permanent Delegation to UNESCO organizing concert on January 16 Athens to host the European Film Awards in 2027 German tourism: Advance bookings are the new "last-minute" What to expect at this year’s ITB Berlin Exhibition from March 4-6 North Macedonia: Increase in foreign tourists in 2024 The 20 "loudest" luxury hotel arrivals in Greece in 2025 Athens Municipality Festival 2025 | The city's biggest celebration, with more than 200 events Tri-city winter luncheon unites upstate New York Philoptochos chapters ELSTAT: Hospitality enterprises' turnover grows 28.6% in Greece during Q1 Alonissos tops the list of Greek destinations without mass tourism Direct connection of Chania airport to Israel to be strengthened easyJet holidays | Fam trips to Santorini, Skiathos and Rhodes Greek tourism sets new records in 2024: 36 million visitors and €22 billion revenue Navarino Challenge returns on May 9-11, 2025 Chania: The next actions of the “Tourism Partnership” Increase in visitor numbers and revenues to museums and archaeological sites in 2024 Passenger traffic in Q1 | +9.1% at CAA airports, +6.5% in all Greek Tourism 2024: Record Performance at a Glance Ryanair: New Brussels – Volos connection in summer 2025 Samaria Gorge “War Zone” – “Others Decide, We Pay the Price” Global air passenger traffic hits record high in 2024 with 5.85 billion airline seats Greeks Traveled (A Lot!) in 2024 – Where They Went, How Much They Spent 2024 (WAFA) – The Israeli occupation forces today raided the city of Tulkarm Local sources said that the occupation forces broke into  the city from its western part the occupation forces further besieged the Martyr Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital and Al-Israa Specialized Hospital The occupation bulldozers began bulldozing operations around the Al-Alimi roundabout causing a widespread destruction to the city`s infrastructure and local citizens properties They also obstructed the movement of vehicles in the area The occupation forces also sent more reinforcements to the west of the city amidst intensive reconnaissance aircraft flying Argophilia - January 27th took centre stage during a recent forum in Sitia held at the “Polycentro,” gathered representatives from local and regional authorities The discussions revolved around a shared vision: a finished highway stretching from Kissamos to Sitia that supports Crete’s tourism clarified that the regional government isn’t waiting for delays If Greece’s Infrastructure Ministry doesn’t release funds for crucial studies on completing VOAK the region will allocate its budget to keep things moving “If the ministry doesn’t pay to ensure the project’s readiness This approach highlights how vital the highway is to connect communities Set up by the Technical Chamber of Eastern Crete with support from the regional government and the Municipality of Sitia the forum focused on overcoming challenges and setting priorities Governor Arnaoutakis spoke about the highway’s dual significance as an environmental safeguard and an economic boost It’s part of Crete’s identity and future prosperity everyone agrees on finishing a project that serves the entire island Plans are underway to finalize studies for all segments of the highway To secure funding while ensuring the project is ready to break ground This isn’t about pouring concrete and cutting ribbons and more efficient way of living and visiting Crete Linking major tourist destinations with local communities means smoother routes for visitors and better prospects for businesses the project underscores a commitment to thoughtful Crete’s officials continue to stress the importance of collaboration they aim to deliver a highway that reflects the island’s ambitions—from its bustling western towns to its serene eastern shores It’s about bridging gaps while respecting what makes Crete unique The journey from idea to asphalt might take time but Crete is showing it’s not afraid to take the wheel Στ. Αρναουτάκης: «Αν το Υπουργείο δεν χρηματοδοτήσει τις μελέτες μέχρι τη Σητεία, θα το κάνει η Περιφέρεια» This is the team byline for Argophilia Travel News The copyrights for these articles are owned by Argophilia No content may be redistributed without the permission of the owner 2025-04-22 By A young Dutch tourist was hospitalized after falling 25 meters in Samaria Gorge He is in stable condition at Chania Hospital’s Neurosurgery Clinic 2025-04-22 By Let’s Go for Horta in Chania from April 26-27 the study to revive and reuse the illustrious Villa Pologiorgis in Amperia officially got a handshake—or No sooner had the mayor’s pen touched paper than a room of deputies The contract—routinely titled “Study for […] 2025-04-22 By and demand fueled by good weather and tradition 2025-04-22 By Hoteliers in Crete witnessed record Easter occupancy but the Crete tourist season hurdles are just starting More Crete travel news COPYRIGHT © 2025 · ARGOPHILIA TRAVEL NEWS This week’s featured project takes us on a very cool adventure with Marco Petrini of Petrini Studio Marco is a New York City-based architect and architectural photographer Marco came across the abandoned Dionysos village was an ambitious settlement project initiated by the SOE company in the late 1990s such as excessive garbage on Analouka Beach with a few residents and apparent squatters occupying some properties.” I asked Marco what it was like to be at Dionysos and he shared “Honestly given the limited information available online about this place I stumbled upon it while exploring the area on Google Earth in search of something interesting and this unexpected discovery left me feeling a little intimidated (a huge abandoned village in the middle of nowhere!) and the sound of distant voices and some old since I was alone and I had my gear with me (camera it turned out some of these houses (although very few) were still inhabited although I would have loved to set up my tripod and capture multiple exposures and different compositions I dedicated nearly two hours to exploring the village Despite just being a quick personal project I really appreciate Marco’s use of strong shadows and highlights and pull out the colors and textures found throughout the village My favorite thing about this project is that the pictures have the architectural equivalent of the “uncanny valley” effect to them From far away the village looks pretty normal but the closer you look the more clues you see that it is deserted and that something is not quite right The juxtaposition between the cheerful colors and the conditions of the village is really interesting to see “The strong wind and rapidly changing sky/light conditions added something magical to the experience I had to continuously change my settings as the light transitioned from harsh highlights/deep shadows to completely overcast This allowed me to capture the space in several ways which I found truly intriguing,” Marco notes I was curious to know how much effort Marco put into “cleaning things up” whether that be on-site or in post-production – or if Marco left things as they appeared “The photos faithfully represent the space as it is; I purposely refrained from any post-processing removal or cleaning I made only essential adjustments in Lr (cropping My goal was to convey the genuine and unaltered reality of this place in its raw but I couldn’t decipher her intentions… She began to talk to me in Greek and while I couldn’t understand what she was saying from the tone of her voice it was clear that I was not welcome there given the overgrown plants and winding paths (almost like a labyrinth you can see it clearly from the aerial shots) I asked Marco what lessons he learned along the way When I first came across this place on Google Earth I was uncertain whether the three-hour drive would be worthwhile the lack of information online piqued my curiosity I’m glad that I ultimately made the decision to visit!” it’s almost impossible to tell that Dionysos Village is in its derelict state “Everything looks perfect from far away,” eh? A massive thanks to Marco for submitting this cool personal project to us In addition to this fun personal project, Marco’s portfolio sports some truly lovely commissioned work that you should absolutely check out. You can see more of Marco’s work at petrinistudio.com and on Instagram @patrinistudio If you have a project you’d like to be considered for Project of the Week, you can submit it here. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. Torrential rain on 15 October triggered flash floods in Heraklion and Lasithi in Crete Provisional figures show that in a 24 hour period to early 16 October Strong winds have also been reported in the region The Greek Fire Department described the flooding as “extreme” and said they received 453 calls in just one hour Firefighters pulled an unconscious man from a vehicles that had been dragged into the sea on the coast of Agia Pelagia A woman was reported missing in the same incident Search and rescues teams later reported the body of missing woman was recovered from the sea in ​​Agia Pelagia The Fire Department said 2 women were rescued from floods in the area of ​​Lygaria Around 30 people had to be evacuated by emergency teams and transported to a safe place including 9 people from an archaeological site in Sitia The flooding has caused significant damage in particular in coastal areas where flood waters dumped debris Authorities said emergency teams were operating in the areas of Sitia On 13 October Greece’s National Meteorological Service and the General Secretariat of Civil Protection had issued warnings of severe weather in the country On 16 October Civil Protection asked all citizens to be vigilant in Crete and the southern islands of Rhodes Featured image: File photo for illustration only Richard Davies is the founder of floodlist.com and reports on flooding news Cookies | Privacy | Contacts © Copyright 2025 FloodList have gained pro­tected sta­tus in India as geo­graph­i­cal indi­ca­tions This recog­ni­tion was pub­lished in the Journal of Geographical Indications of the Intellectual Property Organization of India pro­vid­ing pro­tec­tion against imi­ta­tions and mis­use in the Indian mar­ket and serv­ing as a mar­ket­ing tool for Greek exports Two Greek extra vir­gin olive oils with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) cer­ti­fi­ca­tions from the European Union have been granted pro­tected sta­tus in India after being rec­og­nized as geo­graph­i­cal indi­ca­tions (GI) by the gov­ern­ment The res­o­lu­tion was pub­lished in the Journal of Geographical Indications of the Intellectual Property Organization of India on October 31st Kalamata PDO olive oil is pro­duced in the Messinia region in south­west­ern Peloponnese mainly from olives of the Koroneiki or the Mastoeidis vari­ety (also known as Athinolia or Tsounati) Sitia Lasithiou Kritis PDO is extra vir­gin olive oil pro­duced in the province of Sitia in east­ern Crete exclu­sively from Koroneiki olives The two Greek olive oils are now pro­tected from imi­ta­tions and mis­use of their names in the vast Indian mar­ket while GI recog­ni­tion can also serve as an impor­tant mar­ket­ing tool The approval of the two olive oils as GIs in the South Asian coun­try which took more than ten years to com­plete resulted from for­mal appli­ca­tions by the Messinia Union of Agricultural Associations and the Sitia Union of Agricultural Cooperatives “India is another major mar­ket where the union man­aged to pro­tect its Kalamata PDO extra vir­gin olive oil against coun­ter­feit­ing,” the Messinia Union said in an announce­ment “This pro­tec­tion sta­tus is of par­tic­u­lar impor­tance since the Indian mar­ket will be a tar­get for Greek exports in the future,” the announce­ment added A Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) is a type of geo­graph­i­cal indi­ca­tion (GI) that iden­ti­fies a prod­uct as orig­i­nat­ing from a spe­cific geo­graph­i­cal area and hav­ing qual­i­ties or char­ac­ter­is­tics that are essen­tially attrib­ut­able to its geo­graph­i­cal ori­gin The PDO des­ig­na­tion is a legal label that is used to pro­tect the names of prod­ucts that are truly unique to a par­tic­u­lar region The union also noted that it will seek pro­tec­tion in India for the Kalamata PDO table olives Both Sitita PDO and Kalamata PDO olive oils are among the four Greek olive oils that have been granted inter­na­tional intel­lec­tual prop­erty pro­tec­tion in 56 coun­tries after being reg­is­tered with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Consumers world­wide are increas­ingly inter­ested in agri­cul­tural prod­ucts and foods with spe­cific char­ac­ter­is­tics and dif­fer­ent geo­graph­i­cal ori­gins Regarding the pen­e­tra­tion of olive oil in the world’s most pop­u­lous coun­try India is still largely a vir­gin mar­ket; in 2022 the coun­try imported around 13,400 tons of extra vir­gin and pomace olive oil However, as else­where, the rise in global olive oil prices is adversely impact­ing the coun­try’s con­sump­tion of extra vir­gin olive oil “We have reduced imports of extra vir­gin olive oil by 30 per­cent and almost dou­bled imports of pomace [olive oil],” Dhiraj Dama According to Rahul Upadhyay, head of the Indian Olive Association (IOA), import­ing olive oil in India is becom­ing increas­ingly expen­sive “Not only have the prices at source dou­bled over the last year but the Euro has also appre­ci­ated by 12 to 13 per­cent and we are still pay­ing a 40 to 45 per­cent import duty for this higher price,” he said Upadhyay added that the asso­ci­a­tion has called on the Indian gov­ern­ment to reduce taxes on imported olive oil More articles on:  , , Bumper Harvest Boosts Tunisian Olive Oil Exports Amid Market Volatility Olive oil exports are expected to reach their highest levels since the 2019/20 crop year with an increase in individually packaged shipments Producers in Herzegovina Celebrate New PDO Local officials say the Zlatne Kapi Protected Designation of Origin will raise the profile of local olive oils and promote tourism Groves Need Rain Ahead of Harvest in Greece With most groves in Greece entering an ‘on-year’ in their alternate bearing cycle ample autumn rains could yield a 300,000-ton harvest Award-Winning Producer Promotes Rhodes as An Olive Oil Destination Greece’s fourth-largest island is a well-known tourist destination Consistently winning quality awards is helping Natura Rodos raise its profile as an olive oil producer Italian Producers Grapple with Market Instability Record olive oil imports paired with lowered yields have compounded the worries of the sector Hazara’s Olive Oil Boom Lays Roadmap for Pakistani Sector Systematic grafting and planting programs new mills and efforts to educate farmers and millers have resulted in a rapid rise in production in one critical Pakistani region European Union Olive Oil Production Set to Grow by One-Third Brussels’ autumn short-term outlook predicts volatile prices Emigration, Infrastructure Hamper Albanian Agriculture As olive oil production rises in the southern European country transport and storage infrastructure are not keeping pace The students and teachers of the 5th grade of the 1st and 3rd Primary Schools of Sitia had the opportunity to live a unique experience through an educational activity on the Ziros Plateau and the birdlife of the area – elements that make Sitia an ideal destination for visitors who love nature in collaboration with the educational community implements programs that highlight geodiversity offering participants – young and old – the opportunity to learn about the environment through the principles of sustainability and experiential learning the children had the opportunity to watch the release of two hawks (Buteo buteo) into their natural environment – ​​a moving moment as the birds had previously been cared for by the ANIMA Wildlife Protection Association with the scientific support of the Natural History Museum of Crete and the presence of researchers Perodaskalaki Anastasia and Anagnostopoulou Aspasia Such actions prove that Sitia can combine tourism and education highlighting its unique nature and cultural identity as key elements of a sustainable and quality tourism model For visitors looking for more than just a vacation – for those seeking life experiences – the Sitia Geopark offers an authentic journey into the knowledge The messages for the tourist traffic in the Sitia region in the upcoming season are optimistic by the CEO of the Sitia Development Organization and the President of the Sitia Hotel Association who represented the Municipality at the ITB Berlin Exhibition According to the data of the Hotel Association: underlined the strong card of Sitia in negotiations with interested airlines with certification by the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority is decisive for the opening of new collaborations Vasilakis addressed an open call to all accommodation owners in the area to contribute to a broad registration of existing accommodations in order to create a bed availability database through the Sitia Development Organization as an additional element to be used for future collaborations with Tour Operators Vassilakis noted that a very good and constructive collaboration has begun with the Hellenic Tourism Organization expanding the way in which the possibility of strengthening the flight work of Sitia Airport for the 2026 season will be given Support for investments for new beds in Sitia Zervakis referred to the effort made by all those involved to strengthen the tourism product and establish Sitia as a destination "Many efforts have been made in this direction with participation in exhibitions with contacts with Tour Operators and airlines With the prospect of a radical change in its appearance the city will have all the conditions to be an attractive and hospitable place The Mayor of Sitia also referred to the perennial issue of the lack of beds can only be resolved by attracting investors the Municipal Authority is oriented towards supporting and encouraging new investments with a view to the tourist Metrics details The polymeric structure of secretory IgM allows efficient antigen binding and complement fixation The available structural models place the N-glycans bound to asparagines 402 and 563 of Ig-μ chains within a densely packed core of native IgM These glycans are found in the high mannose state also in secreted IgM suggesting that polymerization hinders them to Golgi processing enzymes Here we investigate their role following the fate of aggregation-prone mutant μ chains lacking the Cμ1 domain (μ∆) Our data reveal that μ∆ lacking 563 glycans (μ∆5) form larger intracellular aggregates than μ∆ and are not secreted a lectin previously shown to promote polymerization μ∆ lacking 402 glycans (μ∆4) remain detergent soluble and accumulate in the ER as does a double mutant devoid of both (μ∆4–5) These results suggest that the two C-terminal Ig-μ glycans shape the polymerization-dependent aggregation by engaging lectins and acting as spacers in the alignment of individual IgM subunits in native polymers which are located 12 residues upstream the two cysteines involved in polymerization (C414 and C575 respectively) Since formation of disulphide bonds and polymerization are needed for μ∆ aggregation we set up to investigate the role of the N402 and N563 glycans in the formation of detergent-insoluble μ∆ deposits Our results show that their absence inhibits or favours aggregation suggesting that the 402 glycans favour the accessibility of C575 and C414 and ultimately polymerization The 563 glycan could limit the number of μ∆2 or μ2L2 subunits that can be incorporated into planar polymers HeLa cells were transiently transfected with vectors encoding for secretory μ μΔ5 or empty vector as a control (−) as indicated (A) The NP-40 detergent-soluble and insoluble material from 105 cells/lane (intracellular left panel) and the material secreted in 4 hours (sol) or scraped from the plates after removal of the cells with detergent (insol) (extracellular – center panel) was loaded on 4–10% pre-casted polyacrylamide gradient gels under non-reducing conditions and decorated with anti-μ antibodies More μΔ5 accumulates intracellularly in the NP-40 insoluble fraction as indicated by the densitomeric quantification shown in the right panel (average of 3 independent experiments +/− standard deviation) (B) Total intracellular and extracellular material of HeLa cells transiently transfected with increasing amounts of plasmids encoding for μΔ or μΔ5 were loaded on SDS-page and decorated with anti-μ antibodies The percentage of secreted μ relative to the total intracellular amount was determined by densitometric quantification and is shown in the right panel (C) HeLa cells co-expressing μΔ5 and Ig-λ chains were fixed with PFA and stained with anti-μ (red) and anti-idiotypic antibodies (AC38 Co-localization of the AC38 (which recognizes only properly paired μλ complexes) and anti-μ staining confirms that μΔ5 assembles with λ chains (bar: 15 μm) (D) HeLa transfectants expressing μ∆ or μ∆5 were fixed with PFA stained with anti-μ Alexa 488 antibodies and visualized with deconvolution microscopy (left panels Immunogold analyses (middle and right panels) confirmed that the electron dense material contains condensed μ chains (see arrows) (bar: 500 nm) The enlargements shown in the insets confirm that μ∆5-containing SupeRB are bigger than μ∆-containing sRB Their diameters (+/− standard deviation) were calculated as the average of 60 such structures analyzed Secretion via a Golgi-independent route is less likely confirming proper VH folding and pairing with Vλ in the context of wild-type Ig-μ the A565S mutation does not prevent secretion of hapten binding suggesting that the absence of this glycan does not induce gross protein unfolding Rapid condensation could thus lead to the formation of transport-incompetent large complexes few if any ribosomes decorated the membrane of SupeRB Immuno-electron microscopy with gold-coupled anti-μ confirmed the presence of mutant μ chains in both sRB and SupeRB (see arrows) preventing the attachment of the most C-terminal N-glycan increases the accumulation of μ∆ chains into detergent-insoluble high molecular weight covalent complexes that deposit in ESP vesicles and are retained intracellularly HeLa cells transiently transfected with μΔ5 were fixed with PFA and stained with antibodies against markers of different compartments of the secretory pathway μΔ5-containing SupeRB clearly co-localize with ERGIC-53 but not with CRT ERGIC-53 is itself condensed and recruited to SupeRB (bar: 15 μm) HeLa cells expressing μΔ or μΔ5 (resting cells) were treated with 50 μM CPA CPA was washed out and cells were cultured in Ca2+ containing medium for 45 minutes before fixation and co-staining with anti-μ (red) and anti-ERGIC-53 (green) Both μΔ and μ∆5 interact with ERGIC-53 in a Ca2+-dependent manner (bar: 7 μm) HeLa cells expressing μΔ or μΔ5 were treated with or without 21.5 μM kifunensine cells were fixed with PFA and stained with anti-μ μΔ no longer aggregates and displays a reticular staining The phenotype of μΔ5 instead is not modified by kifunensine (bar: 15 μm) HeLa cells treated as in B were stained with antibodies against μ (red) and ERGIC-53 (green) ERGIC-53 looses its co-localization with μΔ but not with μΔ5 (bar: 15 μm) implying the existence of other direct or indirect interactions that are insensitive to kifunensine (A) HeLa cells were transiently transfected with μ μΔ4 and μΔ5–4 and empty vector as a control (−) The NP-40 soluble and insoluble material from 105 cells was resolved under non-reducing conditions and western blots visualized with anti-μ mutating the N402 glycan prevents aggregation and both μ∆4 and μ∆4–5 accumulate in the soluble fraction mainly as dimers and monomers HeLa cells transiently transfected with μΔ4 and μΔ4–5 were fixed with PFA and stained with antibodies against μ and ERGIC-53 As previously noted in our imaging analyses kifunensine had little if any effect on the aggregation of μΔ5 Slightly more μΔ4 accumulated in the insoluble fraction upon mannosidase I inhibition: a possible explanation is that under these conditions degradation of this mutant is partly inhibited kifunensine had no effect on the distribution of μ∆4–5 between the soluble and non-soluble fractions (A) Interactions with ERGIC-53 favour and control IgM polymerization the N563-glycan (blue circles) and N402 (red circles) being the main binding sites in μ chains C575 becoming inaccessible for polymerization suggesting that this sugar acts as a spacer between adjacent subunits or/and that the interaction with ERGIC-53 only via N402 can cause aberrant polymerization Replacing the Cμ1 with different tags (GFP Halo) yielded different aggregation and localization patterns (our unpublished results) suggesting that additional factors are in play to assist polymerization in cis as well as in trans Considering the biotechnological relevance of a portable polymerization module further experiments are needed to dissect the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that control IgM biogenesis HepG2 and Hek293 cells were obtained from ATCC and cultured in DMEM (GIBCO Life Technologies) containing 2 mM glutamine and 5% FCS (GIBCO Life Technologies) Plasmids encoding μΔ4 and μΔ4–5 were obtained replacing asparagine 402 for glutamine in μΔ and μΔ5 by site directed mutagenesis with the following primers: Fw-GGAAAGCCATCCCCAAGGCACCTTCAGTG and Rev-CACTGAAGGTGCCTTGGGGATGGCTTTCC All PCR products were checked by sequencing (GATC Biotech rabbit anti-Sec31 and mouse monoclonal anti-ERGIC53 antibodies were kind gifts from Drs Hong (Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology Singapore) Appenzeller-Herzog and Hauri (Biozentrum Slides were mounted in 90% glycerol and images acquired with an Olympus inverted fluorescence microscope (model IX70) with DeltaVision RT Deconvolution System (Alembic Deconvoluted images were processed with Adobe Photoshop 7.0 (Adobe Systems Inc.) images were taken with a Leica TCS SP2 laser Scanning Confocal Microscope infiltrated in 2.3 M sucrose and frozen in liquid nitrogen Cryosections were obtained using a Leica EM FC7 ultramicrotome (Leica microsystem Austria) and collected on 150 mesh formvar carbon coated copper grids Grids were then incubated with 0.1 μg/μl rabbit anti-μ (Zymed Laboratories CA) followed by goat anti-rabbit IgG coupled to 15 nm gold beads Grids were contrasted in a solution of uranyl acetate and methylcellulose air-dried and observed in a Leo 912AB transmission electron microscope (Carl Zeiss Images were analysed with ImageJ in order to determine the size of the μ-containing vesicles At least two perpendicular measurements were performed for each structure; 60 structures were analysed for each sample and the diameter averaged cells were washed and lysed at the concentration of 1 × 104 cells/μl in buffer A (0.2% Tx100 10 mM N-ethylmaleimide and a cocktail of protease inhibitors (Roche The Tx100-insoluble fraction (insol) was separated by centrifugation at 3,400 g for 10 minutes and solubilized in lysis buffer B (1% SDS to keep the volume of the soluble and insoluble fractions equal cells were washed three times with PBS and incubated for 4 hours in pre-warmed OPTIMEM cell culture supernatant was collected (SN) cells were detached from the plate with PBS containing 10 mM EDTA The secreted material attached to the plate (plate) was then scraped from the plate in 2% SDS Samples were resolved under reducing or non-reducing conditions by pre-casted 10% or 4–12% acrylamide gradient gels (Invitrogen After transfer to nitrocellulose and decoration with specific antibodies images were acquired with the fluorescence Scanner Fuji FLA 9000 (FujiFilm Life Science Japan) and processed with Adobe Photoshop 7.0 (Adobe Systems Inc.) Roles of N-glycans in the polymerization-dependent aggregation of mutant Ig-µ chains in the early secretory pathway Publisher's note: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Protein quality control in the early secretory pathway Differential scales of protein quality control Protein secretion and the endoplasmic reticulum Physiology and pathology of proteostasis in the early secretory compartment Polymeric immunoglobulin M is secreted by transfectants of non-lymphoid cells in the absence of immunoglobulin J chain Human immunoglobulin glycosylation and the lectin pathway of complement activation Human serum IgM glycosylation: identification of glycoforms that can bind to mannan-binding lectin Site-Specific N-Glycosylation of Recombinant Pentameric and Hexameric Human IgM IgM polymerization inhibits the Golgi-mediated processing of the mu-chain carboxy-terminal glycans Lectins and traffic in the secretory pathway Sequential steps and checkpoints in the early exocytic compartment during secretory IgM biogenesis Biogenesis and function of IgM: the role of the conserved mu-chain tailpiece glycans ERp44 and ERGIC-53 synergize in coupling efficiency and fidelity of IgM polymerization and secretion Russell bodies: a general response of secretory cells to synthesis of a mutant immunoglobulin which can neither exit from A dynamic study of protein secretion and aggregation in the secretory pathway ER storage diseases: a role for ERGIC-53 in controlling the formation and shape of Russell bodies Pathogenesis of ER storage disorders: modulating Russell body biogenesis by altering proximal and distal quality control Assembly and secretion of heavy chains that do not associate posttranslationally with immunoglobulin heavy chain-binding protein Immunoglobulin aggregation leading to Russell body formation is prevented by the antibody light chain Proteostasis and “redoxtasis” in the secretory pathway: Tales of tails from ERp44 and immunoglobulins The GM130 and GRASP65 Golgi proteins cycle through and define a subdomain of the intermediate compartment Characterization of a cis-Golgi matrix protein An ubiquitously expressed form is localized to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) exit sites and is essential for ER-Golgi transport ERGIC-53 is a functional mannose-selective and calcium-dependent human homologue of leguminous lectins a potent inhibitor of the glycoprotein processing mannosidase I The Role of Lectin-Carbohydrate Interactions in the Regulation of ER-Associated Protein Degradation Degradation of unassembled soluble Ig subunits by cytosolic proteasomes: evidence that retrotranslocation and degradation are coupled events Glycoprotein quality control in the endoplasmic reticulum Mannose trimming by endoplasmic reticulum mannosidase I times the proteasomal degradation of unassembled immunoglobulin subunits The human IgM pentamer is a mushroom-shaped molecule with a flexural bias High-resolution structures of the IgM Fc domains reveal principles of its hexamer formation Analysis of the repertoire of anti-(4-hydroxy-3-nitrophenyl)acetyl (NP) antibodies in C 57 BL/6 mice by cell fusion Characterization of idiotopes by monoclonal anti-idiotope antibodies Download references Eelco van Anken and Milena Vitale for helpful discussions Stefano Bestetti for help with some microscope analyses Roberta Colzani for secretarial assistance and the ALEMBIC Facility This work was supported by grants from Telethon (GGP15059) Fondazione Cariplo and Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lombardia to RS Roberto Sitia and Tiziana Anelli: These authors contributed equally to this work performed most of the biochemical and imaging experiments All authors discussed the results with R.S The authors declare no competing financial interests Download citation Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science can work on a variety of crops by changing the width of its wheelbase and can perform many repetitive tasks Precision agriculture has been around for more than 30 years and now covers the majority of U.S It refers to the ability of farmers to observe measure and respond precisely to the variability of soil and crop characteristics within and between fields by using maps of these characteristics and GNSS navigation pesticides and fuel while increasing outputs It also enables them to work at night and in the fog and automate many functions at large feed lots For precision agriculture, GNSS integrity can mean the difference between a robot protecting a vineyard by weeding and spraying pesticides or damaging it by straying onto the vines the autonomous tractor has decreased the damage to the vineyards by more than an order of magnitude compared to the traditional work done by a farmer with a manual tractor Renu Robotics collect environmental data and assess the topography that it traverses Navigation is based on a stored map of paths, a Septentrio RTK GPS receiver and sensors to avoid obstacles A radio link enables the Renubot to communicate with a control center When the Renubot returns to its recharge pod it charges its lithium battery and performs updates and downloads Manabotix Pty. Ltd. has developed an automated system to monitor cattle in large feedlots lidar scanning and other vision or perception technologies and artificial intelligence This has greatly improved the accuracy and consistency of feedlot volume estimates which for the previous 150 years had been the responsibility of a select few employees who would visually gauge the amount of feed in concrete troughs This visual inspection by humans was inherently imprecise often causing animals to eat too much or too little one day and get off their optimal growth curve or even become ill Manabotix’s solution consists of a Septentrio AsteRx-U GNSS receiver and antenna Integrity is a key aspect of all these applications. A part of delivering integrity is a statistical analysis called receiver autonomous integrity monitoring (RAIM), which was developed for such safety-critical applications as aviation or marine navigation. A refinement of RAIM, called RAIM+ takes this analysis to the next level as part of a larger positioning protection package it can be particularly hazardous to be overly optimistic about GNSS accuracy This parameter is reported in the form of positioning uncertainty which is the maximum possible error on the calculated position It is especially necessary in challenging GNSS environments where the receiver has a direct line of sight to only a limited number of GNSS satellites or where GNSS signals are degraded RAIM alerts users when their receiver’s uncertainty strays beyond the limits they have chosen for their application Users can be deceived by a consistent position or movement — which can be consistently inaccurate The positioning uncertainty gives them an indication of the extent to which they can rely on their receiver’s positioning accuracy at any given moment The receiver operator can set an alarm limit so that the receiver can flag situations when positioning uncertainty becomes too large The blue line in Figure 1 shows position uncertainty estimated by a GNSS receiver under favorable conditions and the receiver has a direct line-of-sight to many satellites the position uncertainty shown by the blue lines is well within the alarm limits The actual position of the receiver should always remain within the blue uncertainty boundaries the positioning uncertainty stays well below the alarm limit because the calculated position is almost the same as the robot’s actual position the truthfulness of positioning uncertainty becomes most critical (see Figure 2) In challenging environments receivers with high integrity report large positioning uncertainty flagging possible inaccuracies to the system If the receiver is too optimistic about its accuracy when the view of the sky is partially obstructed by buildings or foliage the receiver has access to only a limited number of GNSS satellites making it harder to calculate accurate position In such cases the receiver must report a higher positioning uncertainty so that the system can take adequate action such as switching to lower speeds staying further away from predefined boundaries A low integrity receiver may keep reporting an optimistic positioning uncertainty that stays below the preset alarm limit even when the calculated position is way off from the actual position but effectively it becomes a “robot on the loose,” no longer on its planned path with a risk of damaging itself and its surroundings Let us look at uncertainty limits in action during a GNSS car test in an urban canyon, where the view of the sky is partially obstructed by houses (see Figure 3). The orange lines are the positioning and its uncertainty boundaries reported by a Septentrio mosaic GNSS module in the car while the red lines are the positioning and its uncertainty boundaries reported by another popular GNSS receiver The white line shows the actual position of the car as it drives along the road The orange uncertainty boundaries of the mosaic receiver are truthful and somewhat wider in this challenging environment and you can see that the actual position always remains within these boundaries the red trajectory jumps off course in a certain challenging spot on the road with the actual position no more within the uncertainty boundaries In this case the competitor’s receiver gives a false sense of security and the system is unaware of its hazardous operation In an urban canyon car test the Septentrio receiver reports truthful position uncertainty A competitor receiver seems to be more accurate while the actual position is not even within its reported uncertainty boundaries If the receiver depicted by the red line provided navigational information for an ADAS automotive system this could mislead the system into thinking that the car switched lanes If the system then attempted to correct the trajectory by switching back to the “correct lane” this would result in taking the car off course and potentially hitting the sidewalk or even another car The underlying mechanism behind truthful positioning uncertainty reporting is RAIM which ensures a truthful positioning calculation based on statistical analysis and exclusion of any outlier satellites or signals Septentrio receivers are designed for high integrity and take RAIM to the next level with RAIM+ guaranteeing truthfulness of positioning with a high degree of confidence In Septentrio receivers RAIM+ is a component of a larger receiver protection suite called GNSS+ comprising positioning protection on various levels including AIM+ anti-jamming and anti-spoofing IONO+ resilience to ionospheric scintillations Septentrio has fine-tuned its RAIM+ statistical model with more than 50 terabytes of field data collected over 20 years It removes satellites and signals which may give errors due to multipath reflection while working together with the GNSS+ components mentioned above Because of this multi-component protection architecture it achieves a very high level of positioning accuracy and reliability which goes well beyond the standard RAIM taking advantage of all available GNSS constellations and signals The full RAIM+ functionality is also available in Septentrio’s GNSS/INS receiver line User controlled parameters allow it to be tuned to specific requirements The diagram in Figure 4 shows RAIM+ in action during a jamming and spoofing attack on a Septentrio GNSS receiver While AIM+ removes the effects of GNSS jamming both AIM+ and RAIM+ work together to block the spoofing attack are removed by RAIM+ since they do not conform to the expected satellite distance In this scenario jamming gives satellite distance errors but is countered by AIM+ technology During spoofing AIM+ eliminates some of the spoofed satellites while other satellites that have wrong distances are dismissed by RAIM+ algorithms This example shows that even in the case of jamming and spoofing Septentrio’s high integrity receiver technology delivers truthful and reliable positioning on which any autonomous system can count GNSS receivers designed to be reliable strive for high integrity in both reporting of the positioning uncertainty as well as in RAIM+ advanced statistical modelling This ensures that these receivers provide truthful and timely warning messages and are resilient in various challenging environments Other technologies such as inertial navigation system (INS) can also be coupled to the GNSS receiver to extend positioning availability even during short GNSS outages base-station quality and overall quality allow monitoring of positioning reliability at any given time High-integrity GNSS receivers provide truthful positioning in autonomous machines such as the SITIA weeding tractor They are also crucial components in safety-critical applications assured PNT and any other application where accuracy and reliability matters subscribe to GPS World to receive more articles just like it perfectly showcase the brand’s vision – Felicity and Pergy Felicity offers a refined series of seating in one- Minimalist legs support low platforms that hold soft quilted seats with side tables built right in Tall backs bring additional privacy for contract settings The seats feature integrated electrical outlets comfortable curves that would work in any scenario Pergy was designed by MM Company in collaboration with Pergentino Battocchio Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen FiiO'S sub-brand Snowsky has launched the Retro Nano user-friendly vinyl flattening machine that restores warped records to their original shape using precision heat technology Zaha Hadid Architects transforms public transit at the KAFD Metro Station in Riyadh with futuristic architecture Full of natural materials and respect for modern Swedish design the STOCKHOLM 2025 collection from IKEA debuts 96 new pieces You’ll always hear it from Design Milk first Our passion is discovering and highlighting emerging talent and we’re energized by and for our community of like-minded design lovers — like you Contract furniture brand SITIA introduced new designs for office and hospitality settings that offer endless possibilities for customization The new pieces were on display at Salone del Mobile as the human rooms as a way to show the various products in different scenarios and setups SITIA makes each one such that it can be completely personalized to a customer’s preference resulting in comfortable environments for all to enjoy Laguna is a modular sofa designed by Elena Trevisan with a 50s aesthetic The series comes in various modules from curvy to straight that can create any kind of sculptural landscape Pergy is an upholstered armchair with a curvy back for comfort Designed by MM Company, Lovers is a series of coffee tables with marble or wood tops supported by a thin iron base The tables come in different sizes to fit any environment FiiO'S sub-brand Snowsky has launched the Retro Nano, a headphone DAC that may be high-tech, but it has a retro '90s charm to it. The Pro-Ject Flatten It is a sleek, user-friendly vinyl flattening machine that restores warped records to their original shape using precision heat technology. Zaha Hadid Architects transforms public transit at the KAFD Metro Station in Riyadh with futuristic architecture, innovation, and urban connection. Full of natural materials and respect for modern Swedish design, the STOCKHOLM 2025 collection from IKEA debuts 96 new pieces. You’ll always hear it from Design Milk first. Our passion is discovering and highlighting emerging talent, and we’re energized by and for our community of like-minded design lovers — like you! Photo copyright retained by photo owners, everything else © 2025 Design Milk®. The island is a popular holiday hotspot and the airport is ideally situated on the eastern side of the island 2km from the idyllic harbour town of Sitia and close to the stylish resorts of Agios Nicolaos and Lerapetra. Conveniently Sitia also offers a less congested alternative to some of the island’s other airports and is open seven days a week in the high season. Logout Gateway to the world of smart farming This Premium article is exclusively available for subscribers Obtain insights from exclusive interviews Make the right purchasing decisions with our buyers guides Dive into articles covering innovative developments Already subscribed? Click here to login Investments in the development of tourism complex accommodation combining hospitality services and residences with three projects set to see construction start this year adding up to almost 1 billion euros The end of the pandemic and the positive forecasts for tourism in the country in the coming years are pushing more and more investors to speed up the procedures for starting their projects belonging to Israeli real estate investor Vitaly Borisov is expected to start its Elounda Hills project This investment is expected to exceed €500 million and concerns the development of a total area of 950,000 square meters acres at Elounda in eastern Crete The project is in the process of completing its necessary permits The total buildable area will amount to 130,000-140,000 sq.m. which corresponds to approximately 0.2% of the total area The first phase of the investment foresees the utilization of 550,000 sq.m. where Mirum Hellas is planning the creation of a luxury hotel with 137 rooms 66 branded villas and 81 branded apartments A small boutique hotel of 15 rooms will also be created in the marina area The operation of the hotels and residences has been undertaken by the American chain 1 Hotels The second half of 2023 will also see the start of the construction of the investment worth €270 million by the British-headquartered Minoan Plc at Kavo Sidero the investment at Faneromeni Bay will generate annual revenues of over €100 million from the operation of the hotel and the rental of residences Based on the presidential decree and the relevant cabinet decisions the construction of just 0.5% of the total area of 25 square kilometers is allowed RND Investments is expected to start the development of the luxury resort of Varko Bay at Palairo This is a project of €182 million that is set to start operating by 2026 Enter your information below to receive our weekly newsletters with the latest insights opinion pieces and current events straight to your inbox Minoan Plc is planning to get started on a major tourism development on a 25-square kilometer plot at Cavo Sidero through strategic partnerships and consortiums In that context the British company is soon expected to speed up talks with interested investors to finish off the planning of the investment especially regarding the mix and the category of the holiday accommodation to be constructed on the plot Minoan is working toward an integrated tourism resort bearing the name “Itanos Gaia.” This is a 270-million-euro investment concerning the construction of a five-star hotel unit This is the very recipe that Lamda Development is applying for the plot of Elliniko in southern Athens according to its deal with TEMES on the development of part of the seafront and to its upcoming agreement with one of the investors interested in the residential and office towers planned for the old Athens airport plot this is the choice as the company does not have the necessary liquidity and know-how to finance the investment itself The solution of cooperations also provides the chance for immediate revenues for the property whose zoning has taken over 25 years to mature According to Minoan Chairman Chris Egleton the prospects of this investment have not been harmed by the pandemic; quite the contrary in fact as the effects of the health crisis have highlighted the importance of luxury holiday villas the plan has in store for Sitia the privacy and luxury that Itanos Gaia offers are already proving to be of great value,” he said That was also confirmed by a Deloitte valuation that inspected and approved the business plan the Minoan management has drafted The conditions after the pandemic in the luxury holiday accommodation market show demand with an emphasis on space availability and on securing privacy That has increased the anticipated appeal of the villas planned for Itanos Gaia as there is also the option of owning a relatively isolated property like Vassilia Fragaki of Cooperativa Sitia are opti­mistic about the poten­tial in China have faced dis­ap­point­ment due to chal­lenges in con­sumer behav­ior and per­cep­tions Stelios Vytogiannis of Foodrinco is deter­mined to suc­ceed in China despite fac­ing obsta­cles in estab­lish­ing busi­ness rela­tion­ships in the coun­try one of the top olive oil pro­duc­ing coun­tries in the world Olive oil pro­duc­ers and dis­trib­u­tors are eye­ing China’s immense mar­ket they are find­ing that their qual­ity prod­ucts are not an easy sell their recent efforts are prov­ing to be dis­ap­point­ing one of the largest olive oil coop­er­a­tives in Greece So we made a deci­sion that we needed to build our efforts in the Chinese mar­ket It has been very inter­est­ing for us so far,” said Fragaki Fragaki added that efforts over the past few years have involved sub­stan­tial prepa­ra­tion includ­ing every­thing from trans­la­tion cre­at­ing a strate­gic mar­ket­ing plan to hir­ing Chinese rep­re­sen­ta­tives based in tar­get cities Fragaki joined a mar­ket­ing trip orga­nized by the Greek olive oil con­fer­ence and exhi­bi­tion group along with sev­eral other Greek pro­duc­ers Cooperativa Sitia’s team aimed to broaden con­tacts and present their olive oils at the Shanghai Food Exhibition Fragaki said results have yet to be seen but the effort has been ​“worth it so far.” “We’re begin­ning to unfold the secrets of the mar­ket I feel at this point we can con­tinue to take small steps and by next year we can think about mov­ing on to big­ger steps.” Nikos Monahoyios of Ergofood Greece isn’t as hope­ful any longer He attended sev­eral Chinese food exhi­bi­tions where he quickly learned that Greek par­tic­i­pa­tion and mar­ket­ing sup­port was low He felt he found a great oppor­tu­nity to show­case his Greek brand and qual­ity Greek olive oils “The Chinese may have a grow­ing upper class inter­ested in prod­ucts like ours but they can’t find the top qual­ity Their mar­ket isn’t reli­able and they’re not trained enough yet to select authen­tic high qual­ity olive oil and wine prod­ucts.” said in China prod­ucts like Greek olive oils are pur­chased ​“mostly to show off among friends and gain social sta­tus.” “In our opin­ion the Chinese con­sum­ing behav­ior isn’t mature enough They want to fol­low the Western con­sum­ing cul­ture and habits but their only cri­te­rion in their choice is price and not qual­ity.” He pointed out that recent research showed that most of the French wines sold in China are not actu­ally French but just have a French label He believes the same can hap­pen with olive oil Monahoyios said that one Chinese com­pany sug­gested that he even change the num­bers on acid­ity lev­els Monahoyios was thrilled that Chinese traders loved the taste and qual­ity of his olive oil “They were say­ing that it was the best olive oil they tasted but when they were ask­ing about the price the first reac­tion was that it was too expen­sive.” “I’m hon­estly so dis­ap­pointed from the Chinese mar­ket after all these neg­a­tive expe­ri­ences with the Chinese con­sum­ing behav­ior and per­cep­tion that I can say now that I am not aim­ing in this mar­ket any longer.” “Consumer per­cep­tion is more advanced,” he said ​“I can see now why there is a wide effort from sev­eral Greek com­pa­nies try­ing to pro­mote the Greek olive oil and its qual­ity Stelios Vytogiannis of Foodrinco intro­duced his Greek extra vir­gin olive oils to the Chinese mar­ket two years ago He had also hired a local Chinese sales and mar­ket­ing asso­ciate to pro­mote his prod­ucts time dif­fer­ence and cul­ture all play a role,” said Vytogiannis but it is dif­fi­cult to get access.” To describe his frus­tra­tion he com­pared his attempts in China to another Asian mar­ket I was able to ship prod­ucts and cre­ate a good busi­ness rela­tion­ship quite eas­ily in less than two months My expe­ri­ence in China has been an uphill bat­tle.” Vytogiannis said every­thing seemed grim when his Chinese asso­ciate stopped answer­ing his phone calls and emails Their busi­ness rela­tion­ship came to an end “It’s our third year try­ing and we’ve already invested so much so we must go on We’ll find some­one new to help us in China Cooperativa SitiaErgofood GreeceFoodrinco Greece More articles on:  , , Turkey’s Olive Sector Aims for Record $1B in Exports Olive oil and table olive exports could bring $1 billion to Turkish producers previous export bans have hampered efforts Moroccan Producers Face Third Straight Year of Declining Production Olive oil production is expected to fall to 90,000 metric tons resulting in rapidly rising prices and fears of a shortage The Challenges and Opportunities Facing Morocco’s Olive Oil Sector While investments are being made to promote quality and climate resilience some policies are hurting local consumption and inhibiting value-added production Spanish Growers Eye Indian Market for Table Olives A report emphasizes catering to local consumer preferences to capitalize on India's rapidly expanding economy and demand for healthy foods East Asian Producers Show Award-Winning Quality on World Stage Producers from China and Japan combined to earn ten awards at the 2024 World Olive Oil Competition Trump's Tariffs: European Olive Oil Producers Brace for Market Disruption New levies on imported olive oil from EU countries will lead to price increases and trade imbalances Olive Oil Export Ban Sours Table Olive Sales in Turkey While table olive exports soared in the first five months of the 2023/24 campaign the ban on olive oil exports is blamed for holding the sector back sports and educational exchanges are among the likely benefits from the twinning of the city of Montego Bay which was formalised at the official signing ceremony in Sam Sharpe Square on Thursday and is one of the economic centres of the Lasithi region It is the first time that twinning between a city in Greece and Jamaica has taken place although both countries established diplomatic relations in May 1975 “We have maintained cordial relations since the establishment of the diplomatic agreement but our bilateral relations over the years have remained modest and this is what we seek to bolster in this sister city relationship,” Mayor Leeroy Williams said in his address “The signing of this MoU marks the beginning of a union and hints upon a commitment of the two cities to form a meaningful partnership.” Williams expects the relationship to be mutually beneficial Negotiations started between the cities last September when Williams led a delegation on a visit to Sitia the local authority is hoping to penetrate the southern and eastern European tourism market which reportedly has very little exposure to tourism in Jamaica There will also be exchange programmes between the Hellenic University based in Sitia and universities in Montego Bay Both countries share tourism and agriculture as sources of income also expects the relationship to be fruitful “We aim to show the real image of our homeland introduce them to the social and economic life of our fellow Greeks as well as the possibility of cooperation between our two cities,” Zervakis said Greece is the world’s 54th largest economy and is the 16th largest economy in the European Union According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Greece has rebounded well from the COVID-19 crisis Crete is the base for many shipping companies with Greece having the largest shipping fleet in the world This will also provide opportunities for Jamaican seafarers who desire employment on Greek vessels Montego Bay has sister relations with several other cities across the world including three in China – namely Zhuhai mark.titus@gleanerjm.com View the discussion thread. The relationship between the cities of Montego Bay in St when they formally become sister cities on Thursday (February 16) A formal twinning ceremony will be held at Sam Sharpe Square in Montego Bay St The announcement was made by Mayor of Montego Bay The delegation from Sitia led by Mayor Georgios Zervakis arrived in the island on Friday (February 10) to formalise the agreement the city of Montego Bay and the Municipality of Sitia commenced negotiations to establish a sister city [relationship],” Mayor Williams said He noted that the relationship will be mutually beneficial to both cities in the areas of education “Benefits to be had as a result of the twinning of both cities are student exchange programmes between the Hellenic University in Sitia and the universities in Montego Bay,” Mr “Crete is the base for many shipping companies in conjunction with the Caribbean Maritime University under the direction of Admiral Peter Brady there will be opportunities to promote Jamaican seafarers who desire employment on Greek vessels,” he added both countries share tourism and agriculture as their main source of economic earnings He stated that with Jamaica’s desire “to attract more tourist from southern and eastern Europe the twinning will be beneficial because this part of Europe has had minimal exposure to tourism in Jamaica” Send An Email Get the latest news & updates from the JIS sent to your inbox More than one million visitors from the interior and from at least seven European countries are going to welcome the airports of Heraklion Chania and Sitia according to the company's planning for this summer SKY express strengthens Crete even more in order to increase the connectivity of the island create the conditions for arrival of visitors and lengthen the period with premium visitors the airline of the new era will directly connect Crete with Brussels there will be routes to five domestic destinations while the airport of Sitia continues to serve domestic flights to Preveza and Alexandroupoli The country's youngest and greenest fleet and one of the most environmentally friendly in Europe unites Crete with a network of domestic and European cities contributing actively to the further promotion of the island as a top choice in terms of tourism and entrepreneurship through the strategic agreements with global carriers such as Air France SKY express creates additional conditions for interconnection with its entire internal network stated: "The international promotion of Crete the establishment of our island on the world tourist map as a centre of modern international transport networks and key air transport hub in Southeast Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean is part of our strategy to enhance tourism through the extended network of flights that connect Crete with major airports abroad contributes decisively to the joint effort the Region of Crete and SKY express will join forces to promote Crete both in Greece and abroad" BOOK YOUR TICKETFIND A HOTELFIND A CARFIND A PARKING SPACETHE COMPANY Groups and charter flights request and support: Travel Agents support exclusively in Belgium Groups and charter flight requests exclusively in France: Groups flight support exclusively in Germany: Groups flight support exclusively in Austria: Groups flight support exclusively in Turkey: Dolphin Capital sells Sitia Bay project – Dolphin Capital Investors says that it has entered into an agreement for the disposal of its 77.8% interest in the Sitia Bay Resort project the Group’s residential resort development in Sitia EUR1.4m (out of a total consideration of EUR15.0m) has been received from Iktinos (Hellas) S.A and it has transferred to the acquirer 7.9% of its shareholding interest in Latirus Enterprises Ltd With a smaller asset portfolio and a  strategy to dispose of  remaining assets by the end of 2019 the Board has concluded that its current composition Robert Heller and Sue Farr are stepping down from the Board with effect from 25 January 2018 commented: “On behalf of everyone at DCI I would like to thank Rob and Sue for their invaluable assistance and wise counsel They have both contributed to the significant progress we have made in realising value from the portfolio as further evidenced by today’s announcement and we intend to achieve further disposals during 2018 Mark Townsend and Miltos Kambourides.” DCI : Dolphin Capital sells Sitia Bay project Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" This website is for information purposes only and is not intended to encourage the reader to deal in the security or securities mentioned Please review our cookie, privacy & data protection and terms and conditions policies and please select your place of residence and whether you are a private or professional investor A woman who sold her house in Malaysia to secure a new future in New Zealand is back home after she was sacked from the family business A woman who sold her house in Malaysia to pay more than $70,000 she was told would secure her work in the family business in New Zealand lost not only her money but eventually her job too Now the Employment Relations Authority has instructed the former owner of a restaurant business to pay Kasthuri Sitia part of $33,579 in unpaid wages and compensation when she was dismissed after falling out with the family Sitia left Malaysia for New Zealand in early 2018 to live with her sister Shanti who was the shareholder and director of the business He’d offered her a job but told her she first had to pay $71,387 Sitia sold her house in Malaysia and transferred the money into her mother’s bank account She was told that if she banked it into her personal account Immigration NZ may not accept her Visa application the ERA said in a decision released this month She understood that if she did not transfer the payment she would not be employed would not be supported by the company in applying for a work visa and would not be offered the chance of a shareholding in the business Before she left Malaysia Sitia was told there might be a chance to buy a 50 per cent share in the business Muniandy explained that BLL needed investment in order to grow before it could employ her Her letter of employment was used to support her work visa application she signed an employment agreement with BLL for 40 hours of work per week In April 2018 Kasthuri Sitia was granted a working visa which also recorded her hourly pay as not less than $20.65 She worked a 42-hour week over 33 weeks but soon noticed irregularities in her pay Sitia had also become concerned that Muniandy appeared to be steadily withdrawing the money she had placed in her mother’s account without any formal agreement ERA member Geoff O’Sullivan said she did not know this for certain but neither was there evidence that Sitia’s mother might have withdrawn the money herself or indeed transferred it back to her daughter on request He said throughout her employment she was not provided with any payslips and in July 2018 she moved out of Muniandy and her sister’s home Sitia continued to raise concerns regarding outstanding wages and by November 2018 she decided to confront Muniandy about the problems The discussion became heated and ended with him telling her to leave the business Sitia was extremely upset and was left to walk to where she was living crying the entire time while stressed and panicked She continued to contact Muniandy both by email and text asking that he address unpaid wages and holiday pay In January 2019 she received a letter alleging she had abandoned her employment and had effectively resigned which left her embarrassed and ashamed to tell her family back in Malaysia about what had happened initially against the company and Muniandy as a director The ERA said it became apparent during the investigation that BLL was no longer trading and that a new company Banana Leaf 2019 Limited had been set up by Sitia’s sister Kasthuri Sitia believed that it was a “phoenix company set up for the sole purpose of thwarting her claims” Banana Leaf (2019) Ltd was joined to the proceedings at the Authority’s direction and the matter was heard in October last year with Shanti Sitia representing the company She produced documentation that showed she was the sole shareholder and director of the new entity; that her relationship with Muniandy had broken down and that he was no longer in New Zealand He had offered to sell her the former business took legal advice and set up a new company Banana Leaf (2019) Limited to purchase the business O’Sullivan said the evidence showed there was no commercial link between the former and current businesses and that the sale and purchase of the old business was a bona fide commercial transaction Banana Leaf (2019) Limited was listed with the New Zealand Companies Office as trading having filed an annual return two days ago NMZE has tried reaching Kasthuri Sitia for comment The lawyer who acted for her said she was now back in Malaysia She has not responded to emails seeking comment NZME has also tried to reach Muniandy via social media and has also sought comment from Shanti Devi Kila Sitia via email and her Kapiti-based restaurant O’Sullivan said there were barriers to Kasthuri Sitia’s claim linked to the money she had paid upfront but that there had been no process attached to her dismissal and no attempt by BLL to justify it He found that she was unjustifiably dismissed and therefore entitled to unpaid wages of $21,290 plus $2289 holiday pay which Muniandy was ordered to pay as a person involved in a breach of employment standards and because the former business couldn’t pay it The ERA also awarded $10,000 compensation for humiliation Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news including court and local government for the Nelson Mail The boy described the man's car as having offensive words and gestures on its panels A winter hike on a remote section of Crete’s E4 trail proves the perfect antidote to bleak times Like swirling paper scraps from a bonfire, the charcoal-winged vultures circled high overhead. When I imitated a lamb’s bleat they circled closer, stretching their massive wings and craning long wrinkled necks. The bone-white rocks of the Gorge of the Dead was a fitting backdrop for these pterodactyl-like birds – I could have been in a scene from Jurassic Park Named not for the hikers that have perished here (happily none has) but because it’s littered with caves where the Minoans once buried their dead, this seven-mile canyon – also called the Zakros gorge – is the end of the Cretan section of the ultra-long-distance E4 hiking route The whole trail runs for more than 10,000km from Tarifa in Spain to Cyprus but this island’s stretch starts 320km away in the north-western town of Kastelli-Kissamos and ends at the remote resort of Kato Zakros My plan was to hike a bite-size 35km stretch of the E4 in reverse a hamlet further south where I would catch a bus back to the port town of Sitia Far from the doom and gloom of TV and social media and the stress of living in a Covid-stricken world at least – by hiking through untamed landscapes and foragiing for food in one of the wildest corners of Crete drinking water and a bag of crumbly feta cheese Just over 300 nautical miles from Libya and on roughly the same latitude as Cyprus eastern Crete is almost as warm as Andalucía in winter soaring temperatures can make hiking sticky and unpleasant and the sun shining gently in a sky the colour of stone-washed denim The entrance to Zakros gorge Photograph: Horizons WWP/AlamyLeaving the vultures behind shale-strewn path between skyscraper-high cliffs Apart from the drone of bees in the late-flowering thyme and the fierce whistle of a golden eagle somewhere on high The caves where the Minoans once worshipped the souls of their ancestors – and where in later years defiant locals hid from the successive wrath of Venetians Turks and Nazis – stared down at me like the blankly watchful faces of ancient Greek masks casting an eerie scarlet light on the old stone houses with their caved-in wallsAfter two hours of hard hiking I collapsed on a rock near the top of the gorge and took in the view the once-magnificent Minoan Palace of Zakros shimmered like a mirage above the horseshoe-shaped bay of Zakros It was from the bay that the Minoans once sailed – boats weighed down with jars of wine olives and figs – to trade for gold and ivory with Egypt and Syria It was easy to picture the square-sailed ships setting out from this lonely spot; with little or no tourism and only a handful of inhabitants Kato Zakros still has a sense of antiquity Skalia was abandoned in the 18th century Photograph: Heidi Fuller-LoveLeaving Zakros I followed a winding road – past an old mill and the springs that once fed it – and into a sheltered valley where I found an abandoned citrus grove and filled my pockets with tiny sweet tangerines and waxy-skinned lemons A buffeting wind that tugged at my pack pushed me up along a track lined with purple heather and out on to the plateau of Mavros Kambos – the Black Plain – named for a bloody skirmish with Ottoman troops in the 16th century Black was a misnomer, however: the fertile plain was viridescent with horta, the wild greens that have been a staple of the Cretan diet since Minoan times. I gathered some of my favourites – galatsida (common brighteyes), radiki (dandelion) and agriozohos (golden fleece) – for dinner By 6pm when I reached Skalia (abandoned in the 18th century after its inhabitants were massacred by the Turks) the sun was low on the horizon casting an eerie scarlet light on the old stone houses with their caved-in walls and roofs Finding a sheltered spot I boiled the horta on my camping stove added lemon juice and olive oil and ate it with a chunk of feta enjoying the contrast of salty pungent sheep’s cheese with the tender greens apart from the distant glow of a village far below there was no light at all and stars filled the entire sky It was breathtaking – like being inside a geodesic dome pasted with millions of glittering snowflakes With its small square houses – and backdrop of jagged blue mountain, this tiny village 30km from the nearest town seemed incredibly isolated when I woke to bright sunshine the following day. Nikos, who owns the cafe where I breakfasted on toast and local thyme honey, told me that recent DNA tests by a Florida university proved that most of the inhabitants in this Lasithi region are descended directly from the Minoans. It was so dark by now that, apart from the distant glow of a village far below, stars filled the entire skyA dirt track – via vineyards that produce the crisp and spicy Assyrtiko wines – led through the tiny mountain village of Armeni and then down along a winding road to Vóri. A fug of wine and woodsmoke told me I was approaching a casani, the copper still where – in winter – Cretans distil grape skins left from winemaking to produce raki. Manolis, the shepherd who owned the still, handed me a plastic beaker of what looked like spring water. I took a sip and nearly choked on the burning 70% proof alcohol. Manolis told me he’d lived in Lasithi all his life. I mentioned what I’d heard about the DNA tests. “Eh!” he shrugged and took a deep slug from his beaker. “The Minoans loved dancing, women and raki – of course they were our ancestors!” View the discussion thread. We take a unique road trip through snow-covered landscapes and significant cultural landmarks It was a trip that we’d been planning for a long time; we wanted to enjoy Crete in the winter particularly the magnificence of the eastern mountainous region of Crete in Lasithi during a non-touristy period when we could get a real feel for its authentic beauty a trip through Crete’s winter mountain roads required the right vehicle The solution was found through renting a car from Avis After a brief search on Avis.gr that could move comfortably along the mountains with all the necessary comforts and equipment for winter driving it was equally important that the vehicle we chose was fuel-efficient – given that we were facing a journey in a region where fuel stations are few and far between we landed at Heraklion airport and picked up our vehicle at the scheduled time from the Avis station located there The very polite staff explained everything we needed to know about the Jeep Compass The road linking Heraklion with Sitia was probably the most comfortable we traversed on our entire journey allowing us to enjoy more of our car’s capabilities A hare jumped in front of us on the narrow road but thanks to the immediate response of our brakes the car stopped without anything unforeseen happening The exploration of eastern Crete would begin the next day Xerokambos and Chamezi attract quite a bit of tourism driving for about an hour and a bit from Sitia we took the “inner” road towards Etia It’s a village that during the Venetian rule was one of the largest on the island A past that is clearly revealed in buildings such as the De Mezzo villa at the northern edge of the village we drive a few kilometres on a dirt road -naturally this posed no problem for our car – to reach Voila We learnt that there have been no residents in the village since the 19th century but the signs of earlier human presence are strong The most impressive of these is the Venetian tower a testament to the village’s prosperity during the Venetian rule Tradition has it that during the Ottoman Empire What’s certain is that wandering the roads of Voila and Etia in villages that essentially have no permanent residents and in winter don’t even have visitors we chose to live the true mountain winter experience snow had fallen on the Dikti mountain range upon heearing that the road had been cleared and was in good condition we had nevertheless chosen to have snow chains in the trunk of our car as an extra provision Even though we were moving uphill and on a road with many turns the torque and power of the jeep made the journey enjoyable we pulled over to the side of the road and park As we drove through the plateau’s road network continuously had their eyes glued outside the window yet the snow “concealed” that this area is among the most fertile in Crete delighting in a unique sense of wellbeing that only crisp mountain air during winter offers to reach the airport for our return to Athens another essentially uninhabited village at an altitude of 850 metres where we had our final encounter with the peaceful and scenic snow-covered landscape of Crete the lights and navigation equipment of our car made this journey much easier than anticipated What’s certain is that we aim to return to eastern Crete and Lasithi when the weather warms up to explore the coastal part of its southern side. There, some of the most remarkable and “tropical” Greek beaches can be found, visited by people who travel from across the world to enjoy them. Until then, we will occasionally glance at Avis.gr to keep up with numerous and very good car rental offers and opportunities that are constantly updated Lasithi, Crete: What Not to Miss Breathtaking Topolia Gorge in the West of Crete Eastern Crete’s Charm: History, Luxury and Authenticity Montegonians are being encouraged to capitalise on the opportunities to be presented from the twinning of sister cities position ourselves to take advantage of the benefits to be garnered We must also provide our counterpart with what we have promised and what we have brought to the table with the intention of sharing with them,” the Mayor said He was speaking at the official signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at Sam Sharpe Square in Montego Bay signed the twinning MOU that is aimed at strengthening relations between both cities and their respective countries with the promise to share ideas and resources The Mayor said he anticipates the “diversified experiences” that will be exchanged to the benefit of the people in both Montego Bay and Sitia adding to nation-building in their respective countries The MOU signing marks the culmination of a process that began September 2022 when Mr Williams and a delegation from the Corporation travelled to Crete to partake in the first signing “I am very happy to be part of this milestone achievement which is shared between our two cities,” Mr the relationship that we will officially commence today is an example of that idea of connectedness has always shared great relationships with international partners and we are looking forward to bonding with Sitia for we do not intend to stand alone,” he added noted that it is Sitia’s intention to forge friendships and work together to pursue common interests He said cooperation that gives rise to opportunities for citizens to improve their lives socially and financially is a part of this common goal we have the ambition and relations between our two nations to create an environment for people whereby they will upgrade their quality of life,” said Mr On January 13 at 12.00 the Sitia Municipal Airport new Terminal "Vitsentzos Kornaros" will be inaugurated The airport is named "Vitsentzos Kornaros" to honor one of the main representatives of Cretan literature and author of "Erotokritos" narrative poem Sitia Airport is located in the area of Bonda of the Municipality of Sitia in eastern Crete 1km approximately northwest of the city center Its operation began in 1984 and from then until today serves a wide range of passengers Since 2003 a new runway has been built length of 2,074 meters three new traffic lanes and two new aircraft stands Sitia Airport can be accessed by car from the main road along the northern coast The town of Sitia is just a few minutes drive from the airport Sitia is a coastal town located in north-eastern Crete and belongs to the prefecture of Lasithi Sitia Airport is connected to Athens and the Aegean islands Just 20km from Sitia visitors can enjoy the beautiful palm beach of Vai and swim in its crystal clear waters they can make a splash on the beaches of Makris Gialos and Sitia All three beaches have been awarded with the blue flag of the European Union visitors will have the opportunity to see the Archaeological Museum which includes artifacts from 3500BC to 500AD coming from the region of Sitia which constituted the guard barracks or the headquarters during the Venetian period the Folklore Museum with exhibits from the 19th century and the early 20th and the museum-showroom of local products In Sitia visitors can enjoy various entertainment options depending on their taste and desire Aegean and Emirates expand their partnership One of the island's most distinctive coastlines where the sapphire waters retain their warmth until the onset of winter we remark that the summer graciously extends into September a month where we find ourselves reluctantly retracing our steps back to familiar routines after a sun-kissed respite gearing up for the impending demands of the new season indeed facilitates such a sentiment as autumn makes its arrival felt Meanwhile, along the extensive coastal stretch of southern Crete the Libyan (or Southern Cretan) Sea that holds on to its warm waters until the winter season unfolds coupled with temperatures frequently soaring above 30 degrees Celsius can create the illusion of a prolonged summer September heralds the optimum time to truly savour certain unique places that in July and August tend to attract sizable crowds nestled in the south-eastern region of Lasithi epitomises this scenario: emerging as one of Crete’s most remarkable beaches it has garnered a reputation of being the island’s “natural spa” within the broader territory of Sitia in Lasithi Argilos is a haven in a small bay to the west of Xerokambos This tranquil retreat looks out upon the Libyan Sea boasting clear and shallow waters – deepening gradually as you venture in – adorned with mesmerising hues of sapphire and green Its geographical favourability coupled with the lingering warmth that graces the region well into autumn envelopes this place with a lingering embrace of warmth throughout the fall Its shoreline presents a tapestry of golden-hued sandy stretches the very substance moulding the low rocks sprinkled around the beach area this mineral beauty component is found in deposits either on the surface or submerged underground as the clay is renowned since ancient times for its beneficial effects on the skin (not to mention its wider therapeutic properties) you will find many bathers indulging in a mud therapy anointing themselves with pieces from the rocks or whatever they can find with a light digging in the sands After basking in its delight and allowing it to dry – an essential step for it to take effect as it must remain on until it dries – a dip in the sea will wash away all traces do not overlook the small sign installed in the area reminding visitors that while they are free to enjoy the beach’s clay freely taking pieces away with them is prohibited as such actions would significantly alter the essence of this unique natural landscape Argilos presents itself as an untouched beachfront a haven where nature remains predominant over human touch This entails that if you choose to venture here it would be prudent to bring along a parasol don’t forget to pack an ample supply of drinking water and perhaps a high-nutrient snack to indulge in post a refreshing dip in the azure waters Argilos tends to gather visitors mainly during the weekends of July and August it remains a secret haven known only to a select few thus averting the bustling crowds often encountered at more mainstream destinations Those who are acquainted with this quaint spot fervently claim that there isn’t a more splendid time to relish its beauty than in September Travelling to Argilos will take you 103 kilometres from Agios Nikolaos – the capital of Lassithi with Sitia being the closest urban centre at 47 kilometres The beach is splendidly situated to the west of Xerokambos Sitia adjacent to the coastal site renowned as Gerontolakkos The most convenient route to reach this untouched paradise is to start from Sitia following the provincial road connecting Ierapetra to Ziros the sheer beauty of Argilos is worth every turn promising to reward your efforts abundantly it would be wise to check the weather forecast; whilst the summer sun tends to linger deep into September in southern Crete a blustery day can bring significant waves Discovering the Lighthouses of Tinos Avlemonas: One of the Mediterranean’s Most Scenic Fishing Villages Niokastro: The Celebrated Jewel of Messinia Two people have died in devastating flash floods which tore through Crete over the weekend The body of Kostas Vergakis was recovered on Saturday after being discovered trapped in his car Rescue workers continued searching for the woman eventually locating her body on Sunday after it had been swept out to sea The body of the 49-year-old mother of two was located off Agia Pelagia a seaside resort north-west of Crete’s capital The floods occurred on Saturday after torrential rains inundated areas of Sitia said during an emergency briefing held on Saturday On Sunday the acting Interior Minister Stelios Petsas visited Heraklion to pledge 400,00 euro of immediate assistance to the flood victims extreme flooding occurred in the regional areas of Heraklion and Lasithi with the a fire department spokesman emphasising that the Operations Centre of the Fire Department received 453 calls within an hour “The severity of the phenomenon at the local level exceeded any meteorological forecasts 30 people in regional areas of Heraklion and Lasithi were transported to a safety by emergency rescue teams including nine from the archaeological site of Sitia amongst which were two children