Land of windmills - where no burial underground

Located in the east of the island of Crete, Greece, 800 meters above sea level, the plateau Lasithi people can not bury their dead into the ground.

Lasithi plateau constantly people emigrated from the Bronze Age about 5600 BC until the 13th century after the 4th Crusade and the war took place in 1204 Constantinople, Crete fell into the control of the Republic of Venice.

In the next two centuries, Cretan constantly rebelled against the Venetian. Venetian residents expelled from the country Crete and destroy crops, their villages.

The mixed crop fields thousands of windmills. What this mortar charged with bringing water to irrigate the fields of

In the early 15th century, the Venetian rulers allow refugees from Greece back to settle in the plains and arable land. However, that time farming becomes difficult, constantly plague outbreak.

Whenever winter comes, the heavy rain made a large water drifting along the ridge to the plains flood broke dikes and destroying crops clean. To overcome, the Venetian dug a large system of drainage ditches for Lasithi plateau. To date, this system is still being used.

From Neolithic period, Lasithi many people to settle because abundant water, fertile soil and lush vegetation. How full of mountains scattered villages around the central highlands, this oval. Covering the Delta region is the rice fields and vegetable potato, cabbage, cucumbers, beans and onions. To maintain your looks lush fields and thousands of windmills spinning hard every day to drag on for ever about the field of water.

The construction of the mill is made of stone with white wings have long spiraling into images characteristic of Lasithi. They were built in the early 20th century to serve agriculture. The wind blew the large wing turned to gravitational pull from the ground water to irrigate crops.

In its heyday, more than 10,000 Lasithi windmills, many say that number could reach 20,000. Currently only about 5,000 remaining, most have been abandoned to replace them with modern diesel and electric pumps.

Prior to the arrival of the windmill, Lasithi concentrated dry crop production such as wheat and beans. With the modern water pump engine, people can cultivate the varied types of food. Today, the potato is the most important agricultural crops here.

The neck of the mill is kept intact, but they no longer serve the purpose of irrigation as early childhood

Another point made was Lasithi become strange burial practices. Abundant water, arable help but hinder the dead. Even under the thin soil layer is a layer of impermeable rock that shallow aquifers in this population and therefore can not Lasithi deceased buried underground. Instead, they would put the body in a wooden coffin on the ground.

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