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To the East of the remote and "wild" region of Sfakia, to the south of Hania Prefecture, you can find not only some of the many beautiful beaches of Southern Crete (***SEE WORKSHOP*** ), but also a Venetian Castle, called Frangokastello. If you are lucky enough you will see a very strange phenomenon, called "Drosoulites". What's this all about? Here's some info about Frangokastello and Drosoulites from WIKIPEDIA:

"Frangokastello (Greek: Φραγκοκάστελλο) is the location of a castle and scattered settlement on the south coast of Crete, Greece, about 12 km. east of Chora Sfakion and within the prefecture of Chania.

The castle was built by the Venetians in 1371-74 as a garrison to impose order on the rebellious Sfakiá region, to deter pirates, and to protect Venetian nobles and their properties. The Venetians named it the Castle of St Nikitas, after the nearby church. The locals, however, who never saw it in a positive light, contemptuously dubbed it Frangokastello, meaning the Castle of the Franks (i.e. Catholic foreigners), Castelfranco or Franco Castello[1]. The name eventually stuck and was adopted by the Venetians as well. According to local lore, when soldiers and builders arrived on the fertile plain to begin construction of the castle, the local Sfakians, led by six Patsos brothers from the nearby settlement of Patsianos, would destroy every night what the Venetians built during the day. Eventually, the Venetians were forced to bring in additional troops and the Patsos brothers were betrayed, arrested and hanged.

The castle has a simple rectangular shape, with a tower at each corner and the remains of a Venetian coat of arms above the main gate. The buildings within the walls, as well as the battlements, were constructed during the Ottoman Turkish occupation.


In 1770, the Cretan rebel Ioannis Vlachos, otherwise known as Daskalogiannis, was captured at Frangokastello by Turkish forces. He was later tortured and executed at Heraklion.

On 17 May 1828 a celebrated battle was fought at Frangokastello. Hundreds of Sfakiots led by Hadzi Michali Daliani, a Greek adventurer attempting to spread the War of Independence from the mainland to Crete, occupied the castle, but were besieged by the Turks and massacred. However, many of the Turks were then themselves killed by rebel ambushes launched from the local gorges. According to tradition, around the anniversary of the battle each May, shadows of the armed Cretan soldiers who lost their lives there seem to march towards the fortress around dawn. These are called drossoulites, or dew shadows, and have been explained as a meteorological phenomenon.The visions, as described by witnesses, consist of a group of human-like shadows dressed in black, walking or riding, armed with weapons, moving from the church of Agios Charalambos and advancing towards the old fort Castel Franco (Frangokastello). Legend has it that this group of people are Greek fighters that died during the Battle of Frangokastello (17 May 1828) and since then they appear as supernatural beings in the area.

The ghost-army is lead by Hatzimihalis Dalianis, the chief of the Greek troops (350 men) in the battle. The army took refuge in the fort during the War of independence against the Turks, where they died after a seven-day siege.

The local people named them Drosoulites (the "dew men") due to the time of day that the phenomenon is taking place. The phenomenon is observed when the sea is calm and the atmosphere is moist and before the sun goes too high up in the sky. It usually lasts about 10 minutes.

The shadows are visible from the valley at a distance of 1000 m. Many have tried to explain this in a scientific way, and at one time it was explained as a mirage from the coast of north Africa, but still there is no accepted consensus. The appearance of the Drosoulites is documented over the ages. In 1890 a transient Turkish army, took the images for rebels and fled away. Even during the last World War, a German patrol is said to have opened fire on the visions.

Frangokastello has an extensive, sheltered and gently shelving sandy beach, which has provided the basis for a low key tourist industry in recent years. Tourist accommodation is scattered over the flat plain around the castle, but the area's relative remoteness has discouraged major development. "