The church of Sts Peter and Paul was built during the first years of the Venetian rule as the catholicon (chapel) of the Dominican monastery, and was violently converted into the mosque of Sultan Ibrahim under the Ottoman occupation. At some point it was used as a woodshop and even a cinema. Much later it was purchased by the parish of Aghios (St.) Dimitrios to function as a church.
The original church, a single-aisle basilica, collapsed from an earthquake, circa 1303, and was rebuilt, while chapels were added on its southern side between the 14th to 16th centuries.

During those centuries, the church collapsed at least three more times before being converted into a mosque in 1669 under the Ottoman rule, at which time a minaret was added at its south-western corner. In the 19th century, after another collapse, a dome was built and the northern wall was reconstructed. After the end of the Ottoman rule the church was used as a cinema, and later as a wood-shop, before restoration began in 1991 of the church proper and two of the chapels.

Although there are many beautiful beaches to enjoy in and around Chania, there are also many exciting places to explore. The Samaria Gorge National Park should be top of your list. You can take a walk through the park which starts in the village of Ornalos and winds through 18km of beautiful surroundings and ends at the beach in Agia, where you can take a refreshing dip in the sea to cool off.

An ideal day out is to rent a car and take a drive to see the only lake on Crete (Lake Kournas approx 50km west of Chania). After, relax in one of the local Tavernas and have a spot of lunch. Crete has more than 3,000 caves to explore – including Sfentoni, Ideon and Kamares to name just a few.

After a day at the beach or a day of exploring you can relax and unwind at one of the delightful restaurants or tavernas. The local menus include healthy delicacies such as Ntakos and Kalitsounia. Unsurprisingly, fresh fish features heavily on the restaurant menus down by the seafront.

Since 1995, the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser of the Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (ITE) has been cooperating with the Committee for the Conservation of the Acropolis Monuments in order to implement an innovative cleaning system for the Parthenon frieze.

This choice was made for the safe and controlled removal of incrustation from the surface of the monuments and marbles.

The director of the Department of Electronic Structure, Dr Fotakis revealed that scientists had discovered that during the conventional laser removal, selective vaporization of the dark encrustations on the marble surface was altering the absorption spectrum of the remaining encrustations.

This is what caused the yellow discoloring on the ancient Greek statues and marbles.

The innovation refers to the use of two laser beams of infrared and ultraviolet rays simultaneously; the two wavelength method (one ultra red at 1,064nm and an ultraviolet at 355nm) is able to remove the yellow discoloring appearing on the frieze surface.

The scientists have been thoroughly researching and comparing the different cleaning methods used in several different monuments and marbles. The new method was used for the first time during 2002-2005 to clean some of the Acropolis Statues and parts of the temple of Athena – Nike and the Erechtheion.

The laser method developed in Crete allowed the scientists to remove unwanted layers from the surface, in a method that takes place in discrete steps; the four sculptures of the Parthenon frieze, the upper part of the Caryatid (F) and four parts of the Acropolis frieze.

The project will continue with the cleaning and restoration of the statues of all four Caryatids.

Mr Fotakis denoted that this technology was transferred to France, where it was used to restore a monastery.

All the tests were perfectly successful and the cooperation with the Committee for the Conservation of the Acropolis Monuments  will continue. Among the plans is the creation of a lab for the conservation of paintings, in collaboration with the Greek National Gallery.

In the southern city of Europe Ierapetra on Saturday June 19th by the sea, overlooking the deep blue Libyan Sea, City, rural, cultural and tourist agencies, citizens and visitors will try to overthrow the Guinness record for the largest salad. (Previous record 11 200 kg Israel).

With products of the Cretan land cultivated by modern methods, certified and health checked, tasty and fresh, cut by the famous Cretan housewives, aspiring to highlight that in this place there are people who toil and sweat-producing "clean" quality products and breed in these markets not only in Greece also in Europe.

Beautiful Ierapetra in the south of Europe is waiting for everyone to eat the biggest salad, to enjoy the beauty of the landscape and especially to experience the hospitality of the Cretan people that they see visitors as a friend.

A different way to have fun, the day of the 20th of June in the Heart of the production of this vegetables at Gra Ligia, revived the traditional custom of "xentomatiasmata'', a crazy war with tomatoes and cheer teams, the only weapon abundance of tomatoes, to compete the beautiful adness that in Crete they call «kouzoulada».

• Public Market Square
  
• Municipal Garden
• Eleftherias Square (Court Square)
• 1866 Square
• Koum Kapi beach

Gavdos is located to the south of Crete and the only way to get to Gavdos is on ferry.

The ferries to Gavdos depart from two different ports: Paleohora (also spelled “Paleochora”) and Sfakia (also known as “Hora Sfakion”). The ferry between Paleochora and Gavdos takes 3 h 30 min while the ferry between Sfakia and Gavdos takes 1h 15 min.
The high season starts in June and ends in October. The following ferries connect the two islands during the 2010 high season:

• from Paleochora

at 08:30 a.m., on Monday & Wednesday, from May 21st to June 30th

• from Sfakia

at 11:30 a.m., on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, from June 1st to 30th

For further information about the timetable visit http://www.anendyk.gr

1st Prize for TUCer team at the Shell Eco Marathon 2010 at EUROSPEEDWAY, Lausitz, Germany.

TUCer team participated until now at the following competitions:

• 2010, May: Shell Eco Marathon, EUROSPEEDWAY, Lausitz, Germany (1st Prize at the ADAC Safety Award)
• 2009, May: Shell Eco Marathon, EUROSPEEDWAY, Lausitz, Germany
• 2008, May: Shell Eco Marathon, Nogaro, France

The principle of the Shell Eco-marathon is simple: to design and build a vehicle that will use the smallest amount of fuel and produce the fewest emissions possible.
Teams can enter futuristic prototypes - streamlined vehicles where the only design consideration is reducing drag and maximising efficiency, or UrbanConcept vehicles - built to conventional road-going vehicle criteria.
Conventional fuels such as diesel, petrol and LPG, as well as alternative fuels such as solar, electric, hydrogen and biomass can power the vehicles. As long as the teams adhere to safety rules, the source of fuel is limited only by their imagination.
The Shell Eco-marathon is a major educational project. Students are encouraged to reflect on potential solutions to both current and future transport and energy challenges and to explore ideas for more sustainable mobility. The objective is twofold: to help technical institutions secure talent for their technical courses and to promote future technical careers.
By participating in the Shell Eco-marathon project young people get the opportunity to examine fundamental questions as:

• What technical solutions will make mobility sustainable and available to all?
• What behaviors must we adopt in order to manage our energy needs better?
• How can we maintain our current levels of comfort and enable others to reach comparable levels, while at the same time ensuring a viable and acceptable environment for future generations?

While not claiming to have the definitive answers to these questions, Shell offers young people who are interested in the world of technology, energy and transport a unique opportunity to work in a hands-on manner to identify possible solutions to such critical, global challenges.

More information about TUCer (Technical University of Crete Eco Racing Team)