"A Lovely Place" a Agios Nikolaos Travel Page by Balam

Agios Nikolaos, capital of the Prefecture of Lasithi, is one of the most highly developed tourist towns in Crete and one of the nicest.
It lies along the west of the Mirabello bay. The climate in the area is mild with extremely low humidity. It is an ideal place to relax and recover one's energy in some of the great bars and restaraunts. (Try the Amida bar which is moored in the Harbour

Agios Nikolaos is the administrative, communications, cultural and commercial center of the Prefecture of Lasithi and has approximately 8500 inhabitants.
The main road axis of the island passes right outside the city limits , connecting it with Iraklion (66 km) to the west, Sitia to the east (70 km) and Ierapetra to the south (36 km).

The sea in Agios Nikolaos is superb and the surrounding area of the city is noted for its sandy beaches and beautiful bays.
The landmark of the city is a small lake, known as "Voulismeni" that is located in the center of the city, at the foot of the cliffs. Its shape is circular with a diameter of 137m.

According to the mythology, the goddess Athena used to take her bath in this lake. It is so deep that it was thought years ago to be bottomless but it has now been found to be 63m deep. It is said that at the end of the 2nd world war all the German tanks and amoured vehicles were thrown into the lake. Wether that is really true or not is unknown as swimming is not allowed and only The French diver and explorer Jaque Cloustuo has been allowed do dive in it. and was connected to the sea only recently, with a canal opened at 1870.
It is an especially picturesque site with many open-air cafes and restaurants along the bank. Small boats leave the harbor to visit the Venetian fortress of Spinaloga, near Elouda .
Every summer the Municipality of Agios Nikolaos organizes cultural events, music and dance events, theatrical performances, exhibitions, shows. Also, during the Naval week, artistical swimming, water skiing, wind-surfing contests are organized.

The place were the Town is used to be the ancient "Lato pros Kamares", which was the harbor of "Lato Etera", The Ancient City of Lato was once an important and powerful city, After Lato was abandend the port carried on and it also served as a harbor In the Roman and the first Byzantine period.During the Venetian occupation a fortress called Mirabello (beautiful view) was built on the site where the Prefecture building stands today. Nothing of the fortress remains.