Cretan Crafts : Knives, Jewelry, Pottery
Cretan traditional crafts are popular tourist items and souviners as well as valuable pieces that are representative of the culture from which they originate. Local crafts include: knife making, basket weaving, furniture fashioning, wine and oil producing, and pottery crafting.
Knives
Cretan knives come in many forms. The two most popular forms are very unique. One type of knife is a curved object with a rams-horn handle; this type of knife can come in all sizes depending on the size of the rams horn. The other type of traditional knife is fashioned with a bone or wooden handle that is attached to the short blade that runs through the handle. The handle is crafted into a V at the end.
Baskets
As a practice, basket weaving derives from the livelihood of the area: agriculture and fishing. Baskets were (and still are) useful commodities to farmers, mountain people and fishermen.
Furniture
Cretan furniture is hand-crafted still today and is of very high quality. Traditional pieces include wooden chairs, tables and beds. Also, a special couch that doubles as a chest is also a popular traditional piece still used and often passed down the family.
Pottery
Cretan pottery is very attractive and popular as a souviner. Dishes, pitchers and other pottery items are very easy to find in markets and shops. These pieces can range in price from 2 euros for a small ashtray to 50 euros for a unique dish. Crete is famous for the distinct blue glaze on its pottery although other colored glazes are also popular.
Wine and Oil
Many Cretan families own vineyards or olive groves and produce their own wine and oil that they consume and sell at market. Cretan wine can be very good and depending on the age, very stout. Wine is stored in wooden barrels and can be purchased as from two-years-old up to twelve-years-old from many markets. The Cretan olive oil is some of the best in the world and is often shipped to Italy and sold on the global market as Italian olive oil. Many Cretans eat oil as their main source of fat in their diet and it is essential to Cretan cuisine [ Read More ]
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