kritwn.rizes.sitia@gmail.com
+30 6983368552

The history of the
FOLKLORE & CULTURAL ASSOCIATION OF SITIA
"KRITON Rizes"

"History" is a word with a deep meaning.....

We don't have any, but we hope and wish with the help of members & agencies, to acquire...
It all started very simply...as simple as a good friendship....A few people with the same passion, the same "germ"...the same love...the Love for everything traditional that has roots in the Cretan soil, that comes from the Cretan waters...that hovers in the Cretan air !!!
Our goal, but also our duty, is to seek, preserve and pass on to future generations the History, Tradition, customs and traditions of our place.....of Itidos or Itia (the name Sitia is later) and by all means, of the whole of Crete.
It is also our duty not to forget, but also not to alter for the sake of evolution or even for the sake of profit, what the old people handed down to us.
With deep respect, we will research, present and transmit the rich history and culture, whose ROOTS are so deep that it is impossible to bypass or simply ignore it...

Our First Steps

1. Learning traditional Cretan Dances

Dimitris Mavrokostas starts his career as a dance teacher in 1979 in Athens together with Yannis Stavrakakis. After a successful career in the capital, he founded his first school in Heraklion. Since then, the Mavrokostas schools have operated two schools in the city of Heraklion and have taught in dozens of villages in Crete from time to time. Continuing the upward course in the field of tradition and with the aim of its evolution, Athanasios Mavrokostas serves the work started by his father with the same passion and the same desire for an increasingly modern tradition open to all, Cretans and non-Cretans alike.

Watching Dimitris & Thanasis' progress, one realizes that only when you evolve something you keep it alive. Cretan dance owes to these dancers, not only its dissemination and maintenance, but its entire modern form.

Source : https://sxolesmavrokosta.gr/σχολη/

Our Association has the honor and pleasure of cooperating with the SCHOOLS OF TRADITIONAL Cretan DANCES of MAYROKOSTA. The top dance teachers are coming to Sitia !!!

The classes will be held in our brand new venue, at 14 Captain John Papadakis Street.

Classes for adults & children (over 5 years old)

For more information, please contact us at our Association's mail kritwn.rizes.sitia@gmail.com or at the phone number 6983368552

Future Goals...

1. Seminars of traditional Cretan singing

2. Presentation of historical elements of the traditional Cretan costume by approved researchers

3. Seminars for learning traditional dances from all over Greece through the organization of excursions

4. Organization of events & musical theatre performances

5. Cooperation with other Cultural Associations from all over Greece


2. Learning traditional musical instruments

The collaborations continue with virtuoso, local, musical artists....

In the area of our Association we will also conduct lessons of traditional musical instruments and in particular :

Mandolin & Lyre : 

Manolis Harkiolakis 

He started at an early age to be involved in traditional music and not only ...
He took his first steps with the mandolin and next came the Cretan lyre ... 

He has participated in musical and theatrical performances, but also in countless musical events, making him IDEALLY FAVORITE to the audience that knows and longs for the Genuine Cretan feast...

Today he has his own music band with equally remarkable musical artists, consisting of : Vangelis Pathiakis, Nikos Pytharoulis (Relios), Christodoulakis Nikos & Katsikalakis George.
His motto : "It is not enough to know abou Cretan Music.....You MUST keep listening to it......"

Lute : Antonis Zacharioudakis

He started to be involved in music from the age of 8. Under the guidance of his father, at the age of 15 he made his first official appearances in front of an audience as a luthiere.

At the age of 17, he began studying the eight-string bouzouki which, due to the particular technical skill required, forced him to take lessons at a conservatory when he received his degree in harmony in 1997. At the same time, he also attended the folk music school of Themis Papavassiliou, the well-known bouzouki teacher.

His involvement with the mandolin, mandola, jura, baglama and the three-string bouzouki became necessary, as these instruments require a performance technique comparable to that of the eight-string bouzouki.