Goúves () is a village and former municipality in the Heraklion regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it has been part of the municipality of Hersonissos, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of . It lies about east of Heraklion.
The municipal unit includes the coastal settlement of Káto Goúves, about north of the village, which has long sandy beaches and extensive tourist infrastructure. The surrounding area also contains traditional villages, archaeological sites and the Eileithyia Cave.
To the west of Goúves are the coastal settlements of Kokkini Hani (also spelled Háni KokkÃÂni) and AmnÃÂsos, and to the east lies the large resort town of Hersonissos.
Villages in the area include:
AmnÃÂsos lies about 7 km east of Heraklion city, next to the airport and opposite the islet of Dia. A Minoan villa dating from about 1600 BC has been excavated in the area, where frescoes now housed in the Heraklion Archaeological Museum were found.
CretAquarium is a large state owned public aquarium that forms part of the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR). It is located on the northwestern part of the former American base at Gournes, where together with HCMRâÂÂs research facilities it forms "Thalassokosmos", a centre for marine science and public presentation of the Mediterranean marine environment.
Dia island is located about 6 mi northeast of Heraklion city. It is uninhabited and supports seabirds and species associated with coastal cliffs. It is one of the Natura protected areas, due to its role as a habitat for endemic plants.
This cave lies 1 km inland from AmnÃÂsos. It was an important sanctuary from Neolithic times onwards. It was dedicated to Eileithyia, a Greek goddess of fertility and childbirth of Cretan origin. The cave is rectangular, 64 m long and 9âÂÂ12 m wide. After the entrance there is an antechamber leading to a rectangular room surrounded by cylindrical stalagmites which were probably used in worship. At the cave's mouth there is a square known as "the Square of Altars", which may have been used for ceremonies. The cave remained in use until late Roman times.
The Gorge of Karteros, also known as Astrakiano Faragi, is located in the municipal unit of Gouves and can be entered at Karteros village on the southeast side. It is a hiking route with ponds and small waterfalls.
The monastery of Kera Eleousa is located in the municipal unit of Gouves, near Voritsi village and a short distance from Gouves village. It is a fortress-type monastery with significant archaeological remains, founded in the late 16th century. The complex includes the church, the monks' cells and an enclosed courtyard.
The coastal settlement of KokkÃÂni Háni lies in Vathiano Kambo, about 13 km east of Heraklion and northwest of Goúves. At the site known as Nirou Háni, archaeologists have excavated a well-preserved Minoan villa dating from the New Palace period. The villa had two storeys, covered about 1,000 mò and had typical features of Minoan architecture such as paved courts, corridors, storage rooms, light wells and shrines. About 40 tripods and large double axes were found in some rooms, suggesting that the owner of the villa may have been a high priest. Like many Minoan buildings, the villa was destroyed by fire. Finds from the excavations are displayed in the Heraklion Archaeological Museum.
The monastery of Saint John the Theologian (Agios Ioannis Theologos in Greek) lies in a verdant setting southeast of the village of Anópoli. It used to be part of the Saint George (Agios Giorgios) monastery to its north, which was abandoned following pirate raids in the 15th and 16th centuries, leading monks to move to the monastery of Saint John. During the Cretan revolution of 1866âÂÂ1869, the monks joined the rebels and left the monastery; on their return they found it looted. During the Ottoman occupation of Crete, the monastery was burnt on 27 July 1896 and the monks were killed. The monastery remained uninhabited for eight years until it was re-established. In 1904, the monk Callinicos Daskalakis returned to Anopolis from Agarathos and, together with other monks, re-organised the monastery. Since then, the monastery has remained in operation.
The monastery's catholicon is not built in the centre but on its northwest side, unlike many other fort-like monasteries. It is a single-nave, barrel-vaulted church and contains a mosaic floor. On the north side there are three tombs belonging to Archimandrite Gregory Aspetakis, Archimandrite Timotheos Papadakis and the monk Ioakeim Avgerinakis. The monastery contains a painting by Antonios Alaxandridis and remains of an olive-oil press west of the catholicon. The first school in the area operated in the monastery after 1840 on the site of the olive-oil press.
This cave, one of the largest of the many caves in Crete, is located on a hill northwest of the village of Skotinó, a few kilometres inland south of Goúves. It is also known as the AyÃÂa Paraskevàcave, a name deriving from the church built above it. The cave is 160 m deep and 36 m wide. The first archaeological investigations were carried out by Arthur Evans, the British archaeologist who excavated and partially restored Knossos in the early 20th century. Further exploration by French and Greek archaeologists in the 1960s revealed bronze and ceramic votive offerings, the earliest dating from the earliest Minoan periods, suggesting that the cave was an important sacred site dedicated to a female fertility deity, possibly Britomartis. The cave remained in use in Classical Greek and Roman times, when the fertility goddess Artemis or her Roman equivalent Diana replaced the earlier Minoan deity.