The beaches Crete is one of the most beautiful in our country and are a pole of attraction for thousands of tourists every year.
However, there is a beach that stands out from the rest, and is none other than the beach of Stavros, as the legendary film “Alexis Zorbas” (Zorba the Greek) of 1964 was filmed there, directed by Michalis Kakogiannis with Anthony Quinn, Alan Baitz, Alan Baitz.
As is well known, the film is based on Nikos Kazantzakis’ book “Life and State of Alexis Zorba”.
The Cross is a seaside village located 17 km northeast of Chania, near the northern end of the Akrotiri area.
Characteristic of the area is the mountain shift that dominates the village port with the Cave of Stavros.
The scenes of the film were filmed on this mountain, where Anthony Quinn danced the famous sorter. At that time, of course, the Cross was a small fishing village and the beach was deserted. Today, however, the area is one of the most famous tourist resorts in Chania, as the beach is organized.
The film won three Oscars, most notably Oscar for a female role for the performance of Lila Kentava, in the role of Madame Ordens. Indeed, the music included in the film, written by Mikis Theodorakis, became worldwide known as “The Dance of Zorba”.
Towards the end of the film, we watch British writer Bazil (Alan Bates) and Zorba (Anthony Quinn) sitting on the beach and eating a skewed lamb. Zorbas pretends to read the future in the lamb of the lamb, saying he sees a long trip to a big city.
Then, he directly asks Basil when he intends to leave and he replies that he will leave in a few days. Zorbas regrets Basil’s forthcoming departure for England and tells him that he will miss his madness. Basil asks Zorba to teach him to dance, and he teaches the famous “sartak”. Basil laughs hysterically with the devastating effect. The film ends with the two men dancing enthusiastically to the beach.