Carving the Kritsotopoula

Here's a few work-in-progress pictures carving the Relief Monument in local stone for Kritsa in Crete. Rhodanthe, the "Kritsotopoula", is the local heroine here. During the Cretan Rebellion against Turkish control in the 1820's, she cooled the ardour of the lusty Turkish commander by chopping his head off, put on men's clothing and ran off to join the rebels. She became the bravest fighter in her group and, so the epic poem tells, it was only as she lay dying that her identity was discovered.

The monument stands on the battlefield itself, between Kritsa and the ancient town of Lato.

New The Kritsotopoula in situ Picture 1 Picture 2