Vamos

Vamos is a small town and former municipality in the Chania regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Apokoronas, of which it is a municipal unit.^[1] It is located 26 km from Chania in north west Crete, and is the chief settlement of the Apokoronas area.

The area around Vamos is a lush landscape a few kilometres from the coast. Very much a working village, many tourists nevertheless visit or stay in the village and in the surrounding villages of Gavalohori and Kalives. There is much infrastructure in the village including the town hall of the Vamos municipality that covers several other villages, a large medical centre, the court and the high school for the region, and several restaurants, snack bars and shops, largely serving the local community.

Below the modern town square at the top of the hill is old Vamos. Here a group of locals set up Vamos SA, an enterprise devoted to preserving local buildings and customs and attracting a sustainable form of tourism. Several of the old houses have been rebuilt as tourist accommodation. There is a well-regarded taverna – the Cistern of the Bloumosifi – as well as an art gallery, a café and a general store selling local products.

Vamos' population is estimated at 600.

Vamos municipal unit

The municipal unit consists of the communities of Vamos, Douliana, Gavalohori, Agios Pavlos, Koprana, Agios Vasilios, Plaka, Almirida, Kambia, Kokkino Horio, Kaina, Kefalas, Paleloni, Drapanos, Xerosterni, Litsarda, Sellia, Souri, Likotinara and Kalamitsi Alexandrou. Approximately 2,900 residents live in the municipal unit.

The historic "Lambrakeion" High School of Vamos

The High School of Vamos was established in 1901, during the Cretan Republic, as a Greek school of three classes (tritaxio ellhniko sxoleio Vamou, THREE-CLASSES GREEK SCHOOL OF VAMOS) and it was one of the twenty Greek schools which were established during this era. Then the school, step by step, become a four-class (1911–1912), a fifth class (1912–1913) and a six-class the next year (full high school). The existent building is the second building of the high school, and it was completed in 1936, during the Sifakis' head-mastership. It is located in a high place of Vamos, where used to be the Ottoman Principality Building. During World War II the building was under Nazis' control and used for their purposes. In 1949, with a donation of Dimitrios Lambrakis (ancestor of the Media-Tycoon Christos Lambrakis), two more classes were added, and his name was given to the high school (since then the school is unofficially called "LAMPRAKION GYMNASION VAMOU").

Historical population

See also

• List of communities of Chania

References

External links

• GTP Travel Pages (Municipality)
• Photographs of Vamos Vamos
• Vamos high school official website