Those choosing Bali as a place to stay will find a coastal settlement on the western shore of the protected bay of the same name. The village lies at an elevation of ten metres; its small harbor can accommodate medium-sized fishing and tourist boats. The bay and harbor shape the village’s maritime character. Five beaches and a nearby monastery add another coastal and cultural perspective. When choosing a holiday rental, Bali can therefore first be considered as a specific coastal village and then in terms of the other interests that may shape your stay.

Beaches and bays

All five of Bali’s beaches are sheltered from the wind. A description published in 2015 presents the beach area as four bays and mentions sandy beaches with pebbles and green water. This highlights various features of the coastline: the number of beaches and their shelter from the wind, as well as the bays, sand, pebbles, and color of the water. This offers a useful contrast to the harbor when choosing where to stay. The two numbers refer to different coastal features: beaches and bays are not the same thing. Thus, five beaches can be understood alongside four bays without assigning a separate bay to each beach. Both figures refer to the coastline of the settlement of Bali on the protected bay of the same name.

Atalis Monastery and its frescoes

The Monastery of Saint John the Forerunner at Atalis is located near the settlement, on a slope of the Talla Mountains. It was built at the end of the Venetian period, in the 16th to 17th century. The katholikon, or monastery church, preserves 14th-century frescoes in its oldest, northern section. Frescoes from the 16th to 17th century remain in the refectory, the monastery’s dining room. One description calls them the only frescoes in a monastery refectory on Crete. The complex therefore brings together two art-historical points of interest: the oldest northern section of the church and the frescoes in the refectory. The periods mentioned relate to different parts and works of art, not to a single phase of creation.

A fountain with a former purpose

The monumental fountain stands outside the monastery, approximately 80 metres to its southwest, and formerly supplied the complex with water. It adds another historical focus to the frescoes: while the frescoes are surviving works of art in the church and refectory, the fountain points to the monastery’s former water supply. Considered together, these details provide a more complete picture of the complex without conflating their different functions.

The first perspective focuses on Bali itself; the second complements it with Atalis on the slope of the Talla Mountains.

Discover more destinations: Kare, Mariou, Agios Pavlos, Spili, Perama, Agia Paraskevi, Loutra, Agia Fotini

For the broader travel guide: Rethymno.