Males is a historic village in the municipality of Ierapetra in Lasithi prefecture on Crete. It is situated 25 kilometers north-west of Ierapetra, 40 from Agios Nikolaos and 12 kilometers away from the sea (Myrtos village). Together with nearby hamlets Hristos and Metaxohori Males until recently formed the Nea Mala municipality. It is built 550 meters above sea level, south east of Dikti mountain, in an area rich in vegetation. It is built where the ancient city of Mala was.
In the Venetian period it was the most populous village of Ierapetra. The village has many interesting churches from the Byzantine and Venetian period. The forest surrounding of Males is unique on Crete, despite the fires that have destroyed much of the ecosystem of this place in recent years. The forest Selakano is still mostly disturbed. It is the most important forest of Crete, some 4 kilometers away in the north western part of the village. Three kilometers from the settlement on the road to Ierapetra lies "Panagia Exacousti" monastery.
Crete (Greek: Κρήτη, Kríti ['kriti]; Ancient Greek: Κρήτη, Krḗtē) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, and the fifth-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and Corsica. Crete and a number of surrounding islands and islets constitute the region of Crete (Greek: Περιφέρεια Κρήτης), one of the 13 top-level administrative units of Greece. The capital and the largest city is Heraklion. As of 2011, the region had a population of 623,065.
Crete forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece, while retaining its own local cultural traits (such as its own poetry and music). It was once the center of the Minoan civilization (c. 2700–1420 BC), which is currently regarded as the earliest recorded civilization in Europe.
The island is first referred to as Kaptara in texts from the Syrian city of Mari dating from the 18th century BC, repeated later in Neo-Assyrian records and the Bible (Caphtor). It was also known in ancient Egyptian as Keftiu, strongly suggesting a similar Minoan name for the island.
Cretan wine is wine from the Greek island of Crete. It has a long history since wine was certainly being made by the Minoans since the Bronze Age. Wines from Crete are not listed among those specially prized in classical Greece, but under the Roman Empire in the 2nd century AD Crete was known for a sweet wine, protropos, which was exported to Italy. In late medieval Europe, in the 14th to 16th centuries, vino di Candia (Candia is modern Heraklion) and Crete are wine names listed as highly valued in several sources from western and northern Europe; they were sweet and "hot" wines (hot in a dietary sense). Within the current classification of Greek wine there are several Cretan appellations, including Peza, Archanes, Dafnes and Sitia.
In Greek mythology, the name Crete (Κρήτη) may refer to several figures, all of whom are associated with the homonymous island of Crete, and may have been considered its eponyms: