Kastelli is a small town in the center of the prefecture of Heraklion and the province of Pediada, in one of the most fertile areas of Crete. It is located 36km southeast of Heraklion and at an altitude of 350m. It is called Kastelli after the fortress of Pediada that was built here and was the seat of the local province during the Venetian Era.
The local economy is based on the cultivation of olive, vine and various vegetables. Kastelli has always been the commercial center of the area and even today it hosts the central outdoor bazaar of Pediada every week. The small town, as well as the wider region, hosts some great Byzantine churches with old frescoes and a Minoan settlement within the town's limits.
Kastelli hosts the most important military airport in eastern Crete, while the Heraklion International Airport is also planned to move here.
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Saint George Sfakiotis church at Diavaide 
Near Diavaide there is the church of St. George Sfakiotis, bearing frescoes of the 14th century (there is an inscription of 1390). One of the frescoes represents St. George and St. Demetrius on horseback crossing the sea with octopuses, crabs, eels, and lobsters below their legs.
Smari Citadel 
At the top of the rocky hill of the Prophet Elijah (Profitis Ilias) near Smari, at an altitude of 590m, there are the ruins of a citadel with a strong defensive wall. The place has panoramic views across the fertile planes of Kasteli and Smari. According to the archaeologist Hadjivallianou, the citadel was the actual site of ancient Lyttos mentioned by Homer. The city was inhabited from 1800 BC till 630 BC, before being abandoned by its inhabitants.
On November 3rd, every year, Cretans celebrate St. George Methystis (i.e. St George that makes people drunk). On that day they first open the barrels and taste the new wine made of the grapes that were collected two months ago. Normally Saint George is celebrated on April 23 every year, but because he was always put in a special place in the hearts of the Greeks they gave him the advantage to be honored twice a year.
Half a kilometer away from the small hamlet Liliano, very close to the airport of Kastelli, lies another treasure of the Cretan hinterland. This is the cemeterial church of Agios Ioannis Rigologos celebrating on August 29.
At the village Kastelli, province Pediada, we meet the very old church of Christ. The temple bears Venetian frescoes of great artistic value.
At the northern end of the plain of Kastelli, between the villages Sklaverohori and Agii Apostoli (Pediada district), we meet Panagia Kera. Access is very easy because it's on the main road. The informative signs tell us that the church dates from the 14th century. This is another single-aisled church, built during the Venetian occupation of Crete, a time when the island was decorated with resplendent temples, most of which carried rich wall paintings.
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