My best friend, Nicole, and I have had many mischievous
adventures together over the past two decades.
We have never lacked reasons to play detective or sharpen our
reconnaissance skills (referred to by some as stalking). So when her mom made a trek down from France
for a visit, it should have come as no surprise that she channeled her inner
Nancy Drew and had the urge to play sleuth as well.
Our conversations of ancient Greek mythology, Venetian architecture,
biblical history, and infamous WWII battles, soon led to movies and TV shows
filmed in the area. Being a Disney
buff, she knew the 1964 movie The
Moon-Spinners was filmed on the island of Crete. I had never seen the movie nor had I read
the preceding Mary Stewart suspense novel on which it was based, but I’m a
sucker for a challenge. Plus, I had watched Pollyanna and Parent Trap
religiously as a child (clearly there was no cable in my house growing up) and
I couldn’t imagine the movie that made everyone fall in love with Hayley Mills
could be a complete disappointment.
Having names like Walt Disney and Eli Wallach attached to the movie
didn’t hurt either. Terri and I found ourselves spending a morning scouring over
blogs, forums, and web-pages in search for any information we could find concerning
the exact location of various scenes and seeing if we could match it up to a
location on our map. This proved to be difficult as we ran into a shortage of available information on the filming
sites. This could be because the movie was filmed almost 50 years ago, and a
contributing factor might be that the movie was never a box office hit.
Luckily, we caught a major break when we stumbled across a blog posting by a
guy from Tennessee named Jerry Maloy http://d23.disney.go.com/news/2011/09/on-location-in-greece/
.
Just a few kilometers outside of Aghios Nikolaos is the
charming town of Elounda, where the majority of the movie was filmed. The site of the Moon-Spinners Inn is now the
Vritomartes Taverna, and after watching the movie I can tell you it, to this
day, very much resembles the Inn. While
in Elounda we stopped for a smoothie and showed the waiter a picture of the
three windmills from the opening credits.
He smiled and said something in Greek while motioning towards the sky,
then in broken English said, “Moon Spinner.”
Ahhh, “yes!” we exclaimed and asked him if he knew where they were located. He pointed us towards the east, we walked
about a mile and… there they were, we beheld what is left of the remaining
windmills.
Below are some photos of the locations we found from the 1964 movie, The
Moon-Spinners.
I just HAD to thank you for posting this! I am only a teenager, but a big fan of this movie, and I hope some day to travel to Greece to see the filming sites, as you did. I'm so glad that someone else appreciates it too!
ReplyDeleteThanks for doing the research! I too watched Pollyanna and The Parent Trap as a kid, but didn't discover The Moon-Spinners till I was an adult. I visited Crete in 1994, and went to Greece again in 2009...but not Crete. Greece is probably one of my favorite places in the world. Now I have another reason to go back. Not that I need a reason...See you in 2014.
ReplyDeleteI loved the Moon-Spinners, actually every movie Hayley Mills was in. I plan on going to Crete someday with my daughter.
ReplyDeleteAs an commercial american sailor, have sailed in and out and past Crete for years, always wondering, always remembering the immortal boyish childhood lines of this film, "No time for make love!"
ReplyDeleteHe will always be my uncle Walt. We never met, yet as a child, I recognized him, and still do, as the man whose depth was tethered to the bounty of God's imaginations. Thanks for the posting, as this film, though not having seen it in fifty years, to me has always held a singular memory of youth, beauty and the indescribable mystery and joy of life.
Again, thanks,
Jim.
I love all the movies that starred Hayley Mills and especially liked the Moonspinners. Really want to visit Agios Nickolaos, Minas Beach Art Hotel and the other sites mentioned. Thanks for doing the background work on this and for the pictures. It's nice to know that other people want to visit this area as well and be taken back in time to see where the movie was made.
ReplyDeleteVisited Elounda this past June 2016. Stopped at Melissos for lunch and the proprietor chatted with me about the film: now 52 years ago almost to the date it was first released.
ReplyDeleteA charming and nostalgic visit to a stunning landscape. Plan on watching the film again to capture my trip.
I have loved this movie since I started watching this as a child 30 years ago, I do own it on DVD and watch it from time to time. Great article and addition to my bucket list!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing this. Me and my family have moved to Crete, so I will try and relive some childhood film memories with your help. This is magic.
ReplyDeleteMoon spinners and In Search of the Cast aways were two of my favorite movies, I am planning an anniversary trip with my husband and want to visit the sites from Moon Spinners. Thank you for your research and pictures, I can't wait to go and see it all in person!
ReplyDeleteWe are here at Minos Beach Art Hotel and with your post have found the sites you referenced. Taverns owner in Elounda indicated visitors asking about the film has diminished.
ReplyDeleteGreat job for publishing such a nice article. Your article isn’t only useful but it is additionally really informative. Thank you because you have been willing to share information with us. Auto Crete
ReplyDeleteHere can be innumerous reasons for you to choose renting a car over driving all by yourself, araç kiralama
ReplyDeleteWatching an House Hunters International episode from Crete got me thinking about The Moonspinners. Was a HUGE Hayley Mills fan. Best part about this movie was that it led me to the book by Mary Stewart - was on the waiting list at the library and when we picked it up, I lived in my bedroom until I finished it, only going out for meals. It was so much better than the movie and then I became a fan of Mary Stewart and eventually read all of her books. My paperback copy of The Moonspinners is falling apart, having been read so often. Nice to see there are others who have dreamed of traveling to Crete to visit "Agios Georgios." We are literally a dying breed, but I still hold on to the hope of visiting some day.
ReplyDeleteHello. I am planning a trip to Greece to include Crete. I love Mary Stewart books and Hayley Mills so of course I love The Moonspinners. Can you provide any more information on how to find the windmills? Do you remember the name of the road or any other way to find them? thanks!
ReplyDeleteThis post is so helpful! Thanks! I hope to be in Crete this September. The Moonspinners is my all-time favorite childhood movie. I did a bit of wondering on Google Maps and found the windmills. They are located in the Olous Archaeological Site very near Elounda. The frescoed church where Nikky finds the injured Mark is the Panagia Kera, and it is located in the village of Kritsa, southwest of Agios Nikolaos. I've no idea where the Greek Ruins scenes were filmed. If someone knows, please share the info.
ReplyDeleteI don't know for sure, but with a little research I looked up the Minoan Palace of Knossos. It fits with the storyline, and while they are restoring it, there are certain angles that certainly look like it.
DeleteI love the photos of the movie and then of you all I. The same place. We too went to Crete looking for sites and just fell in love with Crete! Thanks so much for the post!
ReplyDeleteI am Jerry who did the research for your trip based on the information from the Disney Archives. It remains the most wonderful magical trip of my life. I’m so happy that you enjoyed it as much as I did.
ReplyDeleteAfter having our trip to Greece canceled two years due to covid, we finally made it there. Here are notes from our trip: We spent a little less than 2 hours going from the Elounda Mare resort to the following 3 sites: Panageria Kera church in the village of Kritsa; Minos Beach Art Hotel in Agios Nikolaus; and the windmills. We hired a taxi which cost us 60 euros.
ReplyDeleteThe church was not open but we walked around the outside, and bought postcards and a book from the house/shop of an elderly couple whose sign said that they were selling icons, which they had in abundance, along with embroidered linens and many other things. We asked if there was a crypt in the church and she said yes.
We then drove into Agios Nikolaus to the Minos Beach Art Hotel. We talked to Caterina at the front desk, who showed us into a room next to the reception desk, and showed us a photo of John Mills at the hotel, who accompanied Hayley Mills there. Caterina confirmed that Hayley and Walt Disney and others stayed at the hotel, but we could not see the signed books as they were in the manager’s office. I don’t know if they will be there permanently, or if is a temporary thing. It would be a good idea to call ahead of time and try to make arrangements to see the signed books if you go.
After walking around the hotel a little bit to see the bungalows that are along walkways going down to the beach, we had only been out about an hour or so, and we asked the driver to take us to one more site – the windmills. We had asked Caterina about them and she called the site Alykes, although they were at the area that I had already researched called Olous archeological site. There are still 3 old windmills at the site.
On our way back to our hotel, we went past a small restaurant called The Moon-Spinners, but have not found any information that it had anything to do with the film or the cast or crew.
Caterina had confirmed that Vritomartes Taverna is where they did some of the filming. The following evening we took a taxi to Elounda and dined at Vritomartes. We ordered a couple of starters and a salad to share, along with half a kilo of their white house wine. The food and wine were both excellent. They also brought us some bread with our meal. We ordered sorbet for dessert and each received three large scoops which were delicious. We asked for the check, but before we got it, they tried to give us a platter of fruit, which we declined. When they brought the check, they also brought a small bottle of raki and 2 small tarts. We each took a tiny sip of the strong drink, and ate the tarts. Before this, they offered us anything on the menu, on the house, as I guess they didn’t think we were eating enough. And when they noticed our wine was almost gone, they offered us another one, on the house, which we also declined. The legendary hospitality of the Greeks is real.
We went to the Palace of Knossos in Iraklion earlier on this trip, which had some places that were reminiscent of the ruins scenes in the movie, but Knossos is an hour away from Agios Nikolaus. There are two other possibilities on Crete: Phaestos and Lato. Phaestos was a Minoan palace, and is over an hour away from Agios Nikolaus. The ancient city of Lato is only minutes away from Panageria Kera in Kritsa. Because of the proximity, I think it may well be that Lato was the location used in the film. However, I was unaware of these 2 other possibilities until I visited the church, and saw postcards of the 2 sites at the shop/house next to the church, so we didn’t get a chance to explore them
Moonspinners was my favorite movie growing up. Loved Peter McEnery as Marc and of course Haley. Hoping to visit the sites in May. Thank you all so much for your comments, and for sharing your love for the movie and book as much as I do.
ReplyDeleteHello, i read you plan to head to Crete in May, i am also heading over in May from 11th to 18th in Elounda Tui Blue, i also plan to visit the film sites as these really interest me. It would be interesting to swap what we find.
DeleteIf you look at my post (Sue) from Oct. 20, 2022, you will see all my notes of what I found. I will be interested to read your notes after you visit Crete.
ReplyDeleteThank you, i have now signed up so i can receive notifications of comments. We are staying in Elounda (well a 20min walk away) and plan to visit the windmills and various areas of interest in regards to the movie. I find it very interesting, i also plan to study as many pictures as i can from the movie in the hope we recognise some of the filming locations but match up the mountains in the background. We went to Elounda last year in May and fell in love with the place, great people, great food and just a generally honest feeling...
ReplyDeleteI have wanted to go to Greece since I saw that movie when I was a kid. I had the biggest crush on Peter McEnery. I always thought it was filmed in Mykonos so I’m glad I saw this.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I was in Elounda this afternoon and saw those windmills, but did not realize those were the ones from the movie. There is a Moonspinners Windmill marked on Google Maps which is up on the ridge and largely a ruin.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that SOMEONE has written about this vanished/vanishing location. I'm not exactly sure that the Vritomartes Taverna is standing exactly where the Moon-Spinners Inn was but it's close. I've taken screen grabs from the movie and lined them up with the background and it lines up very closely. Part of the problem is that the Moon-Spinners Inn was sitting on land and the Taverna is in the water connected by a jetty. The rest of the town and coastline has changed so much that it's impossible to match up anything definite without a really deep dive on location. The windmills seen in the opening credits are visible in the background of the scenes with the windmill where Nikki is held prisoner. It is NOT the "Moon-spinners windmill" as labeled on Google Maps. That windmill is in a valley and Nikki's windmill is very obviously on a hill. Again, matching the screen grabs and lining up the background mountains as well as the windmills and the coastline on Google Earth, I believe I have found the location of Nikki's windmill which is, sadly, pretty much gone. It sits off the coastline up the hill from a building complex...not sure if it's a home or a institutional building but it has solar panels flanking it and is the only structure in the area. Unfortunately, there are no photographs or ground data at this location so you can only see it from above...until one of you returns to Elounda and hikes over to the location! The remains of the windmill are visible as a small circle and what I presume to have been the half arced wall...also rubble sits in front of it towards the water. Really a shame that the windmills weren't preserved as a artifact of Cretan culture...but Greece isn't the wealthiest country which might explain that.
ReplyDeleteAfter Nikki and Mark leave the windmill and head up hill towards the ruins, the terrain changes drastically. Instead of stone and scrub brush, it's entirely green, as is the background peaks and valleys. Obviously, this was shot somewhere else. I suspect it was filmed on Rhodes because it's so different from the previous locale and Rhodes appears to be more green. The ruins are not on Crete but the Acropolis of Rhodes. Mark is correct in telling Nikki that it is the Temple of Apollo but what he has neglected to tell her is that they've walked from one island to another...an amazing feat only accomplished by movie magic. The interior is pretty obviously a set on a Pinewoods soundstage in the UK. It seems rather logical that they would have filmed the approach of Nikki and Mark to the Temple of Apollo on Rhodes where the ruins are and that would explain the severe change in terrain from the windmill on Crete to the ruins on Rhodes.
The castle and lighthouse with 3 windmills which Nikki sees through the telescope from Anthony Gamble's house once they've been "rescued", is the St Nicholas' Fortress and Rhodes lighthouses.
I will be posting photos and screen grabs of my findings on my facebook group dedicated to Walt Disney Productions Live Action Features in the near future if you're curious to see photos of what I've described.
Oops...one revision...The ruins are actually the Acropolis of Lindos not the Acropolis of Rhodes...though it IS on Rhodes...so not actually the Temple of Apollo in reality...just the movie.
ReplyDelete