Rethymnon Prefecture, 28 km. ESE of Rethymnon, population 700, 22 potters, population benefiting from the craft 40%.
There are two explanations for the name of the village. One is that a certain Queen Margarita of Eleftherna (an ancient city in the district of Mylopotamos) was enchanted by the beautiful area round the village and gave her jewels to the local inhabitants to build a village. Thus the new village was named after her.
The second, simpler possibility is that Margarites is named after the pretty spring flowers seen nearby - daisies. The village was the capital of the district of Mylopotamos.
The potters’ village is surrounded by some of the loveliest scenery in northern Rethymnon and was famous, until 1980, for the quality of its traditional architecture.
The potters here operated in almost exactly the same way as those of Thrapsano, but there were more permanent potters who produced small vessels. The pitharades set off in small groups for seasonal vendemes in distant regions.
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