The village of Margarites is south east from Rethymnon town in the centre of the island of Crete in Greece and has a long tradition in hand-made pottery.
Margarites are the most important pottery center of western Crete.
In the area there are numerous deposits of clay, which explains to some extent the long occupation of the inhabitants with the art of clay.
The first report of the involvement of locals with ceramics comes from the American traveler Richard Pococke, who traveled to Central and Western Crete, in 1739. It is, however, very likely Margarites to started as a settlement of potters since their inception.
