Agios Nikolaos

Agios Nikolaos is one of the main four cities of Crete in Greece and it is the capital of Lasithi regional unit, which covers the eastern part of the island. It is a picturesque, coastal town with cute alleys and nice and clean shoreline, a sailboats port and local market. The halmark of the city, the Lake of Agios Nikolaos, prevails in the middle of the urban fabrik. Within a very short distance, one may also see medieval chapels, ancient findings, musems and other sightseeings.

I was assigned in 2019 the design of the city map from the Municipality of Agios Nikolaos. I was asked to produce a modern, updated and accurate paper map that would be freely distributed to the visitors of the city.

I collected data directly on field with my GPS device, I walked every street to write down their names and I also recorded the directions of the streets, since the majority of them is one-way. I also recorded all the locations of cultural heritage, as well as other useful information for the visitor, such as pharmacies, banks, ATMs, bus stops etc.

I did loads of digitizing in office. I used aerial imagery of very high resolution which I validated with my data collected on field. I traced all streets, buildings, blocks, the coastline and other important features.

The cartographic part of the process (also my favourite) commenced when I had prepared and set all the necessary data. I didn’t want to produce just another usual city map. I wanted to give a more artistic look-and-feel without compromising accuracy nor legibility. And I wanted to produce a map that would be pleasant and attractive and that would not scare common people to read it.

So, I carefully selected the color palette, which follows the brand identity of the Municipality’s tourism bureau, and I also created custom symbols for the point features. It was not a fast process. The final outcome passed through very many redesigns, revisions, dissapointments ect, but at the end I believe it has achieved its main objectives.

The second side of the printed map, should depict Neapoli and Kritsa, two principal settlements of the Municipality. I followed the same process. I mapped all the streets and significant building footprints, as well as all features of the cultural heritage.

These maps, also depict some suggested bicycle and hiking routes that connect the villages with the unique Cretan landscape.

Side B was completed with two reference maps, one that illustrates the overall Municipality territory and one that illustrates its location on the island of Crete.

Title	City Map of Agios Nikolaos, Neapoli & Kritsa
Map Scale	1:4,500 (Side A) / 1:4,000 (Side B)
Medium	Paper
Year	2019
Location	City of Agios Nikolaos, Neapoli, Kritsa Crete, Greece
Dimensions	Width 68cm / Height 48cm
Cover Dimensions	Width 9.71cm / Height 19.2cm
Client	The Municipality of Agios Nikolaos
Expertise	ArcGIS Pro