Sfentili could also be called the "ghost" village of Crete because for the last 14 years it has been flooded and gradually sinking underwater. The cause is the Aposelemi dam that was built in the area. 

Sfentili in the prefecture of Heraklion is located at an altitude of 210 meters. It has been slowly flooded for 14 years as it is close to the dam. Outraged, villagers have seen their homes sink below the water level in recent years. Properties were lost underwater and their owners were compensated by the state. However, they never got over the fact that they had to leave the place where they were born and raised.

In March 2015, residents said goodbye to their village by writing the last page of its history before it sank completely.

With tears in their eyes, they took the icons and the sanctuaries of the church of Agios Theodoros shortly before it disappeared to the bottom of the lake of the Aposelemi dam.

But without anyone expecting it, the destroyed village suddenly began to reappear last year as the water level began to drop.

The event was celebrated by the villagers in an atmosphere of excitement and emotion, with a "Theia Leitouryia" on the day of the feast of Agios Theodoros.

It was a special Liturgy, "Saint Theodore wanted us to celebrate him" said people who were there.

The magnificent 14th-century Byzantine church with its unaltered frescoes by the Fokas brothers, although half-sunk, suddenly reappeared and the remarkable thing is that it stands intact amidst the ruins of the village.