The village mainly consists of old traditional homes with views of the Cretan White Mountains or the sea.

During the Ottoman rule a Turk ordered a villager to pull water out of the cistern for his horse to drink.

The villager replied that there was no water, to avoid the humiliation of serving the enemy.

[4] Every 5th and 6th of August a local festival begins place[5] in which there is Cretan music, dancing and food prepared by the village's people.

An old time lyra player (lyra is the main musical instrument in Crete) singing in the town for his friends said: To Xerosterniano nero lene pos ehi avdeles, ma kino to marioliko vgazi omorfous glentzedes, meaning: "They say that the water of Xirosterni has leeches, but this beautiful town gives birth to handsome dancers-singers".