Location information

Vaulted Roman cisterns

APTERA (Ancient city) SOUDA
In the site there are very large, well-preserved, domed water reservoirs built during Roman times. There are also ruins from a Roman theatre in the extensive, mostly unexcavated site of Aptera. Recently further Hellenistic ruins have been located near the theatre.

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Classical small temple

In the middle of the site there is a small temple dating from classical times, (2C B.C.). It is assumed that the temple was dedicated to a pair of gods, possibly Dimitra and Kori.

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Archaeological Site of Aptera

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  Aptera was founded in the Geometric period, although the city is mentioned in the Linear B tablets found at Knossos (A-pa-ta-wa). It reached a peak in the Hellenistic period, with intense commercial and political activity. In the Roman period, the town had a more rural character. It was destroyed by an earthquake in the 7th century AD and much later, in the 12th century, the Monastery of Hagios Ioannes Theologos (St. John the Baptist) was founded at the site.

  The most important monuments of the site are:
- The Roman cisterns
- Bipartite temple, known as the "bipartite sanctuary", dated to the 5th-4th century BC
- Graves of the Geometric-Roman periods
- The fortification walls, preserved to a length of almost 4 kilometres. The main phase of construction belongs to the 4th century BC.
- The Roman bouleuterion
- The Late Byzantine monastery of Hagios Ioannes Theologos (St. John the Baptist)
- The Turkish fortress built in 1866-1869