Εμφανίζονται 100 (επί συνόλου 285) τίτλοι με αναζήτηση: Πληροφορίες για τον τόπο στην ευρύτερη περιοχή: "ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ Νομός ΚΡΗΤΗ" .
ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ (Πόλη) ΚΡΗΤΗ
The city was regained by the Byzantine Empire in 961 A.D. after many
unsuccessful attempts. After the Crusaders occupied Constantinople in 1204, they
gave Crete to Boniface of Monferrat who sold the island to Venice for one thousand
pieces of silver. Under Venetian rule the arts flourished and Candia, as the Venetians
renamed it, became a centre of learning. Many scholars and artists took refuge
in Candia after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. The Venetians began construction
of the city walls in 1462, which were completed more than a century later. The
walls were 4km in length, of a triangular shape and had seven bastions. The Venetians
also built the harbor and various other masterly architectural works. The walls
proved their deterrent strength when the city was besieged for 21 years, one of
the longest sieges in history. The final surrender came in 1669 after 100,000
Turks and 30,000 Venetians had been killed. Turkish occupation was heavily resented
by the Cretans and continuous guerrilla warfare was waged against the Turks and,
in return, the Turks often made reprisals against the Cretan population in the
cities. Iraklion grew in size after the 1913 union with Greece. However, its strategic
location again made it a target for invading forces in 1941. The German bombardment
during the Battle of Crete caused a great amount of damage and after the war the
city was extensively rebuilt. Chania was originally the capital of Crete. The
administrative centre of Crete was transferred to Iraklion in 1971.
Today Iraklion is the biggest city in Crete (and fifth in Greece)
with a population in excess of 130,000. It concentrates most of the economical
activity of the island, and is the main port of entry to Crete for the majority
of visitors. The Iraklion airport receives approximately 15% of the total tourist
traffic of Greece.
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ΑΜΝΙΣΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ
A town in the N. of Crete, and the harbour of Cnossus in the time of Minos, was
situated at the mouth of a river of the same name (the modern Aposelemi). It possessed
a sanctuary of Eileithyia, and the nymphs of the river, called Amnisiabes and
Amnisides, were sacred to this goddess.
ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΓΑΖΙ
Apollonia (Apollonia: Eth. Apolloniates, Apolloniates, Apollinas,
-atis, Apolloniensis). The name of two cities in Crete, one near Cnossus (Steph.
B. s. v.), the inhabitants of which were most treacherously treated by the Cydoniatae,
who were their friends and allies. (Polyb. xxvii. 16.) The site is on the coast
near Armyro, or perhaps approaching towards Megalo Kastron, at the Ghiofero. (Pashley,
Crete, vol. i. p. 261.) The site of the other city, which was once called Eleuthera
(Eleuthera, Steph. B.), is uncertain. The philosopher Diogenes Apolloniates was
a native of Apolloniates in Crete. (Diet. of Biog. s. v.)
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ΑΡΚΑΔΕΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΒΙΑΝΝΟ
Arcadia (Arkadia; Arkades, Steph. B. probably Eth.), a city of Crete, which in Hierocles is placed between Lyctus and Cnossus; but in Kiepert's map appears on the coast of the gulf of Didymoi Kolpoi. It disputed the claims of Mt. Ida to be the birthplace of Zeus. The Arcadians were first allies of Cnossus, but afterward joined Lyctus. (Pol. iv. 53.) According to Theophrastus, when the town fell into the hands of enemies the springs ceased to flow; when recovered by the inhabitants they resumed their course (Senec. Quaest. Nat. iii. 2; Plin, xxxi. 4).
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ΑΡΣΙΝΟΗ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΧΕΡΣΟΝΗΣΟΣ
A town of Crete assigned to Lyctus. (Steph. B.) Berkelius (ad loc.) supposes that
an error had crept into the text, and that for Auktou we should read Aukias. Its
existence has been confirmed by some coins with the types and emblems peculiar
to the Cretan mints. (Eckhel, vol. ii. p. 304.)
ΒΙΑΝΝΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ
Biennus (Biennos: Eth. Biennios: Vianos), a small city of Crete which
the coast-describer (Geogr. Graec. Minor. ed. Gail, vol. ii. p. 495) places at
some distance from the sea, midway between Hierapytna and Leben, the most eastern
of the two parts of Gortyna. The Blenna of the Peutinger Table, which is placed
at 30 M. P. from Arcadia, and 20 M. P. from Hierapytna, is no doubt the same as
Biennus. In Hierocles, the name of this city occurs under the form of Bienna.
The contest of Otus and Ephialtes with Ares is said to have taken place near this
city. (Homer, Il. v. 315; Steph. B. s. v.) From this violent conflict the city
is said to have derived its name. Mr. Pashley, in opposition to Dr. Cramer, who
supposes that certain ruins said to be found at a considerable distance to the
E. of Haghii Saranta may represent Biennus, fixes the site at Vianos, which agrees
very well with the indications of the coast-describer. (Pashley, Travels, vol.
i. p. 267.)
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ΒΟΙΒΗ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΓΟΡΤΥΝΑ
Boibe. A town in Crete, of which we only know that it was in the Gortynian district;
a village called Bobia, near the edge of the plain of Mesara, is supposed to indicate
the site.
ΓΟΡΤΥΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ
Gortyn, Gortyna (Gortun, Gortuna: Eth. Gortunios), a town of Crete
which appears in the Homeric poems, under the form of Gortun (Il. ii. 646, Od.
iii. 294); but afterwards became usually Gortuna (comp. Tzchuck ad Pomp. Melam,
vol. iii. pt. ii. p. 811), according to Steph. B. (s. v.) it was originally called
Larissa (Larissa) and Cremnia (Kremnia).
This important city was next to Cnossus in importance and splendour;
in early times these two great towns had entered into a league which enabled them
to reduce the whole of Crete under their power; in after-times when dissensions
arose among them they were engaged in continual hostilities (Strab. x. p. 478).
It was originally of very considerable size, since Strabo reckons its circuit
at 50 stadia; but when he wrote it was very much diminished. He adds that Ptolemy
Philopator had begun to enclose it with fresh walls; but the work was not carried
on for more than 8 stadia. In the Peloponnesian War, Gortyna seems to have had
relations with Athens. (Thuc. ii. 85). In B.C. 201, Philopoemen, who had been
invited over by the inhabitants, assumed the command of the forces of Gortyna.
(Plut. Philop. 13.) In B.C. 197, five hundred of the Gortynians, under their commander,
Cydas, which seems to have been a common name at Gortyna, joined Quinctius Flamininus
in Thessaly (Liv. xxxiii. 3.)
Gortyna stood on a plain watered by the river Lethaeus, and at a distance
of 90 stadia from the Libyan Sea, on which were situated its two harbours, Lebena
and Metallum (Strab.), and is mentioned by Pliny (iv. 20), Scylax (p. 19), Ptolemy
(iii. 17. § 10), and Hierocles, who commenced his tour of the island with this
place.
In the neighbourhood of Gortyna, the fountain of Sauros is said to
have been surrounded by poplars which bore fruits (Theophrast. H. P. iii. 5);
and on the banks of the Lethaeus was another famous spring, which the naturalists
said was shaded by a plane-tree, which retained its foliage through the winter,
and which the people believed to have covered the marriage-bed of Europa and the
metamorphosed Zeus. (Theophrast. H. P. i. 15; Varr. de Re Rustic. i. 7; Plin.
xii. 1.)
The ruins of Gortyna, as they existed previously, have been described
more or less diffusely by various writers (Belon, Les Observ. des plus Singul.
p. 8; Tournefort, Voyage du Levant, pp. 58-64; Pococke, Trav. vol. ii. pt. i.
pp. 252-255; Savary, Lettres sur la Grece, xxiii.); their statements, along with
the full account of the Venetian MS. of the 16th century, will be found in the
Museum of Classical Antiquities, vol. ii. pp. 277-286. The site of Gortyna cannot,
till the survey of the island is completed, be made out, but Mr. Pashley (Trav.
vol. i. p. 295) has placed it near the modern Haghius Dheka, where the ten Saints
of Gortyna, according to tradition, suffered martyrdom in the reign of Decius
(comp. Cornelius, Creta Sacra, vol. i. pp. 156-166). In this neighbourhood is
the cavern which Mr. Cockerell (Walpole, Memoirs, vol. ii. pp. 402-406) has conjectured
to be the far-famed labyrinth; but as the ancients with the exception of Claudian
(Sext. Cons. Hon. 634), who, probably, used the name of the town as equivalent
to Cretan, are unanimous in fixing the legend of the Minotaur at Cnossus, the
identification must be presumed to be purely fanciful. The coins of Gortyna are
of very ancient workmanship. Besides the autonomous, there are numerous imperial
coins, ranging from Augustus to Hadrian. (Eckhel, vol. ii. p. 312; Sestini, p.
82.)
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ΔΙΑ (Νησί) ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ
Dia (Dia), a small island which lies 40 stadia (Stadiasm.) from the
Heracleium of Cnossus in Crete (Strab. x. p. 484; Plin. iv. 20); the modern Standia.
(Map of Crete, Mus. Class. Antiq. vol. ii. p. 308.)
ΔΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΓΑΖΙ
Dion akron (Ptol. iii. 17. § 7). A promontory of Crete on the N. coast, where
the island has its greatest breadth. Pliny (iv. 20) speaks of an inland town of
this name (comp. Euseb. Praep. Ev. v. 31), which probably, however, was situated
in the neighbourhood of this headland, which is now called Kavo Stravro.
ΕΙΝΑΤΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΡΚΑΛΟΧΩΡΙ
Inatos. A city of Crete, the same, no doubt, as Einatus (Einatos),
situated on a mountain and river of the same name. The Peutinger Table puts a
place called Inata on a river 24 M. P. E. of Lisia, and 32 M. P. W. of Hierapytna.
These distances agree well with the three or four hamlets known by the name Kasteliana,
derived from the Venetian fortress, Castle Belvedere, situated on a hill a little
to the N. of the villages. The goddess Eileithyia is said to have been worshipped
here, and to have obtained one of her epithets, from it.
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ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΚΡΗΤΗ
Herakleion. A place in Crete, which Strabo calls the port of Cnossus,
was situated, according to the anonymous coast-describer (Stadiasm.), at a distance
of 20 stadia from that city. The name Heracleia (Herakleia, comp. Plin. iv. 20)
is simply mentioned by Stephanus of Byzantium as the 17th of the 23 Heracleias
he enumerates. Although the ecclesiastical notices make no mention of this place
as a bishop's see, yet there is found among the subscriptions to the proceedings
of the General Seventh Council held at Nicaea, along with other Cretan prelates,
Theodoros, bishop of Heracleopolis. Mr. Pashley has fixed the site at a little
rocky hill to the W. of Kakou-oros. There are remains of buildings, probably of
no earlier date than the Venetian conquest, but the position agrees with the indications
of the ancients.
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ΘΕΝΑΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ
Thenai. A town of Crete close on the Omphalian plain, and near Cnossus. If not
on the very site it must have been close to the Castello Temenos of the Venetians,
which was built A. D. 961, when the Cretans, under their Saracenic leaders, were
vanquished by Nicephorus Phocas and the forces of the Byzantine emperor.
ΚΑΡΤΕΡΟΣ (Ποταμός) ΝΕΑ ΑΛΙΚΑΡΝΑΣΣΟΣ
Caeratus (Kairatos: Kartero), a river of Crete, which flows past Cnossus,
which city was once known by the same name as the river. (Strab. x. p. 476; Eustath.
ad Dionys. Perieg. v. 498; Hesych.; Virg. Ciris, 113, flumina Caeratea; comp.
Pashley, Trav. vol. i. p. 263.)
ΚΝΩΣΟΣ (Μινωικός οικισμός) ΚΡΗΤΗ
Gnosus, subsequently Cnossus, or Gnossus (Knosos, Knossos, Gnossos:
Eth. and Adj. Knosios, Knossios, Gnosios, Gnossios, Gnosius, Gnosiacus, fem.
Gnosis, Gnosias: Makro-Teikho). The royal city of Crete, situated to the N. of
the island, SE. of Matium, and 23 M. P. from Gortyna (Peut. Tab.). It originally
was called Caeratus (Kairatos, Strab. x.) from the small river of that name which
flowed beneath its walls. (Callim. Hymn. Dian. v. 44.) Tritta (Hesych. s. v. Tritta),
was a name that had been some time applied to it. Pliny (iv. 20), who places Cnossus
among the inland cities, and Ptolemy (iii. 17. § 10), are quite wrong in the positions
they assign to it. Strabo's text is undoubtedly corrupt; and this may in part
serve to account for the difficulty that has been found in reconciling the statements
of this writer, who was so intimately connected with Cnossus, with the known position
of the city. Its foundation was attributed to the hero of Cretan romance, Minos,
who made it his chief residence. (Hom. Od. xix. 178). Cnossus and its neighbourhood
was the chosen seat of legend; and the whole district was peculiarly connected
with Zeus. At the river Tethris, or Theron, according to tradition, the marriage
of Zeus and Hera was celebrated. (Diod. v. 72.) The most received mythus assigned
the birth-place as well as the tombs of the Father of gods and men to this locality.
The well-known Cretan labyrinth is uniformly attached to Cnossus. It was described
as a building erected by Daedalus, and the abode of the Minotaur (Diod. i. 61;
Apollod. iii. 4). This monument could never have had any actual existence, but
must be considered simply as a work of the imagination of the later poets and
writers. The Homeric poems, Hesiod and Herodotus, are all equally silent on the
subject of this edifice. The labyrinthial. construction is essentially Aegyptian,
and it would seem probable that the natural caverns and excavated sepulchres still
to be seen near Cnossus, and which were originally used for religious worship,
suggested, after the introduction of Aegyptian mythology into Greece, the idea
of the labyrinth and its fabled occupant.
Cnossus was at an early time colonized by Dorians, and from it Dorian
institutions spread over the whole island. It preserved its rank among the chief
cities of Crete for some time, and by its alliance with Gortyna obtained the dominion
over nearly the whole island. Polybius (iv. 53) has given an account of the civil
wars which distracted Crete, and in which Cnossus took part. Afterwards it became
a Roman colony. (Strab. x.) All the now existing vestiges of the ancient metropolis
of Crete are some rude masses of Roman brick-work, parts of the so-called long
wall, from which the modern name of the site has been derived. Chersiphron, or
Ctesiphon, and his son Metagenes, the architects of the great temple of Artemis,
were natives of this city, as well as Aenesidemus the philosopher, and Ergoteles,
whose victories in the Olympian, Pythian, and Isthmian games, are celebrated by
Pindar (Olynmp. xii. 19). For coins of Cnossus, both autonomous and imperial.
The usual type is the labyrinth; the forms, since they represent only a poetical
creation, are naturally varied.
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ΛΑΣΑΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΜΟΙΡΕΣ
Lasaia. A city in Crete, near the roadstead of the Fair Havens. (Acts,
xxvii. 8.) This place is not mentioned by any other writer, but is probably the
same as the Lisia of the Peutinger Tables, 16 M. P. to the E. of Gortyna. Some
MSS. have Lasea; others, Alassa. The Vulgate reads Thalassa, which Beza contended
was the true name.
ΛΥΚΑΣΤΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΤΕΜΕΝΟΣ
Lycastus. Lukastos: Eth. Lukastios. A town of Crete, mentioned in the Homeric
catalogue. Strabo says that it had entirely disappeared, having been conquered
and destroyed by the Cnossians. According to Polybius (xxiii. 15) the Lycastian
district was afterwards wrested from Cnossus by the Gortynians, who gave it to
the neighbouring town of Rhaucus. In Mr. Pashley's map the site is fixed at Kaenuria.
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ΛΥΚΤΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΚΑΣΤΕΛΛΙ
Luktos, Luttos: Eth. Luktios, Luttios. One of the most considerable
cities in Crete, which appears in the Homeric catalogue. (Il. ii. 647, xvii. 611.)
According to the Hesiodic Theogony (Theog. 477), Rhea gave birth to Zeus in a
cave of Mt. Aegaeon, near Lyctus. The inhabitants of this ancient Doric city called
themselves colonists of Sparta (Arist. Pol. ii. 7), and the worship of Apollo
appears to have prevailed there. (Callim. Hymn. Apoll. 33; comp. Muller, Dorians,
vol. i. pp. 141, 227, trans.) In B.C. 344, Phalaecus the Phocian assisted the
Cnossians against their neighbours the Lyctians, and took the city of Lyctus,
from which he was driven out by Archidamus, king of Sparta. (Diod. xvi. 62.) The
Lyctians, at a still later period, were engaged in frequent hostilities with Cnossus,
and succeeded in creating a formidable party in the island against that city.
The Cnossians, taking advantage of their absence on a distant expedition, surprised
Lyctus, and utterly destroyed it. The citizens, on their return, abandoned it,
and found refuge at Lampa. Polybius (iv. 53, 54), on this occasion, bears testimony
to the high character of the Lyctians, as compared with their countrymen. They
afterwards recovered their city by the aid of the Gortynians, who gave them a
place called Diatonium, which they had taken from the Cnossians. (Polyb. xxiii.
15, xxiv. 53.) Lyctus was sacked by Metellus at the Roman conquest (Liv. Epit.
xcix.; Flor. iii. 7), but was existing in the time of Strabo (x. p. 479) at a
distance of 80 stadia from the Libyan sea. (Strab. p. 476; comp. Steph. B. s.
v.; Scyl. p. 18; Plin. iv. 12; Hesych. s. v. Karnessopolis; Hierocl.) The site
still bears the name of Lytto, where ancient remains are now found. (Pashley,
Trav. vol. i. p. 269.) In the 16th century, the Venetian MS. (Mus. Class. Ant.
vol. ii. p. 274) describes the walls of the ancient city, with circular bastions,
and other fortifications, as existing upon a lofty mountain, nearly in the centre
of the island. Numerous vestiges of ancient structures, tombs, and broken marbles,
are seen, as well as an immense arch of an aqueduct, by which the water was carried
across a deep valley by means of a large marble channel. The town of Arsinoe and
the harbour of Chersonesus are assigned to Lyctus. The type on its coins is usually
an eagle flying, with the epigraph LUTTION.
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ΜΑΤΑΛΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ
Matalia (Mtalia, Ptol. iii. 17. § 4), a town in Crete near the headland of Matala(Matala,
Stadiasm.), and probably the same place as the naval arsenal of Gortyna, Metallum
(Metallon, Strab. x. p. 479), as it appears in our copies of Strabo, but incorrectly.
(Comp. Groskurd, ad loc.) The modern name in Mr. Pashley's map is Matala. (Hock,
Kreta, vol. i. pp. 399, 435 Mus. Class. Antiq. vol. ii. p. 287.)
ΠΑΝΝΟΝΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΓΙΑ ΒΑΡΒΑΡΑ
A town in the interior of Crete, S. of Cnossus, retaining the name of Panon.
ΠΥΡΑΝΘΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΣΤΕΡΟΥΣΙΟΙ
Puranthos: Eth. Puranthios. A small town in Crete, near Gortyn, probably the modern
Pyrathi.
ΡΙΖΗΝΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΓΙΑ ΒΑΡΒΑΡΑ
ΡΥΤΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΣΤΕΡΟΥΣΙΟΙ
Rhution, Eth. Rhutieus. A town of Crete which Homer (Il. ii. 648)
couples with Phaestus as well-peopled cities. The city belonged to the Gortynians
(Strab. x. p. 479; Nonnus, Dionys. xiii. 233.) The corrupt reading Rhuthimne in
Steph. B. (s. v. Stelai) should be emended into Rhution. (Hock, Kreta, vol. i.
p. 414.) The city must have existed somewhere on or close to the route which leads
from Kasteliana to Haghius Dheka; but Pashley (Crete, vol. i. p. 293) could find
no vestiges of antiquity in the neighbourhood.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΣΤΗΛΑΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΡΚΑΛΟΧΩΡΙ
Stelai (Steph. B. s. v.). A Cretan city which is described by the Byzantine geographer
as being near two towns, which are called, in the published editions of his work,
Paraesus and Rhithymna. In Mr. Pashley's map the site is fixed at the Mohammedan
village of Philippo on the route from Kasteliana (Inatus) to Haghias Dheka (Gortyna).
ΦΑΙΣΤΟΣ (Μινωικός οικισμός) ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ
Phaistos: Eth. Phaistios. A town in the S. of Crete, distant 60 stadia
from Gortyna, and 20 from the sea. (Strab. x. p. 479; Plin. iv. 12. s. 20.) It
s said to have derived its name from an eponymous hero Phaestus, a son of Hercules,
who migrated from Sicyon to Crete. (Paus. ii. 6. § 7; Steph. B. s. v.; Eustath.
ad Hom. l. c.) According to others it was founded by Minos. (Diod. v. 78; Strab.
l. c.) It is mentioned by Homer (Il. ii. 648), and was evidently one of the most
ancient places in the island. It was destroyed by the Gortynians, who took possession
of its territory. (Strab. l. c.) Its port was Matalum, from which it was distant
40 stadia, though it was only 20 from the coast. (Strab. l. c.) We also learn
from Strabo that Epimenides was a native of Phaestus. The inhabitants were celebrated
for their sharp and witty sayings. (Athen. vi. p. 261, e.) Phaestus is mentioned
also by Scylax, p. 18; Polyb. iv. 55.
Stephanus B. (s. v. Phaistos) mentions in the territory of Phaestus
a place called Lisses, which he identifies with a rock in the Odyssey (iii. 293),
where in our editions it is not used as a proper name, but as an adjective,--lisse,
smooth. Strabo (l. c.) mentions a place Olysses or Olysse in the territory of
Phaestus (Olussen tes Phaistias); but this name is evidently corrupt; and instead
of it we ought probably to read Lisses. This place must not be confounded with
Lissus. which was situated much more to the W.
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ΧΕΡΡΟΝΗΣΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΧΕΡΣΟΝΗΣΟΣ
The haven of Lyctus, with a temple of Britomartis (Strab. x. p. 479),
16 M P. from Cnossus. Mr. Pashley (Trav. vol. i. p. 268) found ruins close to
a little port on the shore, and the actual names of the villages Khersonesos and
Episcopiano, indicate that here is to be found what was once the ancient port
of Lyctus, and afterwards became an Episcopal city.
ΓΟΡΤΥΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ
An ancient city in Crete on the southern shore of the island,
and situated on the banks of the river Lethaeus. By its two harbours, Metallum
and Lebena, it communicated with the sea. Here were temples to Zeus, Apollo, and
Artemis; and near the fountain of Saurus was a spring overhung by a palm-tree,
a spot which tradition declared to be the scene of the loves of Zeus and Europa.
Next to Cnossus, Gortyn was the most powerful town of Crete, and between these
two cities there existed an almost continuous feud. Under the Romans, Gortyn became
the capital of the island. In 1884, an archaic inscription was found on the site
of Gortyn, by Halbherr, in the bed of a millstream. Two fragments of the same
inscription had been previously found, the new discovery making a practically
complete record of a collection of laws regulating the private relations of the
people of the city, with regard to such subjects as inheritance, adoption, heiresses,
marriage, and divorce. The inscription is regarded as a little earlier than the
year B.C. 400.
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ΚΝΩΣΟΣ (Μινωικός οικισμός) ΚΡΗΤΗ
Knosos, more correct than Cnossus, Knossos, if we follow the
language of coins; also Gnosus. The royal city of Crete, on the northern coast,
at a small distance from the sea. Its earlier name was Caeratus, which appellation
was given also to the inconsiderable stream that flowed beneath its walls. It
was indebted to Minos for all its importance and splendour. That monarch is said
to have divided the island into three portions, in each of which he founded a
large city; and fixing his residence at Cnosus, it became the capital of the kingdom.
It was here that Daedalus cultivated his art and planned the celebrated labyrinth.
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ΛΑΣΑΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΜΟΙΡΕΣ
(Lasaia). A town in the south of Crete, not far from the Promontorium Samonium mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles.
ΛΥΚΤΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΚΑΣΤΕΛΛΙ
(Luktos) or Lyttus (Luttos). An important town in the east of Crete, situated on a height, eighty stadia from the coast. It is said to have been a Spartan colony.
ΦΑΙΣΤΟΣ (Μινωικός οικισμός) ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ
A town in the southern part of Crete, near Gortyna, twenty stadia from the sea, with a port-town Matala, said to have been built by Phaestus, son of Heracles. It was the birthplace of Epimenides.
ΓΟΡΤΥΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ
...On the southwestern coast of Crete lies the town of Sphakion, whose people
have been known throughout history as lovers of freedom. In earlier days Sphakion
was a thriving seaport due to its heavy trade with north Africa. The size of the
town has since dwindled. Further west, along the south coast of Crete, is the
Mesara plain. Its size, fertility and favorable climate have encouraged settlement
since Minoan times. Gortyn, situated in the middle of the plain,
was not inhabited until c. 500 B.C., the date of the Code of Laws. This archaic
inscription is the most important single document for the study of ancient law
codes. The acropolis above the plain has remains from the Neolithic period, and
from the end of the Bronze Age, and there existed a rectangular temple from the
Geometric to Archaic periods. In the Hellenistic period, Gortyn was one of a group
of allied cities in the Cretan Koinon, and after the Roman conquest, it was made
capital of the Roman province of Crete and Cyrenaica.
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ΚΝΩΣΟΣ (Μινωικός οικισμός) ΚΡΗΤΗ
ΛΥΚΑΣΤΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΤΕΜΕΝΟΣ
ΜΑΤΑΛΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ
ΡΥΤΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΣΤΕΡΟΥΣΙΟΙ
ΦΑΙΣΤΟΣ (Μινωικός οικισμός) ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ
ΑΜΝΙΣΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ
Ancient site on N coast 7.5 km E. of Iraklion. Homer (Od. 19.188-89)
refers to its difficult harbor and to the Cave of Eileithyia; a later tradition
made it the port of Knossos under Minos (Strab. 10.4.8, probably a deduction from
Homer rather than a genuine surviving Minoan tradition, despite the considerable
Minoan remains now revealed). Ancient sources (see Guarducci) refer only to the
Amnisos river (now Karteros), the harbor, the plain, and the cave and sanctuary
of Eileithyia. There is no clear evidence that a city called Amnisos ever existed:
no coins or public inscriptions of Amnisos are known, and the main coastal settlement
(Palaiochora) may have been called Thenai.
A sandy beach runs E for 2.5 km from the mouth of the Karteros. Half
way along it is a rocky hill (Palaiochora), on which there was a fortified village
(Mesovouni) in the Venetian period, probably abandoned during the Turkish attacks
of the mid 17th c.; Minoan remains have been found beneath the ruined houses of
this period.
At the E and N foot of the hill and W of the hill are Minoan remains,
and traces of occupation on the W in the early post-Minoan period also, though
the evidence is confused. In the archaic Greek period an open-air sanctuary was
built over and into the Minoan ruins, which were at least partly visible: in front
of a long wall fronted by steps was an altar, over and around which were found
large numbers of archaic votives, and faience objects imported from Egypt. A coastal
recession deposited a deep layer of sand over the site, probably in the Classical
period. The sanctuary was rebuilt with roofed buildings over the sand layer by
the end of the 2d c. B.C. A dedication to Zeus Thenatas indicates the identity
of the cult practiced here (or one of them), which lasted until the 2d c. A.D.
at least.
Farther W, towards the river, lay the impoverished settlement of LM
IIIB, with traces of post-Minoan occupation. The Minoan harbor must have lain
in the river mouth, then much less silted, but still rather exposed to the NW
wind.
The Cave of Eileithyia (Neraidospilios or Koutsouras) lies 1 km inland,
in the ridge on the E side of the Karteros valley. First identified and briefly
excavated in the 1880s, it was fully excavated, with the coastal site, in the
1930s. The cave (62 m long, 9-12 m wide and 3-4 m high) was entered from the E.
Roughly in the center of the cave are a large and small stalagmite (clearly objects
of cult) and a simple altar, surrounded by a low wall (probably Minoan or Geometric);
water dripping at the back of the cave may have been connected with the (probably
kourotrophic) cult, which seems to have flourished in LM III-Archaic and Hellenistic-Roman
times. The remains are mostly of pottery, ranging in date from Neolithic to 5th
c. A.D.
Regarded in antiquity as the birthplace of Eileithyia, the cave was
her chief cult place. Her cult may also have been later practiced in the coastal
settlement, whose origin may have been due to the cult rather than the harbor.
D. J. Blackman, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΓΟΡΤΥΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ
The most important Graeco-Roman city of Crete stood on the N edge
of the plain of Mesara, 15 km E of the great Bronze Age palatial site at Phaistos.
Prehistoric remains at the site are scarce, although some evidence of Neolithic
and Minoan occupation was found nearby at Mitropolis, and a little Late Minoan
material has been found at Gortyn itself. References to the city in the Iliad
(2.646) and Odyssey (3.294) suggest that there was probably a Late Bronze Age
settlement somewhere in the vicinity of the Graeco-Roman city. The foundation
of the city is variously ascribed to Lakonians (Konon, History 36), Tegeans (Paus.
8.53) and to Minos (Strab. 10.476-7), but the beginnings of the Graeco-Roman city
can best be ascribed to the Geometric or early archaic period. The earliest inscriptions
from the site date from the later 7th c., and the oldest of the temples was either
a Geometric or archaic foundation. By the 3d c. B.C. it had become one of the
major cities of Crete, and had conquered Phaistos and taken over its harbor at
Matala. In 221 B.C., however, civil war broke out in the city between those who
favored an alliance with Knossos and those who preferred alliance with Lyttos.
The result of the war is uncertain, but there followed a long period of intermittent
hostilities with Knossos, which were really ended only by the Roman conquest of
Crete in 68 B.C. Gortyn allied with Rome, and while Knossos was destroyed, Gortyn
became the capital of the new province of Crete and Cyrene. The city was finally
destroyed by the Saracens in A.D. 824.
The city was built on either side of the Lethaios River, but there
are few surviving remains to be seen to the W of the river. Immediately W of the
river, however, is the acropolis with traces of its ancient wall and with the
early temple mentioned above. This was a slightly oblong building with a cella,
toward the back of which was a bothros flanked by two repositories. The building
was restored in Classical, Hellenistic, and early Roman times. At the foot of
the acropolis, by the river, are the remains of a theater.
Immediately opposite the theater, on the E bank, is the odeion, which
was built in the late 1st c. B.C. and, after being damaged by an earthquake, was
restored by Trajan. Behind the brick-floored stage was a facade with three portals
and four built niches, while on the N side, incorporated into the foundations,
were the 12 stone blocks carrying the famous law code. These had been built into
an earlier, Hellenistic building which may well have been a law court, but the
inscription was first cut in the first half of the 5th c. B.C. The code itself
undoubtedly contains much that is archaic and indeed Minoan.
To the S of the odeion lay the agora and the Temple of Asklepios,
about both of which little is known, although the cult statue from the temple
is preserved in the Herakleion Museum. South of the agora, and close to the modern
road, is the Church of Haghios Titus. It was probably built in the 6th c. A.D.,
but much of what survives certainly belongs to later repairs and additions. Originally
there appear to have been transeptal apses and flanking chapels on either side
of the great central apse and altar.
To the S of the modern road are several other important public buildings.
Close together stand the Temple of Apollo Pythios and the Temple of Isis. The
former is said to have stood at the center of the city and to have been its most
important temple. Its foundation date is uncertain but it was restored and enlarged
during the Hellenistic period, when a pronaos was added, with six half-columns
of the Doric order. Between the columns were placed inscribed blocks carrying
the treaties made between Gortyn and other Cretan cities during the 2d c. B.C.
In the cella two rows of four Corinthian columns, the bases of which are still
in situ, divided the interior into three aisles. Other subsequent additions included
the great stepped altar which stood before the pronaos and was built during the
Roman period. The Temple of Isis, just N of the Temple of Apollo, is known from
an inscription to have been dedicated in fact to Isis, Serapis, and various Egyptian
deities. The altar stand on the E wall, opposite the entrance, was in fact divided
into three and took statues of Isis, Serapis, and Anubis. Niches for further statues
were situated in the other walls and a number of inscriptions were recovered from
the site.
East of the Temple of Apollo was a small nymphaion built at the end
of the 2d c. A.D., and subsequently (6th-7th c. A.D.) made into a reservoir and
fountain. A similar fate befell a second nymphaion, built perhaps a little earlier,
and situated some distance S of the first. Immediately S of the N nymphaion is
the building known as the Praetorium, and identified as the residence of the governor
of the province. It was originally built at the beginning of the 2d c. B.C. during
the reign of Trajan and may then have been a domestic residence for the governor
and little more. Rebuilding following earthquake damage in the 4th c., however,
saw the construction of the great basilican hall, which signifies that the building
was now, if not before, used as an administrative center.
To the W, and close to the Temple of Apollo is a small brick-built
theater of the Roman period. Some distance S of it are the remains of a substantial
building of the Roman period which is almost certainly the main public baths.
East of the baths is the brick and masonry amphitheater, another of the buildings
erected early in the 2d c. A.D. The oval cavea is partially taken up by a built
stage for theatrical performances, while on the outside wall of the building built
niches were originally embellished with statues, one of which (of Antoninus Pius)
is still preserved--the trunk on the site and the head in the Heraklion Museum.
Fragments of other sculptured pieces survive in the vicinity of the amphitheater.
South of it some of the supporting arches of the great circus or stadium can be
seen.
During the Roman period water was supplied to the city by a built
aqueduct which ran from a source somewhere along the line of the Lethaios river.
Finds from the site are on display in the Heraklion Archaeological
Museum, and in the small museum on the W outskirts of the village of Haghia Deka
where a number of statues and inscriptions are displayed.
K. Branigan, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΚΡΗΤΗ
A small city on N coast of Crete. The city is barely mentioned by
ancient sources other than geographers. Together with and eventually superseding
Amnisos, it served as the port of Knossos which lay 5 km inland (Strab. 10.4.7;
10.5.1; cf. Ptol. 3.15.3; Stad. 348-49). The location of ancient Herakleion has
been much debated, but Platon has solved the main problem which lay in a reference
in Pliny (HN 4.12.59): the name Matium results from a misunderstanding by Pliny,
and ancient Herakleion does lie under modern Iraklion, once called Candia.
Slight epigraphic evidence shows that the city was a satellite of
Knossos in the Hellenistic period. No coins are certainly known.
At Katsaba in E Iraklion by the mouth of the Katsaba (ancient Kairatos),
which flows past Knossos, are Neolithic remains and a considerable Minoan site.
The later city seems to have been under the modern city center, but little is
known of its plan: scattered remains, mainly of tombs, have been found of the
Geometric period to 7th c. A.D.
D. J. Blackman, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 1 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΚΑΛΟΙ ΛΙΜΕΝΕΣ (Λιμάνι) ΜΟΙΡΕΣ
A bay on the S coast of Crete, 7 km E of Cape Lithinon, 2 km W of
Lasaia and 10 km W of Lebena; the bay is well protected from the sudden N winds
and offers good anchorage except from the SE winds of winter; offshore islands
provide protection from the SW.
The site is famous only for the visit of St. Paul on his voyage to
Rome in ca. A.D. 47 (Acts 27:8); one of the offshore islands is known as St. Paul's
Island. The words used in Acts ("we came to a place called Fair Havens, near
which is the city of Lasaia") make it clear that Fair Havens was not a city
but a locality, and imply that it was in the territory of Lasaia, which seems
certain. The point is confirmed by the Stadiasmus (322), which mentions Halai
(= Lasaia) but not Kaloi Limenes.
On the promontory hill which bears the chapel of St. Paul and encloses
the bay from the W, a considerable scatter of sherds attests occupation in the
Roman and Late Roman periods. There is no visible evidence of earlier occupation,
and no remains of harbor installations in the bay except to the E at Lasaia. Just
NW of the modern village, on a rounded hill, stand the foundations of a Roman
farmstead with an enclosure wall, and close by to the NW are two Early Minoan
tholos tombs and traces of a Minoan and Roman settlement.
Farther inland from Kaloi Limenes are considerable remains of occupation
of the Minoan and Graeco-Roman periods. The remains are concentrated in the valley
of a stream which runs W from Pigaidakia in the Asterousia mountains past the
deserted villages of Gavaliana and Yialomonochoro, and then, joined by a tributary
running S from the Odigitria Monastery, turns S past the chapel of Hag. Kyriaki
and reaches the sea 2 km W of Kaloi Limenes, through the gorge of Agiopharango.
Besides a number of isolated farmsteads of the Minoan and Roman periods,
there are important groups of Early Minoan tombs and Early to Late Minoan settlements
at Hag. Kyriaki and at Megaloi Skoinoi to the NE. At Hag. Kyriaki there are also
considerable remains of a settlement of the late 5th to 1st c. B.C.; remains can
be distinguished of a large courtyard house and a (probably public) building (over
18 x 8 m). On the opposite (E) bank of the stream is a farmstead with an enclosure
wall, occupied in the Roman and Late Roman periods, and just to the N a settlement
of the Hellenistic and Roman periods. A clay tablet inscribed with a dedication
to Asklepios was found at Hag. Kyriaki.
The area seems to have had little or no occupation between the end
of the Bronze Age and the late 5th c. B.C., and from the Late Roman period until
after the Arab occupation of Crete (824-961).
D. J. Blackman, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΚΝΩΣΟΣ (Μινωικός οικισμός) ΚΡΗΤΗ
The site is best known
for its great Minoan palace and deep Neolithic deposits, but it was a flourishing
city in the Geometric and archaic periods and during the Classical and Hellenistic
eras it was again the principal city of the island. In the 4th and 3d c. it was
frequently at war with Lyttos, and after the destruction of Lyttos in the late
3d c. B.C., it was intermittently at war with Gortyn. The Roman invasion, which
Knossos resisted, resulted in the elevation of Gortyn to be capital of the island,
but Knossos was made a colony (Colonia Julia Nobilis) in 36 B.C., and was occupied
as a prosperous city continuously up to the early Byzantine period. There is some
evidence for a temporary decline in the early 3d c. A.D.
The Geometric and archaic cities were situated N of the Minoan palace
and settlement, and the Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman cities remained in this
same area, eventually covering a little less than a square km. Little is known
of the Classical and Hellenistic towns, although temples on the old palace site,
on Lower Gypsades, and on or near the foot of the acropolis hill all seem to belong
to the 5th or 4th c. That by the acropolis hill is known mainly from a fine metope
relief showing Herakles and Eurystheus. The agora too, lying at the center of
the city, was probably already sited by the Classical period.
In the Roman period the agora was flanked on the W by a large basilica,
while to the S stood another public building often identified as a temple but
possibly the public baths. The basilica, like much else at Knossos, may not have
been built until the 2d c. A.D. Northwest of it, the remains of a small amphitheater
are known, now partially overlain by the modern road. To the W of this road, and
S of the amphitheater is the so-called Villa Dionysus. This is the best-known
and -preserved example of the wealthier Roman town houses at Knossos, most of
which are known only from fragmentary remains of walls and ill-recorded mosaics.
The villa is built around a peristyle courtyard, to the W of which is a large
square room with a mosaic showing the heads of Dionysus and maenads in medallions.
In the SW quarter of the building is a small household shrine. Recent excavations
suggest that the main period of occupation was in the 2d c. A.D. Contemporary
houses of a lower quality have recently been excavated immediately N of the Minoan
"Little Palace." Earlier Roman houses, built in the Neronian period,
were found beneath them, and around them were stretches of the narrow paved streets
which served them.
On the N edge of the city a Christian church with an E apse, nave,
and two aisles was built in the late 5th or early 6th c. It was erected over an
earlier cemetery which included tombs of the 2d to 4th c. A.D. Other cemeteries
were situated to the W and S of the city, and both dug and built tombs have been
discovered. In the S and SE slopes at the foot of the acropolis hill, rock-cut
Roman chamber tombs can still be entered.
Water was supplied to the city by an aqueduct coming from the S. Finds
from the site are found in the Herakleion Archaeological Museum and the Stratigraphical
Museum, Knossos.
K. Branigan, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 65 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΛΑΣΑΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΜΟΙΡΕΣ
An extensive Graeco-Roman city 8 km W of Lebena. The earliest remains
in the vicinity are two Early Minoan tholos cemeteries and an Early Minoan settlement,
but there are no other remains earlier than the late 5th c., at which time the
city appears to have been founded. The site was then occupied continuously as
a harbor and city until at least the late Roman period, and was at its most prosperous
and extensive during the period of the Roman occupation.
The site is a small headland, opposite the offshore island of Nissos
Traphos, flanked by two small bays with sandy beaches. An ancient mole, possibly
of Roman date, which runs from the foot of the headland almost to Traphos ensured
calm water in either one of the bays, depending on the direction of the wind.
The late 5th and 4th c. occupation of the site seems to have been
concentrated on the slopes and the flat summit of the low hill which rises immediately
behind the headland. Buildings on the summit include one with foundations entirely
of white blocks, situated right on the seaward edge of the hilltop, overlooking
the whole site. In later periods occupation spread over the whole of the headland,
and along the steep slopes overlooking the bay to the W. Further buildings were
erected to the E of the headland. Over the whole of this area the remains of the
city are still clearly visible, both as a dense spread of broken pottery and as
a mass of stone walls, built of red, green, white, and brown blocks used haphazardly.
On the headland three buildings of some importance can be traced.
In the center of the headland are the remains of a substantial building whose
main feature is an oblong court measuring 27 x 10 m. On the N side it is flanked
by a long narrow hall or corridor 5 m wide, and on the S by a corridor 3 m wide,
which continues along the E and possibly the W sides of the court also. At either
end of the S corridor, against the courtyard wall, is a built altar or statue
base. Beyond the S corridor are suites of almost square rooms. The building seems
likely to have fulfilled a public rather than a private function but its precise
identity is uncertain.
Southwest of the building described the headland has been terraced
to form a natural podium for a temple. A flight of six steps, 10 m wide, survive,
flanked by massive side walls. Set back 3 m from the top of the steps are two
square altar bases, one on either side of the entrance to the cella. Two walls
of the cella survive and show it to have been approximately 5 x 8 m.
Toward the S tip of the headland are the remains of a Christian church,
one corner of which has been lost by erosion of the cliff edge. At the N end of
the building is an apse 8 m in diameter. The nave is of a similar width, and flanking
it are two narrow aisles. Beyond the nave and aisles there may have been a narrow
narthex.
The city was supplied with water by a built aqueduct which ran across
the hill slopes to the E to reach a spring source about a km away. On the NE extremity
of the city the aqueduct appears to have emptied into a large built cistern with
plastered walls. The city's cemeteries lay to the W of the settlement. In the
late Classical and Hellenistic periods burials were in dug graves and cists on
a small headland. Roman burials were in built barrelvaulted tombs a little farther
W.
K. Branigan, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΛΕΒΗΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΓΟΡΤΥΝΑ
On the Libyan Sea, a small Hellenistic and Roman settlement centered
around the medicinal springs. The settlement was founded in the 4th c. B.C. probably
as a spa, but during the Roman period it grew and prospered as one of the two
harbors of Gortyn. It was probably not abandoned until the 9th c., some time after
the building of a Byzantine basilica which was later covered by the church of
Haghios Joannis.
Several of the principal buildings of the settlement can still be
seen, most of them directly connected with its function as a spa. Overlooking
the center of the harbor is a close-set complex of buildings dominated by the
Temple of Asklepios. The cella, with a floor of marble slabs and mosaic panels,
retains its altar and the two columns which stand immediately before it. North
of the temple is the building known as the Treasury, built in the 2d or 1st c.
B.C., and fronted by a monumental marble staircase. At right angles to the staircase
and the temple was a long abaton, at the E of which was situated the Temple of
the Nymphs. The temple complex formed an angle around the source of the healing
waters while S of the complex were two basins for medicinal bathing.
Closer to the shore, traces of other buildings can be seen. The largest
is a long, narrow building which seems to have been subdivided into many small
rooms, each with an apse overlooking the harbor. This seems likely to have been
the main hostel for visitors to the spa. Whether or not the large building to
the S also served as a hostel is less certain. Walls belonging to much smaller
buildings situated on the opposite, E, side of the harbor are identified as the
remains of domestic houses.
A number of inscriptions from the site, mainly relating to the cures
obtained there, are kept in the Herakleion museum together with the rich array
of Early Bronze Age material recovered from five circular communal tombs excavated
in the vicinity of Lebena.
K. Branigan, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΛΥΚΤΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΚΑΣΤΕΛΛΙ
An important Classical and Roman city ca. 25 km SE of Herakleion.
Although said by Polybios to be the most ancient (Dorian) town of Crete, the earliest
material from the site is of the archaic period. The city rose to prominence in
the 4th c. and was occupied by Knossos in 343 B.C. When Lyttos resisted the Knossian
conquest of the rest of the island in 221-219 B.C. it was captured and razed.
Subsequently rebuilt, the city was again overwhelmed when it resisted the Roman
occupation. The city is situated on a hill with three small peaks, the largest
of which seems to have formed the acropolis. At the foot of this acropolis hill
the theater probably stood, built into the slope of the hill. Fragmentary remains
of houses have been noted on the S slopes of the remaining two hills, and on the
peak of the W hill are traces of a substantial structure which might have been
a temple. Traces of the aqueduct which brought its water supply from Kournia can
still be found. The port for Lyttos was Chersonisos. Two marble statues from the
site (of Marcus Aurelius and Trajan) are in the Herakleion museum.
K. Branigan, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΜΑΤΑΛΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ
Lies on a tiny bay 8 km N of Cape Lithinon on the Gulf of Matala.
Now a small fishing village, it was in Roman times one of the two outports or
epineia of Gortyn, the other being Lebena. In prehistoric and Classical times
it may have served as the port of Phaistos, the alternative site for the prehistoric
port being Kommos, just beyond the headland to the N. Matala is described by Strabo
as 130 stades from Gortyn and 40 stades from Phaistos (10.4.11,14); mentioned
by Ptolemy (3.15.3) as Matalia and by the Stadiasmus (323-24) as a city with a
harbor. Near Matala was the "lisse petra" where Menelaus' ships were
wrecked on his journey home from Troy (Od. 3293ff): probably Cape Nysos, the cape
between Matala and Kommos, but possibly Cape Lithinon itself.
Subject to Phaistos in the 3d c. B.C., Matala was captured in ca.
219, along with Lebena, by young Gortynian exiles at war with their elders (Polyb.
4.55.6); and when Phaistos came under the control of Gortyn in the mid 2d c. B.C.,
Matala became a second port for Gortyn.
On the N and S sides of the bay are over 100 chambers cut at several
levels in the calcareous sandstone cliffs. Many of these certainly served as tombs,
with benches and side-niches for offerings cut in the rock, and a floor level
below the entrance level. Some chambers investigated recently contained lamps
of the 1st and 2d c. A.D. On the S side of the bay some of the chambers are now
submerged, with their floors 1.8 m and their thresholds 1.5 m under water (Lembesi),
which shows that there has been a relative rise in sea level, at least partly
owing to land subsidence; Evans' estimate of a relative rise of 5 m is, however,
excessive. At the SE corner of the bay there is a deep cutting in the cliff, 5.8
m wide and at least 38 m long, with a rock-cut floor and side-chamber: a slipway,
probably covered, for a warship; probably Graeco-Roman in date, but possibly later.
The stumps of rock-cut bollards of uncertain date line the seaward edge of the
rock shelf along the S side of the bay. No other remains of harbor installations
can now be seen; in antiquity ships would have moored, as today, in the S part
of the bay, protected from the prevailing SW wind. The sandy E shore of the bay
is exposed and pounded by surf; an apparent platform in its center is a natural
formation of beach rock.
The ancient settlement lay mainly on the hill S of the bay, where
Spratt saw "vestiges of a small walled fortress, built with mortar and small
stones." An inscribed base of the 2d-3d c., of a statue of Artemis Oxychia,
was found here recently, and marble fragments, columns, and foundations, perhaps
of granaries or warehouses, in the plain at the head of the bay. The visible ancient
remains are almost entirely of the Roman period, but remains of the Classical
period may be assumed to lie beneath; tombs of the 4th c. B.C. have been found
in the vicinity. No coins of Matala are known, and very few inscriptions. There
is little trace of Bronze Age occupation at Matala, but Kommos has evidence of
occupation in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, and also in the Geometric period.
D. J. Blackman, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΡΙΖΗΝΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΓΙΑ ΒΑΡΒΑΡΑ
A modern village near the site of an ancient city in central Crete.
The "patela" is a fiat-topped steep-sided acropolis (686 m) just N of
the main watershed and dominating the two main N-S passes across the E foothills
of Ida. Accessible only from the W, it had a mainly unfortified perimeter and
measures ca. 230 x 560 m. The site has generally been identified with Rhizenia/Rhittenia
(see Guarducci), but a plausible case has been made for Apollonia (Faure); either
way it was probably normally subject to Gortyn in Classical and Hellenistic times.
The excavations date to 1906-8 and since 1969.
Apart from a few Neolithic finds the earliest traces of occupation
are of the latest Minoan period (LM III); evidence of early post-Minoan occupation
has recently been increased by discovery at nearby Siderospilia of Proto-Geometric
tholos tombs with inhumations and a Geometric cremation cemetery. Also of these
periods is an important deposit of votive terracottas and vases found near the
E edge of the plateau, including types with antecedents of the end of the Minoan
period (female figures with cylindrical skirt and raised arms, sometimes with
snakes; tall clay tubes with vertical rows of loop handles). A small enclosure
found nearby against the rock formed the sanctuary of this snake-goddess, whose
cult seems to last from Subminoan to late archaic times.
The site's most important remains are of the archaic period. Roughly
in the middle of the plateau are the poorly preserved remains, close together,
of two 7th c. temples. The more northerly (A: 9.7 x ca. 6 m) has a nearly rectangular
elongated cella entered through a single door from a pronaos to the E with a single
central square pier in antis. In the center of the cella is a slab-lined rectangular
sacrificial pit on hearth, on each side of which stood a single (probably wooden)
column on the central longitudinal axis. Many pieces were found of the limestone
frieze (originally situated on the facade or at socle level) carved with horsemen
in relief, and of two (later?) female statues each seated on a chair on the end
of a sculpted architrave, probably from the upper part of the cella door (reconstr.
in Iraklion Mus.): major works of Daedalic art. Temple B to the S was built in
a similar technique but with dissimilar and less regular plan (ca. 18 x ca. 5.5
m); it had an opithodomos in addition, full of storage vessels, and both cella
and pronaos had a central door on the E. Like A the cella had a hearth with an
offering table at its W end, and a libation basin in the NW corner. Like the somewhat
earlier Dreros temple (q.v.), these temples represent an early type deriving from
the Mycenaean meganon with certain Minoan features added; the architectural order
is not yet cleanly defined. The cult seems not to have outlasted the archaic period.
A number of archaic house foundations have been found on the plateau.
At its SW side, W of the temples, is a rectangular Hellenistic (probably 2d c.)
fort, with square towers projecting from the corners, interior dimensions 40 x
36 m and entrance on the cliff edge at the SE corner. Reused in its walls were
blocks bearing early inscriptions and primitive (7th c.) funerary stelai incised
with a hoplite or female figure. Inside and round the fort were found many arrowheads
and other iron weapons, and sling-bullets of lead.
Inscribed sherds (2d c.) attest a cult of Athena. No coins have been
found at the site, which seems to have been gradually depopulated in the Hellenistic
period and has little sign of city life after the 2d c. B.C. If the site was Apollonia,
settlement probably largely moved to its port (of the same name) near modern Gazi,
just W of Iraklion.
D. J. Blackman, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 1 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΦΑΙΣΤΟΣ (Μινωικός οικισμός) ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ
Classical and Hellenistic city situated 5 km W of Mires. The site
is best known for its Minoan palace and underlying pre-palatial village. There
was, however, a flourishing Geometric settlement there, and occupation continued
in the archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods. The extensive city of the
last period was eventually destroyed by the neighboring city of Gortyn in the
middle of the 2d c. B.C.
Remains of the Geometric settlement are most impressively preserved
on the slopes at the SE foot of the acropolis hill. Here several well-constructed
houses are served by a cobbled road which has been traced up the S slope of the
hill toward the old W court of the Minoan palace. Traces of a Geometric defense
wall around the acropolis have also been noted in excavation. Of the archaic period,
the only building to survive in recognizable form is an oblong structure at the
SW corner of the palace, which is usually identified as a temple, probably dedicated
to Rhea. Archaic deposits have been found elsewhere on both the hill and the lower
slopes, however.
Hellenistic remains are the most widespread and best preserved at
Phaistos. They are known to cover an area extending from immediately W of the
palace, down the slopes W of (and originally probably over) the W Court, and thence
farther down the slopes either side of a Hellenistic successor to the Geometric
roadway, to the area of the earlier Geometric settlement. On the SE slopes of
the hill, Hellenistic houses were found to belong to two phases, the earlier destroyed
by earthquake and the latter, presumably, by the Gortynians. A fine series of
Hellenistic houses, terraced into the steep hillside, have been excavated on the
S and SW slopes of the hill, but these were removed in order to facilitate the
excavation of Minoan levels. The best-preserved Hellenistic houses are therefore
those standing on a platform above the W Court. Most of the remains here belong
to a single house with a small open courtyard around which were grouped the main
domestic rooms.
Although the city was destroyed in the mid 2d c. B.C., it is clear
that there was some sporadic Roman occupation of the site. Early excavations found
Roman deposits above the palace, and more recently an extensive though shabbily
built late Roman farmhouse has been discovered overlying the destroyed Hellenistic
buildings on the SE slopes.
The city's water supply probably came from the river Hieropotamos,
which runs around the base of the hill, and from a series of deep wells, of which
a Hellenistic example has been excavated on the SW slopes. Matala, 9 km to the
SW, served as the principal port for Phaistos, although Komo is thought to have
continued to operate as its port after the close of the Bronze Age. Finds from
the site are mainly in the Herakleion Archaeological Museum, although some of
the pottery material is in the Stratigraphic Museum at Phaistos itself.
K. Branigan, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 34 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΧΕΡΡΟΝΗΣΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΧΕΡΣΟΝΗΣΟΣ
On the W side of the Bay of Mallia 26 km E of Herakleion. The ancient
site derives its name from the prominent peninsula, Kastri, which shelters the
harbor from the N. It served as out-port of the city of Lyttos, 15 km inland (Strab.
10.4.14); but in the 4th-3d c. issued its own coinage, an indication of autonomy.
Its harbor was the best on the N coast of Crete between Herakleion and Olous,
and in the Roman and first Byzantine periods it became much more important than
Lyttos.
Plutarch (De mul. vir. 247D) narrates its foundation legend; the colonists
arrived with a statue of Artemis. Strabo (10.4.14) mentions the temple of Britomartis,
one of the chief Cretan deities, and the site of the temple is indicated by the
find of an inscription to her of the late 2d c. B.C. on a small headland ca. 1
km E of Chersonesos, where a church of Hag. Nikolnos stands on the ruins of a
Roman building with a mosaic; remains of another building lie nearby, submerged
in shallow water. Britomartis is depicted on many coins of Chersonesos.
In a 3d c. inscription Chersonesos appears as a subordinate ally of
Knossos; in 183 B.C. it was one of the Cretan cities which made an alliance with
Eumenes II of Pergamum. In the 2d and 1st c. B.C. it seems again to have been
more closely linked with Lyttos, being described in inscriptions as "Lyttos
on the sea"; but this may indicate not subordination to Lyttos but the transfer
of real power to the coastal city. Bishops of Chersonesos are mentioned in the
5th to 8th c.
The peninsula N of the harbor has traces of Minoan settlement: sherds
appear in the NE cliff face at the bottom of a deep occupation deposit. The peninsula
was probably the city's acropolis in the Classical period; it was surrounded with
defense walls in Late Roman or Byzantine times, and a fine Christian basilica
was built on top in the 5th or 6th c. On the NE side of the peninsula a row of
three fish-tanks, now totally submerged, was cut into the E end of a rock shelf
in the Roman period.
The remains of the Roman city cover an extensive area S and W of the
peninsula. The theater, of the Roman period, is now almost completely destroyed,
but was still well preserved in 1583 (as was an amphitheater), and was visible
until 1897.
The most significant ancient remains are those of the Roman harbor
works, showing the city's importance and prosperity as a seaport. The harbor was
protected on the E and S by massive breakwaters of large boulders, along the inner
side of which run concrete moles which served as quays. These alone provided 330
m of berthing space, and there was a shoreline quay at least in the SW corner
of the harbor. The stumps of stone bollards survive in the surface of the E mole
and SW quay. On the W shore of the harbor remains are visible of house walls of
the Roman period. Just inland is a fountain-house with mosaics.
Inland near Potamies have been found stretches of the aqueduct which
brought water to the site from Lasithi.
D. J. Blackman, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ (Νομός) ΚΡΗΤΗ
Η Κρήτη σήμερα είναι ένας από τους σημαντικότερους τουριστικούς προορισμούς
στη Μεσόγειο. Οι σύγχρονες άριστα οργανωμένες ξενοδοχειακές μονάδες της παρέχουν
υψηλών προδιαγραφών υπηρεσίες οι υποδομές του νομού Ηρακλείου στον Συνεδριακό
Τουρισμό θεωρούνται ικανοποιητικές. Το απαράμιλλο φυσικό και πολιτιστικό περιβάλλον
του τόπου συμβάλλει στην ανάπτυξη νέων εναλλακτικών μορφών τουρισμού με τη δημιουργία
των ανάλογων υποδομών σε τομείς όπως ο θαλάσσιες και αθλητικός τουρισμός, ο ιπποτουρισμός,
η πεζοπορία, ορειβασία και αναρρίχηση μέσα σε ένα εκπληκτικής ομορφιάς φυσικό
περιβάλλον των βουνών της περιοχής. Ο ανεμοπτερισμός, το parapende και η ιστιοπλοϊα
με τη διοργάνωση διεθνούς επιπέδου δραστηριοτήτων, όπως το Minoan Cup γνωρίζουν
μεγάλη ανάπτυξη στο Ηράκλειο. Ο ιατρικός τουρισμός και η θαλασσοθεραπεία προστίθενται
τελευταία στις σημαντικές υποδομές του νομού. Η Μινώα Κέλευθος (ένας αγώνας διάσχισης
της ορεινής Κρήτης από το Δυτικό άκρο στο Ανατολικό), ο Ποδηλατικός Γύρος Κρήτης,
ο Μαραθώνιος "Βαρδινογιάννειος" είναι ορισμένα από τα σημαντικά αθλητικά
γεγονότα που πραγματοποιούνται στο Νομό Ηρακλείου τα τελευταία χρόνια με διεθνείς
συμμετοχές και εμβέλεια.
Ελεύθερες καταδύσεις σε εκπληκτικής ομορφιάς βυθούς του νομού προσφέρονται
από πολυάριθμα club-sub και ξενοδοχεία. Οι εξορμήσεις με mountain bikes σας φέρνουν
σε επαφή μέσα από επιλεγμένες διαδρομές με τοπία και ανθρώπους που συνθέτουν μέχρι
και σήμερα το αιώνιο πρόσωπο της Κρήτης.
Το κείμενο (απόσπασμα) παρατίθεται το Φεβρουάριο 2004 από τουριστικό φυλλάδιο
της Νομαρχιακής Επιτροπής
Τουριστικής Προβολής Ηρακλείου.
ΓΟΡΤΥΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ
A titular see, and in the Greek Church metropolitan see, of the Island
of Crete. The city, situated
at the foot of Mount Ida,
not far from the River Lethe, was first called Larissa, afterwards Cremnia, then
Gortys, and finally Gortyna.
Homer mentions it as a fortified city, which gives an idea of its
great antiquity. Previous to the Roman occupation it was continually at war with
the two neighbouring and rival cities of Cnossus
and Cydonia, contending with
them for supremacy. The result was desolation in an island predestined to happiness
by its geographical position, climate, and soil.
Under Roman rule Gortyna became the civil and ecclesiastical metropolis
of the island, which then prospered in a degree hitherto unknown. Its first bishop
was St. Titus, the disciple to whom St. Paul addressed one of his Epistles. A
basilica dedicated to St. Titus, discovered at Gortyna partly in ruins, dates
from the fifth, perhaps from the fourth, century. In 170 St. Dionysius, Bishop
of Corinth, addressed a letter
to the community of Gortyna, then probably the metropolitan see of Crete.
In 825 the island was taken by the Arabs, Archbishop Cyril was slain
for refusing to apostatize, and Gortyna was so completely destroyed that it never
rose from its ruins. Thenceforth, moreover, the metropolitan ceased to bear the
title of Gortyna, took that of Crete,
and resided elsewhere, probably at Candia, a city built by the Arabs and made
capital of the island.
In the tenth century Nicephorus Phocas reconquered Crete
for the Byzantine Empire, which held it until 1204, when it fell into the hands
of the Venetians, who retained the island until 1669, when the Turks took possession
of it. The Venetians did not allow the Greek bishops to reside in Crete,
while the Latin archbishop bore the title of Candia, not of Gortyna.
The extensive ruins of Gortyna are located near the village of Hagioi
Deka. Among them are a temple of Apollo, several statues, the basilica of
St. Titus, and numerous inscriptions, among which is the text of the so-called
Laws of Gortyna, found in 1884.
S. Vailhe, ed.
Transcribed by: Gerald M. Knight
This extract is cited June 2003 from The Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent online edition URL below.
ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΚΡΗΤΗ
On the north shore of Crete
was an ancient city called Heracleion. The Greeks still give the name of Heracleion
to a city built by the Arabs in 825 near the site of the ancient city; the Arabian
name was Khandak, whence the Italian name Candia is used also for the whole island.
In 960 Candia was taken by Nicephorus Phocas. In 1204 it passed to
the Venetians and in 1669 to the Turks. There are remains of its ancient walls
and aqueduct, also a museum of antiquities. Under the Venetian occupation Crete
was divided into eleven Latin sees, Candia being the seat of an archbishopric.
The hierarchy disappeared with the Turkish conquest. In 1874 Pius IX re-established
the See of Candia, as a suffragan of Smyrna.
S. Petrides, ed.
Transcribed by: Gerald M. Knight
This extract is cited June 2003 from The Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent online edition URL below.
ΧΕΡΡΟΝΗΣΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΧΕΡΣΟΝΗΣΟΣ
A titular see of Crete.
The city stood on a little peninsula of the northeast coast, between Cnossus
and Olous, and was the seaport
of Lyttos. In the fourth
century B.C. it struck coins, and was known for its temple of Britomartis. Its
ruins are near the modern village of Khersonisi.
A. Petrides, ed.
Transcribed by: Thomas M. Barrett
This extract is cited June 2003 from The Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent online edition URL below.
ΑΡΧΑΝΕΣ (Δήμος) ΤΕΜΕΝΟΣ
Το ανάγλυφο της περιοχής είναι ποικίλο εξαιτίας της ύπαρξης πλούσιων
γεωμορφολογικών σχηματισμών, όπως φαραγγιών, λόφων, βουνών και πεδινών καλλιεργήσιμων
εκτάσεων.
Αυτά όμως που χαρακτηρίζουν το χωριό είναι το όρος Γιούχτα και το
Κνωσανό φαράγγι τα οποία εκτός από την ομορφιά του φυσικού τοπίου τους και την
αρχαιολογική τους αξία, διαθέτουν σπάνια χλωρίδα, ενώ η οικολογική τους αξία σε
ότι αφορά στην πανίδα, έγκειται στο γεγονός ότι αποτελούν το μοναδικό φυσικό οικοσύστημα
στην ευρύτερη περιοχή.
Ο Γιούχτας έχει χαρακτηριστεί ως αναδασωτέα έκταση (το 1969), ως περιοχή
ιδιαίτερου φυσικού κάλλους (από το 1970), και προστατεύεται ως αρχαιολογικός χώρος
(από το 1980). Επίσης έχει ενταχθεί στο Ευρωπαϊκό Δίκτυο NATURA 2000, για τη διατήρηση
των φυσικών οικοτόπων καθώς και της άγριας χλωρίδας και πανίδας, ενώ το 61% της
ορνιθοπανίδας του βουνού προστατεύεται από διεθνείς συμβάσεις και το 8% του συνόλου
περιλαμβάνονται στο Κόκκινο Βιβλίο των Απειλούμενων Σπονδυλόζωων της Ελλάδας.
Τα τελευταία 5 χρόνια υλοποιείται πρόγραμμα με τίτλο «Οικολογικό Αρχαιολογικό
Πάρκο Γιούχτα», το οποίο αφορά στην εφαρμογή έργων και ενεργειών, που στοχεύουν
στην προστασία του βουνού και της ευρύτερης περιοχής.
Ειδικότερα αφορά στην:
•Προστασία της χλωρίδας, βλάστησης και εδαφών
•Προστασία του γύπα (gyps fulvus)
•Προστασία και ανάδειξη ιστορικών και αρχαιολογικών χώρων
•Οργάνωση της πρόσβασης του κοινού
•Προετοιμασία και ολοκλήρωση των απαιτούμενων προϋποθέσεων για το χαρακτηρισμό
της περιοχής ως προστατευόμενης
•Δημιουργία Κέντρου Ενημέρωσης - Μουσείο Φυσικής Ιστορίας και Διοικητήριο
του Πάρκου. •Πληροφόρηση, ευαισθητοποίηση του κοινού και των υπηρεσιών σε
σχετικά θέματα.
Το πρόγραμμα αυτό υλοποιείται σε συνεργασία με γειτονικούς Δήμους
της περιοχής. Στα πλαίσια της προστασίας του φυσικού περιβάλλοντος ο Δήμος έχει
ήδη ξεκινήσει την κατασκευή βιολογικού καθαρισμού - επεξεργασίας λυμάτων. Σε συνεργασία
με άλλους δύο γειτονικούς δήμους έχει προχωρήσει στη σύσταση φορέα για την υγειονομική
ταφή των απορριμμάτων. Το έργο βρίσκεται στην τελική φάση κατασκευής του.
Επίσης έχει δημιουργηθεί σε συνεργασία με υπηρεσίες αλλά και εθελοντές,
τεχνητό πάρκο σε γειτονικό λόφο, στο οποίο σχεδιάζεται να κατασκευαστούν χώροι
αναψυχής και αθλοπαιδιών. Σε συνεργασία επίσης με άλλους τοπικούς φορείς σχεδιάζεται
η συστηματικότερη παρέμβαση στα ζητήματα της χρήσης φυτοφαρμάκων και της προώθησης
εναλλακτικών μορφών προστασίας στης αγροτικής παραγωγής.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Ιανουάριο 2005 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα, με φωτογραφίες, του Δήμου Αρχανών
ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ (Νομός) ΚΡΗΤΗ
Στις ακόλουθες ιστοσελίδες θα βρείτε έναν interactive χάρτη με όλα τα μνημεία και μουσεία του νομού, με σχετικές πληροφορίες και φωτογραφίες.
ΓΟΡΤΥΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ
Gortys, that was one of the most important cities of Crete, lay 46km south of Heraklion.
The history of the city has its origins in the Minoan era, as testified by the ruins of the 16th century B.C. farmhouse, which has been excavated, but the city flourished particularly during the Roman era. Gortys was the capital of the Roman province of Crete and Cyrenaica.
The most distinctive monuments are the Praetorium (2nd century A.D.), residence of the Roman governor of the province and the Nymphaion (2nd century A.D.), where the Nymphs were worshipped; the temple of Pythian Apollo; the sanctuary of the Egyptian divinities; and the Odeon, where the famous inscription with the laws of Gortyn was found. Plato spoke of these laws, which were written in a Doric dialect and date from the 6th century B.C., with admiration.
ΚΟΥΝΑΒΟΙ (Χωριό) ΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΑΖΑΝΤΖΑΚΗΣ
Χωριό της Επαρχίας
Πεδιάδας, N. Ηρακλείου,
κάτοικοι 900, υψόμετρο 340μ. Βρίσκεται στο 15ο χλμ. της κεντρικής αρτηρίας προς
Καστέλι, Βιάννο
κλπ. Οι κάτοικοι ασχολούνται κυρίως με την αμπελουργία ( σταφίδα, επιτραπέζια
σταφύλια, κρασοστάφυλα ) και την ελαιοκομία.
Μέσα στο χωριό υπάρχουν τρεις ναοί. Ο τρίκλιτος βυζαντινός ναός της
Μεταμόρφωσης του Σωτήρος, του Αγίου Νικολάου και του Αγίου Δημητρίου.
Στο κέντρο έχει ένα μεγάλο θόλο και τέσσερις μικρότερους, που σχηματίζουν
σταυρό. Η παράδοση αναφέρει, ότι κτίστηκε από πέντε άγαμες αδερφές και κάθε μία
έκτισε ένα τρούλο. Τα υπολείμματα των οικοδομικών υλικών "τα χαλίκια"
χρησιμοποιήθηκαν και κτίστηκε ο ναός του Αγίου Γεωργίου "του Αποχαλικιά",
καθώς και ο τρίκλιτος επίσης ναός της κοίμησης της Θεοτόκου.
Υπάρχουν επίσης 11 πανέμορφα ξωκλήσια, με πιο χαρακτηριστικό το εκκλησάκι
του Αγίου Παντελεήμονα που βρίσκεται 300μ, πριν από το χωριό, σε ωραία γραφική
τοποθεσία, όπου στις 27 Ιουλίου γίνεται μεγάλο πανηγύρι.
Η αρχαιότερη μνεία του οικισμού αναφέρεται σε έγγραφο του 1212. Το
έτος αυτό ο δόγης της Βενετίας P. Ziani , επεκύρωσε τα παρακάτω περιουσιακά στοιχεία
κατεχόμενα από την εποχή των Βυζαντινών ... δυο αμπέλια , το ένα μοσχάτο, στο
χωριό Scovani. Σε συμβόλαιο του 1271, του συμβολαιογράφου του Χάντακα P. Scardon
αναφέρεται, ότι ο Rufinus de Spello, κάτοικος του χωριού Conave προπωλεί στον
Ιωαν. Raynaloto, κάτοικο Χάντακα, ποσότητα καλού σίτου.
Αναφέρεται επίσης σε πολλά έγγραφα του 1368 - 1394 Conave και Cunavus,
φέουδο διαφόρων. Στην αιγυπτιακή απογραφή του 1834, Kunavi, με 10 τούρκικες και
10 χριστιανικές οικογένειες. Το 1881 οι Κουνάβοι είναι στο Δήμο Αγ. Παρασκιών
με 277 Χριστιανούς και 226 Τούρκους κατοίκους. Το 1928 έδρα ομώνυμης κοινότητας
με 780 κατοίκους. Κοντά στους Κουνάβους στη θέση "Ελληνικά" υπήρχε η
πόλη της Ελληνορωμαϊκής εποχής Ελτυνία.
Η θέση της ήταν άγνωστη μέχρι το 1918, όταν όμως γινόταν ο δρόμος
από τους Κουνάβους προς τον οικισμό Ζαγουριάνοι βρέθηκαν κτίσματα, κιονόκρανα
δωρικού ρυθμού και επιγραφές. Σε μια απ αυτές, μήκους 2,5 μ., με γράμματα βουστροφηδόν
γραμμένα, του 6ου π.Χ αιώνα αναφέρεται η λέξη Ελτυναιείς.
Σήμερα το χωριό ανήκει στο Δήμο
Ν. Καζαντζάκη μαζί με άλλες κοινότητες.
Ιστορικά στοιχεία από το βιβλίο "Πόλεις και χωριά της Κρήτης"
του Στέργιου Γ. Σπανάκη.
ΑΒΔΟΥ (Χωριό) ΧΕΡΣΟΝΗΣΟΣ
Το χωριό Αβδού βρίσκεται 39 χιλιόμετρα νοτιοανατολικά από το Ηράκλειο
στο δρόμο από τη Χερσόνησο προς το Οροπέδιο Λασιθίου. Στο χωριό υπάρχουν έξι βυζαντινές
εκκλησίες. Νοτιοανατολικά πάνω απ' το χωριό σε υψόμετρο 1.100 μέτρων βρίσκεται
η Σπηλιά της Αγίας Φωτεινής και της Φανερωμένης, όπου βρέθηκαν αρχαϊκά αντικείμενα.
ΑΓΙΑ ΒΑΡΒΑΡΑ (Δήμος) ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ
Στο κέντρο του νομού Ηρακλείου, και κατά τους ντόπιους στο κέντρο
της Κρήτης, ο δήμος Αγ. Βαρβάρας περιβάλλεται από 8 δήμους του νομού. Τους δήμους
Γοργολαίνη, Τετραχωρίου και Τεμένους από Βορρά, τους δήμους Ν. Καζαντζάκης και
Αστερουσίων από την Ανατολή, τους δήμους Κόφινα και Γορτύνης από νότο, και το
δήμο Ρούβα από τη Δύση.
Διοικητικά περιλαμβάνει τις 7 πρώην κοινότητες Αγ. Βαρβάρα, Αγ. Θωμά,
Μούλια,, Δούλι, Λαράνι, Μεγάλη Βρύση, και Πρινιάς.
Εκτείνεται σε μια έκταση 99.038 στρεμάτων, από Μαλεβίζι μέχρι Μονοφάτσι,
μέχρι επαρχία Καινουργίου, και έχει πάνω από 5.000 κατοίκους.
Γεωγραφικά, ο δήμος ανήκει στις ΝΑ παρυφές του Ψηλορείτη, και αποτελεί
μια από τις κύριες πύλες εισόδου προς το βουνό. Είναι δήμος ημιορεινός-Ορεινός
και το μέσο υψόμετρό του είναι 530 μ.
Η οικονομία της περιοχής στηρίζεται κυρίως στην γεωργία και την κτηνοτροφία.
Τα κυριότερα καλλιεργούμενα είδη είναι η ελιά και το αμπέλι, ενώ η
εκτροφή προβάτων αποτελεί τον βασικό κλάδο της κτηνοτροφίας.
Υπάρχουν όμως και επιχειρήσεις στο δευτερογενή τομέα, όπως ελαιουργεία,
τυροκομεία, αποστακτήρια τσικουδιάς, όπως επίσης και επιχειρήσεις του τριτογεννή
τομέα, εμπορικές, και υπηρεσιών.
Έδρα του δήμου είναι η Αγ. Βαρβάρα, με πληθυσμό πάνω από 2000 κατοίκους,
η οποία απέχει 30 χλμ από το Ηράκλειο, πάνω στον οδικό άξονα Ηράκλειο- Αγ. Βαρβάρα
-Μοίρες- Φαιστός, που διασχίζει το νομό Ηρακλείου από Βορρά πρός Νότο.
Τηλέφωνο Δήμου: 0894 23741 & 23742
Φαξ Δήμου: 0894 23743
Ιστορικά Στοιχεία
Ο δήμος Αγ. Βαρβάρας έχει πλούσια αρχαιολογική και πολιτιστική ιστορία.
Πάνω σε ένα ιδιότυπο ύψωμα «πλειοκαινικών σχηματισμών», στην περιοχή του οικισμού
Πρινιά, βρίσκεται η αρχαία πόλη της Ριζηνίας. Το ύψωμα αυτό (686 μ.), γνωστό με
το όνομα «Πατέλα του Πρινιά», είναι απότομο και απόκρημνο από βορρά , ανατολή,
και νότο και προσπελάσιμο μόνο από τη δύση. Η θέα είναι πανοραμική και διακρίνεται
τόσο το νησί Ντία στο Κρητικό Πέλαγος, βόρεια της Κρήτης, όσο και το νησί Παξιμάδι
στο Λιβυκό, νότια.
Πάνω σ' αυτό το ύψωμα, η Ιταλική Αρχαιολογική Σχολή ανακάλυψε το 1906-1908
τα ερείπια μιας σπουδαίας πόλης της Κρήτης, της αρχαίας Ριζηνίας.
Η Ριζηνία ήκμασε από την Υστερομινωική περίοδο μέχρι και την Ελληνιστική
(1600 π.Χ.- 67 π.Χ.), αλλά τα σπούδαία μνημεία και οι ναοί ανήκουν στην ελληνική
Αρχαϊκή περίοδο του 7ου και 6ου π.Χ. αιώνα.
Η θέση της Ριζηνίας πάνω στην Πατέλλα, στο κέντρο της Κρήτης, και
ανάμεσα στο δρόμο που ένωνε τις δυό μεγάλες πόλεις της Κρήτης, την Κνωσσό και
την Γόρτυνα, είχε μεγάλη στρατηγική σημασία.
Πάνω στο ύψωμα υπήρχε μεγάλο φρούριο Ελληνιστικής εποχής (330-70 π.Χ.).
Στο χτίσιμό του έχουν χρησιμοποιηθεί ξυστές πέτρες από αρχαιότερα κτίσματα και
τάφους. Μερικές απο τις πέτρες αυτές έχουν επιγραφές και μορφές χαραγμένες. Σε
μια πλάκα είναι χαραγμένη θηλυκή μορφή με ποδήρη χιτώνα, πού κρατά μια ρόκα με
αρδάχτι μισογεμισμένο στο κάτω μέρος. Σε άλλη πλάκα, υπάρχει πολεμιστής με κράνος
ασπίδα και δόρυ. Οι πέτρες αυτές προέρχονται από νεκροταφείο της πρώτης Ελληνιστικής
περιόδου. Στα ερείπια της αρχαίας Ριζηνίας, έχουν βρεθεί πολλά πήλινα αφιερώματα,
όστρακα αγγείων, ειδώλια κλπ.
Εχουν αποκαλυφθεί ακόμη ερείπια από δυό ναούς.
Ο ένας από αυτούς βρίσκεται στο ανατολικό τμήμα του υψώματος, και
είναι αφιερωμένος στη Ρέα. Από τις στάχτες και τα κόκκαλα των ζώων που βρέθηκαν,
πιστοποιείται ότι γινόταν θυσίες. Μέσα και γύρω από το ναό βρέθηκαν πολλά γλυπτά
από πορόλιθο, τα οποία έχουν μεταφερθεί στο μουσείο του Ηρακλείου.
Σε κοντινή απόσταση από τα ερείπια της αρχαίας πόλης,της Ριζηνίας,
έχει βρεθεί και το νεκροταφείο της. Έχουν ανασκαφεί πολλοί τάφοι, με σημαντικά
ευρήματα.
Ενδιαφέρων επίσης από αρχαιολογικής και ιστορικής άποψης είναι και
ο οικισμός του δήμου Αγ. Βαρβάρας, Αγ. Θωμάς, στην θέση του οποίου αρκετοί αρχαιολόγοι
τοποθετούν την αρχαία πόλη Πάννονα. Στην περιοχή του χωριού υπάρχουν πολλά λαξευτά
σπήλαια, υδατοδεξαμενές, καθώς και ένα υπέροχο λαξευτό πάνω στο βράχο πατητήρι
σταφυλιών.
Αξιοθέατα
Ειναι σίγουρο πως μια περιήγηση στο δήμο Αγ. Βαρβάρας θα είναι μια
ευχάριστη εμπειρία για τον επισκέπτη, καθώς θα του δοθεί η ευκαιρία να γνωρίσει
και τις ομορφιές της ενδοχώρας της Κρήτης.
Αρχαιολογικοί Χώροι
Αρχαία Ριζηνία και νεκροταφείο στον Πρινιά. Λαξευτοί τάφοι και πατητήρι
σταφυλιών στον Αγ. Θωμά.
Τοπία Ιδιαίτερου Φυσικού Κάλλους
Η κοιλάδα του Πρινιά, η Περδικοκορυφή στον Πρινιά, η Ακρόπολη της
Ριζηνίας, το μοναδικό δαφνόδασος στην Κρήτη και η διαδρομή από μονή Καρδιώτισας
στον Αγ. Αντώνιο, στον Αγ. Θωμά.
Το ύψωμα Τάγα, όπου και το Αιολικό πάρκο, μεταξύ Αγ. Βαρβάρας και
Μουλίων και το ύψωμα Ανεμόμυλος.
Εκκλησίες και Εξωκκλήσια
Ο Αγ. Ιωάσαφ, η Σπηλιώτισσα, η Καρδιώτισσα, ο Αγ. Αντώνης στον Αγ.
Θωμά. Οι βυζαντινές εκκλησίες Προφήτης Ηλίας, Αγ. Γεώργιος, στην Αγ. Βαρβάρα,
και Αγ. Ιωάννης, στην Μεγ. Βρύση, καθώς και το παλιό μοναστήρι της Αγ. Πελαγίας.
Η ζωοδόχος Πηγή στα Άνω Μούλια. Η Αρμυρή και η Αγ. Άννα στη Μεγάλη
Βρύση. Ο Άγιος Νικόλαος στο Δούλι.
Το φυσικό περιβάλλον, η χλωρίδα και η πανίδα, οι γεωλογικοί σχηματισμοί
της περιοχής κάνουν την επίσκεψη ειδικών και μη στον δήμο μας ενδιαφέρουσα.
Συγκοινωνία
Η πρόσβαση στην περιοχή είναι εύκολη, καθώς τόσο η σύνδεση με την
έδρα του δήμου, όσο και των οικισμών μεταξύ τους γίνεται με ασφάλτινους δρόμους,
οι οποίοι είναι σε πολύ καλή κατάσταση.
Από το Ηράκλειο πρός όλους τους οικισμούς του δήμου υπάρχει δημόσια
συγκοινωνία κάθε μισή ώρα, και ο σταθμός των λεωφορείων βρίσκεται στην πλατεία
Μάχης Κρήτης ( Χανιόπορτα).
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Σεπτέμβριο 2004 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα, με φωτογραφίες, της Interkriti
ΑΓΙΑ ΒΑΡΒΑΡΑ (Χωριό) ΜΟΝΟΦΑΤΣΙΟ
Η Αγία Βαρβάρα βρίσκεται 30 χιλιόμετρα νοτιοδυτικά του Ηρακλείου.
Είναι ένα σημαντικό σταυροδρόμι για την πεδιάδα της Μεσαράς και τα νότια βουνά
του Ψηλορείτη. Οι εκδρομές από το Ηράκλειο προς τους σημαντικούς αρχαιολογικούς
χώρους της Μεσαράς περνούν από την Αγία Βαρβάρα. Τα τουριστικά θέρετρα Μάταλα
κι Αγία Γαλήνη που μπορούν να χρησιμοποιηθούν ως βάση για τις εκδρομές προς τη
Μεσαρά βρίσκονται στα δυτικά της Αγίας Βαρβάρας (Αγία Βαρβάρα - Άγιοι Δέκα - Μοίρες
- Μάταλα, ή Αγία Βαρβάρα - Άγιοι Δέκα - Μοίρες - Τυμπάκι - Αγία Γαλήνη).
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Φεβρουάριο 2003 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα, με φωτογραφία, της Crete TOURnet
ΑΓΙΑ ΠΕΛΑΓΙΑ (Λιμάνι) ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ
Το χωριό απέχει 20 χιλιόμετρα δυτικά από το Ηράκλειο στο εθνικό δρόμο
Ηρακλείου - Ρεθύμνου. Η Αγία Πελαγία βρίσκεται στη θέση μιας αρχαίας Ελληνικής
πόλης. Δεν είναι ξεκάθαρη ποια ακριβώς αλλά μια υπόθεση λέει ότι μπορεί να ήταν
η Απολλώνια, η πόλη που καταστράφηκε από τους Κυδωνιάτες το 171 π.Χ. Το όνομα
Αγία Πελαγία προέρχεται από το μοναστήρι της Αγίας Πελαγίας που βρίσκεται 1 χιλιόμετρο
δυτικά από τον κόλπο. Στον τοίχο του παλιού μοναστηριού υπάρχει μια παράσταση
με δυο ασπίδες κι ανάμεσα τους ένα οικόσημο.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Ιανουάριο 2003 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα, με φωτογραφία, της Crete TOURnet
ΑΓΙΑ ΤΡΙΑΔΑ (Αρχαιολογικός χώρος) ΤΥΜΠΑΚΙ
Η Αγία Τριάδα βρίσκεται 64 χιλιόμετρα νοτιοδυτικά του Ηρακλείου, στη διαδρομή Ηράκλειο - Αγία Βαρβάρα - Αγιοι Δέκα - Μοίρες - Φαιστός - Αγία Τριάδα. Είναι πολύ κοντά στη Φαιστό. Κατά τη διάρκεια της Μινωικής Εποχής ένας δρόμος ξεκινούσε από τη Φαιστό και κατέληγε στη βασιλική έπαυλη της Αγίας Τριάδας. Αυτή η έπαυλη, ίσως ήταν η καλοκαιρινή κατοικία των βασιλιάδων της Φαιστού, αν και αυτό παραμένει μυστήριο.
ΑΓΙΕΣ ΠΑΡΑΣΚΙΕΣ (Χωριό) ΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΑΖΑΝΤΖΑΚΗΣ
Το χωριό Αγιές Παρασκιές βρίσκεται 20 χιλιόμετρα νότια του Ηρακλείου στο
δρόμο Ηράκλειο - Κουνάβοι - Αγιές Παρασκιές κι έχει πανέμορφη θέα στην Κοιλάδα
των Πεζών.
ΑΓΙΟΙ ΔΕΚΑ (Χωριό) ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ
Οι Αγιοι Δέκα βρίσκονται 44 χιλιόμετρα νότια από το Ηράκλειο στο δρόμο
Ηράκλειο - Τυμπάκι. Η πόλη όπως και η βυζαντινή εκκλησία των Αγίων Δέκα πήραν
το όνομά τους από τους δέκα μάρτυρες. Οι Ρωμαίοι αποκεφάλισαν του άντρες αυτούς
περίπου το 250 μ.Χ., αφού αρνήθηκαν να προσκυνήσουν τα ρωμαϊκά παγανιστικά είδωλα.
Μια παλιότερη εκκλησία βρέθηκε με ανασκαφές δίπλα στη νεότερη εκκλησία των Αγίων
Δέκα.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Φεβρουάριο 2003 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα, με φωτογραφία, της Crete TOURnet
ΑΓΙΟΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΟΣ (Χωριό) ΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΑΖΑΝΤΖΑΚΗΣ
Το χωριό Αγιος Βασίλειος βρίσκεται 21 χιλιόμετρα νότια του Ηρακλείου,
στο δρόμο Ηράκλειο - Κνωσός - Κουνάβοι - Αγιος Βασίλειος και έχει μια πολύ παλιά
βυζαντινή εκκλησία.
ΑΓΙΟΣ ΘΩΜΑΣ (Χωριό) ΑΓΙΑ ΒΑΡΒΑΡΑ
Ο Αγιος Θωμάς βρίσκεται 30 χιλιόμετρα νοτιοδυτικά του Ηρακλείου στο
δρόμο Ηράκλειο - Βενεράτο - Αγιος Θωμάς. Πιστεύεται ότι στην περιοχή βρισκόταν
η αρχαία ελληνική πόλη Πάννονα, κι έχουν βρεθεί αρκετά ερείπια. Επίσης υπάρχουν
κοντά αρκετές ενδιαφέρουσες βυζαντινές εκκλησίες. Το μικρό αυτό χωριό βρίσκεται
ανάμεσα στον Ψηλορείτη και την οροσειρά Δίκτη του Λασιθίου και απομονώνει την
Πεδιάδα της Μεσαράς από τα βόρεια. Κατά τη διάρκεια της Βενετοκρατίας ήταν μια
μεγάλη πόλη την οποία οι Τούρκοι κατέστρεψαν το 1821 και το 1866. Οι αρχαιολόγοι
ανακάλυψαν αρχαίους ρωμαϊκούς τάφους, δεξαμενές και αρχαία ελληνικά κείμενα στη
γύρω περιοχή.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Φεβρουάριο 2003 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα, με φωτογραφία, της Crete TOURnet
ΑΓΙΟΣ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΣ (Χωριό) ΤΥΜΠΑΚΙ
Το χωριό Άγιος Ιωάννης βρίσκεται πολύ κοντά στη Φαιστό κι έχει μια
πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα βυζαντινή εκκλησία.
ΑΓΙΟΣ ΜΥΡΩΝ (Χωριό) ΜΑΛΕΒΙΖΙΟ
Το χωριό Aγιος Μύρων βρίσκεται 19 χιλιόμετρα νοτιοδυτικά του Ηρακλείου,
στο δρόμο Ηράκλειο - Βούτες - Άγιος Μύρων. Ο Άγιος Μύρων είναι η τοποθεσία της
αρχαίας πόλης Ράβκος, η οποία άκμασε κατά την Ελληνιστική εποχή. Ηταν σύμμαχος
της Γόρτυνας ενάντια στην Κνωσό και τη Λύκαστο. Κατά το 166 π.Χ. η Γόρτυνα και
η Κνωσός υπέγραψαν συνθήκη κι από τότε δεν εμφανίζονται καθόλου σημάδια της Ράβκου.
Το χωριό είναι ακμαίο και παράγει σταφύλια και κρασί. Ο Άγιος Μύρων ήταν επίσης
σημαντική Βυζαντινή τοποθεσία. Πιθανότατα αποτελούσε την επισκοπή της Κνωσού κατά
τα πρώτα Βυζαντινά χρόνια και συνέχισε και κατά τα δεύτερα. Στο χωριό βρίσκεται
η εκκλησία του Αγίου Μύρωνα.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Φεβρουάριο 2003 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα, με φωτογραφία, της Crete TOURnet
ΑΛΑΓΝΙ (Χωριό) ΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΑΖΑΝΤΖΑΚΗΣ
Το χωριό Αλάγνι βρίσκεται 25 χιλιόμετρα από το Ηράκλειο, στο δρόμο
Ηράκλειο - Αρκαλοχώρι. Η περιοχή έχει μερικές βυζαντινές εκκλησίες.
ΑΝΩ ΑΣΙΤΕΣ (Χωριό) ΜΑΛΕΒΙΖΙΟ
Το χωριό Ανω Ασίτες βρίσκεται 27 χιλιόμετρα νοτιοδυτικά του Ηρακλείου
στο δρόμο Ηράκλειο - Αγιος Μύρων - Κάτω Ασίτες - Ανω Ασίτες. Κοντά στις Ανω Ασίτες
βρίσκεται μια πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα βυζαντινή εκκλησία.
ΑΝΩ ΒΙΑΝΝΟ (Χωριό) ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ
Από τον Πύργο ως την Ανω Βιάννο η απόσταση είναι 35 χιλιόμετρα. Το
τοπίο είναι ευχάριστο αλλά η οδήγηση μακρά και κουραστική. Η Ανω Βιάννος βρίσκεται
65 χιλιόμετρα νοτιοανατολικά του Ηρακλείου στο δρόμο, Ηράκλειο - Αρκαλοχώρι -
Ανω Βιάννος. Στην ευρύτερη περιοχή της Βιάννου υπάρχουν βυζαντινές εκκλησίες,
μινωικά ερείπια και καθαρές παραλίες. Ο διάσημος δημοσιογράφος του 20ου αιώνα
Γιάννης Κονδυλάκης κατάγεται από αυτό το χωριό. Κατά τη διάρκεια του Β' Παγκοσμίου
πολέμου οι Γερμανοί σκότωσαν 400 γυναίκες και παιδιά κι έκαψαν τα χωριά της περιοχής.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Φεβρουάριο 2003 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα, με φωτογραφία, της Crete TOURnet
ΑΝΩ ΜΟΥΛΙΑ (Χωριό) ΑΓΙΑ ΒΑΡΒΑΡΑ
Το χωριό Ανω Μούλια βρίσκεται 32 χιλιόμετρα νότια από το Ηράκλειο
στο δρόμο Ηράκλειο - Αγία Βαρβάρα - Ανω Μούλια - Αγιοι Δέκα. Η βυζαντινή εκκλησία
των Αγίων Αποστόλων βρίσκεται στο κέντρο του χωριού.
Διάφορες άλλες σελίδες
ΑΠΟΪΝΙΟ (Χωριό) ΚΟΦΙΝΑΣ
Οικισμός της κοινότητας Σοκαρά του Δήμου Κόφινα, προς βοράν του Ασημίου σε υψόμετρο 320μ. Παλαιός οικισμός αναφέρεται με 280 κατ. από τον Καστροφύλακα το 1583. Το 1957, χωρικοί από το Αποϊνι βρήκαν στον οικισμό Βελούλι, θησαυρό αρχαίων νομισμάτων, χωρίς όμως να γίνει γνωστό τι απέγιναν.
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