Listed 2 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for destination: "KALI LIMENES Port MIRES".
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.
The village of Kali Limenes is 77km southwest of Iraklion on the road Iraklion - Agia Varvara - Festos - Moni Odigitrias - Kali Limenes. The road is narrow and the drive slow. Although this may seem an effort, the end result is worth it. Kali Limenes has a lovely beach with relatively unspoilt scenery and clear water.
This extract is cited Feb 2003 from the Crete TOURnet URL below, which contains image.
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