Listed 3 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for destination: "CHERRONISSOS Ancient city CHERSONISSOS".
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.
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.
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.
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