Listed 5 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for destination: "ITANOS Ancient city ITANOS".
Town in Sitia province, E Crete; on a now deserted bay just S of the
NE point of Crete, Cape Sidhero (ancient Samonion) and N of Palaikastro and Cape
Plaka (ancient Cape Itanon). Traces of Minoan occupation have been found, and
at Vai 1.6 km to the S an LM IA building has been excavated. Much more evidence
has been found of occupation in succeeding periods: Protogeometric (?), Geometric,
and archaic sherds from unstratified deposits, and many Classical and Hellenistic
sherds. But the visible remains are mostly of Roman or Byzantine date.
Apart from the archaeological evidence little is known of the city's
history before the 3d c. B.C. The traditional founder was Itanos, a son of Phoinix
or bastard son of one of the Kouretes (Steph. Byz. s.v.). This and the possibly
Semitic origin of the name have been adduced as evidence of Phoenician links or
even settlement, but concrete evidence is lacking. The Theran colonists of Kyrene
(Hdt. 4.151) were guided by an Itanian purplefisherman, Korobios (possibly to
be identified with the marine deity on some Itanian coins). Itanos was one of
the first Cretan cities to strike coins, in the 5th c.
Much of the detail of its history in the 3d and 2d c. comes from inscriptions.
In the early 3d c. an oath of loyalty was imposed on all citizens, a probable
indication of internal political instability and the threat of revolution, clearly
arrested (perhaps by reforms leading to a moderate democracy). In the 260s Itanos
sought Ptolemaic help against its aggressive neighbor Praisos (perhaps also against
the threat of revolution). An Egyptian garrison was established, maintained until
about the end of the 3d c., and renewed briefly in the mid 2d. This led to increasing
Egyptian influence in Cretan politics and provided a base for recruiting mercenaries.
When Hierapytna destroyed Praisos (145-140), she became a neighbor of Itanos,
and the two cities, though formerly allies, came into conflict over Hierapytnian
control of the Sanctuary of Dictaean Zeus (at Palaikastro) and Leuke island (Kouphonisi).
The dispute was finally settled in 112-111. The later history of Itanos is obscure;
it was not a bishop's see and is not listed by Hierokles. Coins, inscriptions,
and ruins indicate continued occupation in Roman times, and many Byzantine remains
survive, including two churches and baptisteries. The date of final abandonment
is uncertain.
In the 19th c. the site was first thought to be Hetera, but later
correctly identified. In the center of a small bay, protected from the N and NW
winds, a low hill forms the ancient acropolis. On its W side is a large church,
on the S traces of a circuit wall with towers, and on the summit remains of small
late buildings; sherds, however, go back to the Geometric period. Inland to the
W, on a second hill, stands a fine Hellenistic terrace wall, but few other remains.
On low ground between the hills are large domestic buildings of Byzantine date
overlying earlier levels. To the N is the necropolis, to the W ancient quarries,
and on the S edge of the city a circuit wall surrounds a hill, perhaps for the
Ptolemaic garrison. Part of the ancient city may now lie under water; this coast
has been submerged by some 2 m since antiquity. Ancient remains have been found
on the offshore island of Elasa (ancient Onysia), still an anchorage.
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.
Itanos. A town on the eastern coast of Crete, of Phoenician origin.
Itanos is a very short distance from the palm grove of Vai. It is
located 27km east of Sitia on the northeast coast of Crete. Itanos was an important
settlement from Minoan times until the Christian era.
Itanus (Itanos, Ptol. iii. 17. § 4; Steph. B.: Eth. Itanios), a town on the E. coast of Crete, near the promontory which bore the name of Itanum. (Plin. iv. 12.) In Coronelli's map there is a place called Itagnia, with a Paleokastron in the neighbourhood, which is probably the site of Itanus; the position of the headland must be looked for near Xacro flume (Hock, Kreta, vol. i. p. 426), unless it be placed further N. at Capo Salomon, in which case the Grandes islands would correspond with the Onisia and Lfugge of Pliny (l. c.; comp. Mus. Class. Antiq. vol. ii. p. 303). According to Herodotus (iv. 151), the Theraeans, when founding Cyrene, were indebted for their knowledge of the Libyan coast to Corobius, a seller of purple at Itanus. Some of the coins of this city present the type of a woman terminating in the tail of a fish. (Eckhel, vol. ii. p. 314.) This type, recalling the figure of the Syrian goddess, coupled with the trade in purple, suggests a Phoenician origin.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited September 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Receive our daily Newsletter with all the latest updates on the Greek Travel industry.
Subscribe now!
