Listed 2 sub titles with search on: Archaeological sites for wider area of: "PRESSOS Ancient city SITIA" .
PRESSOS (Ancient city) SITIA
The important ancient city of Pressos was the homeland of the Eteocretans--the
true Cretans. These people withdrew to these three hills, built a city and continued
their Minoan culture when the Dorians invaded. Remains of an older and newer city
were found as well as very important tablets written in the Minoan language using
Greek characters. This may help in the deciphering of the Minoan language. The
site was inhabited continually from Neolithic to Hellenistic times. Pressos dominated
the east side of Crete, and it had two harbours, one on the north coast--Itia,
the site of Sitia--and the other one, Stiles, on the south coast. The excavations
have revealed three acropolises, temples, houses, and tombs, but little remain
to be seen in the site. From the acropolis, where some ruins still remain, one
has a good view of the old harbour of Pressos, Sitia in the distance. Pressos
was in continuous struggle with the powerful cities of Itanos and Ierapytna for
the control of the Temple of Zeus Dicteos in Palaikastro. Although at some point
in time it even shared citizenship with Ierapytna, it was destroyed by Ierapytna
about 155 B.C. and was never rebuilt. The inhabitants of Pressos left for Itia
(Sitia), their harbour on the north coast and established New Pressos there.
This text is cited Feb 2003 from the Crete TOURnet URL below, which contains images.
Receive our daily Newsletter with all the latest updates on the Greek Travel industry.
Subscribe now!