HERAKLEION - IERAPETRA

Herakleion - Knossos - Kounavi -
Peza - Aghies Paraskies intersection -
Arkalochori - Afrati -Ano Viannos
Amiras - Arvi - Symi - Myrtos -
lerapetra.

We follow the road which leads from
Herakleion to Knossos. To the south
(15th km.) we meet the village of Kounavi, where capitals of Doric columns were found and also small clay votive tablets of the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

In the village there is a Byzantine church
which is worth seeing. It has three naves and is dedicated to Christ the Lord, Saint Nicholas and Saint Demetrius. This church was decorated with frescoes, but these have not survived.
We continue southwards and, passing
through the villages of Peza, Aghies Paraskies (intersection), Melesses, Alagni, Houmeri, we come to Arkalochori (33 kms. from Herakleion), an important commercial centre. Six kilometres further along we come to a crossing; the road to the left leads to Mylos Gazepi and from there to Kastelli (10 kms from the intersection).

Just outside Arkalochori stands the Byzantine church of the Archangel Michael, with a painted inscription above one of its doors and important frescoes.
In 1932, on the Profitis Ilias hill, not far from the village, Spyros Marinates and

N. Platon discovered a Minoan sanctuary in a cave, which served as a place of worship from 2500 to 1450 BC, at which time it appears to have been destroyed. Among its rich finds, especially important are the double axes in gold, bronze and silver.

Some of these are decorated, and one of
the bronze ones has an inscription in
hieroglyphics, similar to those on the
Phaestos disc (Herakleion Archaeological Museum). Another has an inscription in Linear A script. A number of daggers, swords (one of which is 1.055 m. in length), pots, etc. were also found her.

It is believed that a warrior deity must
have been worshipped in the cave, which is why the offerings were mostly weapons.
Further south, after passing the village
of Panaghia, on a detour to the right,
we find the village ofAfrati, near which
were discovered a sanctuary, houses
and vaulted tombs of the Geometric
and Archaic periods, as well as a
Hellenistic acropolis.

Further along the main road is the village ofEmbaros, with a church adorned with frescoes (Aghios Georgios).

Five kilometres further along from Embaros, we meet the village of Martha
(54 kms. from Herakleion), from where
a new road leads westwards towards
Pyrgos and thence to the village of
Aghioi Deka (see route 6).

From Martha the road continues south-
wards and after 5.5 kms. a right fork
leads to the bay ofKeratokambos.

Further along on the main road we
come upon the village of Kato Viannos
and Ano Viannos (65 kms. from Hera-
kleion), the latter a verdant and amphi-
theatrically built village of some impor-
tance, at the foot of Mount Dicte, on the
site of ancient Viannos. During the
Turkish occupation and, also, in later
years, during the German occupation,
its inhabitants paid a heavy toll in blood
for their resistance to the invaders. The
churches of Aghia Pelagia (1360) and
Aghios Georgios (1400), decorated with
frescoes, are worth a visit. Outside the
village two large tombs were discovered
in the hollow of rocks, containing 30
burial pithoi.

To the southeast, at the Amira - Arvi
intersection, a monument has been
erected to the inhabitants of the area
who were executed by the occupying
forces on September 14th, 1943.
A detour to the right brings us to Arvi.
This is a lovely seaside village on the
Libyan sea, with rich fruit orchards.
We return to Amira and continue east-
wards.

After the villages of Kefalovryssi and
Pefkos, a road leads to Symi, near which was found an important sanctuary dedicated to the god Hermes and to the goddess Aphrodite. The finds from the sanctuary are exhibited in the Herakleion Archaeological Museum.

The road continues eastwards towards
Gdochia, Kalami, Loutraki, Mournies and ends up at Myrtos on the Libyan sea.

From there it continues along the coast
towards Neos Myrtos, Amoudares, Nea
Anatoli, Stomio, Gra-Lygia, Potamoi and lerapetra (106 kms. from Herakleion). All along the coast there are large greenhouses producing a rich crop of early fruit and vegetables.

East of Myrtos (3.5 km away) on a low
hill known as Fournou Korfi, was found
the prehistoric settlement of Myrtos,
dating from the Early Minoan period.
Approximately 90 rooms and other
areas, designed for a variety of uses,
have been excavated. One of the rooms
served as a sanctuary; here, the statue
of a goddess was found. Also, among the
ruins of the settlement were found a
number of pots of excellent quality,
stone seals, daggers, weaving imple-
ments and other objects, which today
are exhibited in the Archaeological
Museum of Aghios Nikolaos.

On another hill called Pyrgos, a second
Minoan settlement was found, with an
impressive two-storey or three-storey
house on the top of the hill, belonging to
the Neopalatial period. The house was
destroyed around 1450 BC. Among the
finds of Pyrgos are various ceramic libation cups and other elaborately
worked pots.

lerapetra

(106 kms. from Herakleion or 101 kms.
through Aghios Nikolaos).
The abundant production of early
fruit and vegetables grown in the
greenhouses of the region, and the
lovely beaches to the east and west of
the town, have contributed to lerapetra's becoming an important commercial and tourist centre in recent years.
It is a lively modern town with few re-
mains of the past. On the site of the le-
rapetra of today stood the important
ancient city of lerapytna, whose period
of prosperity coincided with historic
times. It was in constant conflict with
Praessos, the very powerful town of
eastern Crete, which did not allow lerapytna to extend her territories.

Finally, in the 2nd century BC, lerapytna prevailed over Praessos and subjugated the town and, with it, all its territories in the region. Thus its dominion extended over the entire southeastern coast and its period of prosperity lasted for many years. After fierce resistance, lerapytna fell to the Romans in 66 BC, but continued to be a city of considerable importance even during Roman times, as is indicated by its coins and the important Roman finds unearthed here.
It had impressive buildings, theatres,
an aqueduct, public baths - none of
these survive today - and was adorned
with a great number of colossal statues.
During the Byzantine period it still retained its importance. In 828, however,
it was destroyed by the Saracens and its
decay became final during the Venetian period. In 1647 it came under Turkish occupation.

In its harbour there are ruins of a Venetian castle (Kales) which was rearranged by the Turks to fit their own needs, when they took the town.

In the old town there still stands a
mosque and opposite this a beautiful restored fountain. The following churches
are worthy of mention: Panaghitsa or
Pangahia tou Kale, the church of the
Transfiguration of Christ, also called
church of Christ the Lord, or just "The
Saviour",