Heraklion: Side Trips from here
Travel agencies arrange excursions setting out from Heraklion to virtually every point
of interest on Crete—from the Samaria Gorge in the far southwest to the Minoan
palace at Kato Zakros in the far southeast, but if you have an interest in history and
archaeology after visiting Knossos and Heraklion's museum, we recommend the following trip.
GORTYNA, PHAESTOS, AYIA TRIADHA, KOMMOS & MATALA
The distance isn't that great—a round-trip of some 165 kilometers (100 miles)—but it would be a full day indeed to take it all in. If you don't have your own car, a taxi or guided tour is advisable as bus schedules won't allow you to fit in all the stops.
The first stop of historical interest on the road south, Gortyna contains the ruins of the Greco-Roman city Gortyn. In 67 BC, when it fell to the Romans, Gortyn was made the island's capital. Now the site is conveniently divided by the paved road that leads to Iraldion in the east and Matala in the west. The most famous part of the site of ancient Gortyn, en route to Phaistos, is on your right as you come from Iraklion.
The first thing you'll see is the 7th-century Basilica Of Saint Titus, where the Ten Saints were martyred in AD 250. This was the first Christian church on Crete, and its berma (half dome with windows) still stands grandly above a courtyard full of fallen columns. Behind the church is the area in which the town's earliest agora is believed to have been located. Behind this location is the Roman odeon (music hall). One of the few remains from the Hellenic city, the Law Code tablets are the most important extant source of information regarding pre-Hellenistic Greek law. They are written in
a Dorian dialect of Greek and date from 450 BC. The tablets were so well-cut that the Romans used them as building materials for the odeon.
Across a small wooden bridge from the odeon is the Platanos tree, from which it is said that the brothers Minos, Sarpidon, and Rodaman were bom. Mysteriously, the tree is perpetually green. The 7th-century BC acropolis lies on the hill to the west of the odeon, and can be reached by continuing 50m down the main road toward Matala. Take a right after the river, walk 200m, and when you reach the comer of the fence, hike up a country road for 30 minutes. Here you will discover the ruins of a temple as well as pottery dedicated to Athena Poliouchos.
Near the cafe (orange juice 600dr) and entrance booth is a small museum with 14 sculpted figures. To the left of the caged-in hall is a larger-than-life statue of the Roman emperor Antonious Pius. A resourceful people, the Romans changed the head of the statue every time a new emperor came into power.
On the southern side of the main road is the Sanctuary and Sacrificial Altar of Pythian Apollo. Also in this area is the 4th-century Roman Praetorium, which even at that time was fully equipped with a water heating system. The nearby Nymphaion was the terminus for an aqueduct that brought spring water from Zaros.
The road south takes you right up and across the mountainous spine of central Crete, and at about the 25th mile you get the experience of leaving the Sea of Crete (to the north) behind and seeing the Libyan Sea to the south. You then descend onto the Messara, the largest plain on Crete (some 32km/20 miles by 5km/3 miles), long a major agricultural center. At about 45 kilometers (28 miles), you see on your right the remains of Gortyna; many more lie scattered in the fields off to the left. Gortyna (or Gortyn or Gortys) first emerged as a center of the Dorian Greeks who moved onto
Crete after the end of the Minoan civilization. By 500 B.C., it was advanced enough to have a law code that was inscribed in stone. The inscribed stones were found in die late 19th century and reassembled here, where you can see this unique—and to scholars, invaluable—document testifying to the legal and social arrangements of this society.
Then, after the Romans took over Crete (after 67 B.C.), Gortyna enjoyed yet another period of glory: it was the capital of Roman Crete and Cyrenaica (Libya), and as such was endowed with the full selection of Roman structures—temples, a stadium, and all. They are the ones to be seen in the fields to the left. On the right, along with the Code of Gortyna, you will see a small Hellenistic odeon, or theater, as well as the remains of the Basilica ofAyios Titos—dedicated to the Titus commissioned by Paul to head the first Christians on Crete; the church was begun in the 6th century but was later greatly enlarged.
Proceeding down the road another 15 kilometers (10 miles), you turn left at the sign and ascend to the ridge where the palace of Phaestos sits in all its splendor.
Regarded by scholars as the second most powerful Minoan center, it is also regarded by many visitors as the most attractive because of its setting—on a prow of land that seems to float between the plain and the sky. Italians began to excavate Phaestos soon after Evans began at Knossos, but they made the decision to leave the remains pretty much as they found them. The ceremonial staircase is as awesome as it must have been to the ancients, while the great court remains one of the most resonant public spaces anywhere.
Leaving Phaestos, you continue down the main road 4 kilometers (2i4 miles) and turn left onto a side road, where you park and make your way to at least pay your respects to another Minoan site, a mini-palace complex known as Ayia Triadha.
To this day, scholars cannot be certain exactly what it was—something between a satellite of Phaestos or a semi-independent palace. Several of the most impressive artifacts now in the Iraklion Museum were found here, including the painted sarcophagus (on the second floor).
Tomb of Nikos Kazantzakis
The tomb is on Martinengo Bastion, at the southern corner of walls, along
Plastira St. Nikos Kazantzakis is the author of The last Temptation
of Christ and Zorba the Greek. The Kazantzakis museum (tel 0810-741689) is
nearby Varvari. The exhibit includes many of the author original
manuscripts, as well as photographs of his theatrical productions.
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