History

At a magnificent location on Mount Oxa, with panoramic views of the lagoon of Elounda, we meet the ruins of a fortified state that is believed to be ancient Naxos. Perhaps, it served as the acropolis of Olous, the ancient town of Elounda.

The mansion was firstly excavated in 1918, when four major sacred bronze axes were found. This fact, combined with the large number of religious objects in manufacturing stage, indicates that the mansion operated as a workshop for a Minoan priest who created religious objects. 700m west of the mansion, archaeologists have detected traces of a small Minoan settlement and a harbor.

Just outside the village Zhou Sitia in 1955-1956 a large Minoan Agrepavlis (Rural Mansion)was excavated with many rooms (rest homes, workshop, living room, furnace, etc). Part of the site has been destroyed by the works for constructing the road.

Menies beach is located on the site of ancient Diktynna. Diktynna was the most important temple of the goddess Vritomartis, which is believed to be goddess Artemis. Thousands worshippers used to come in the area from all over the island. Vritomartis was worshiped here during the Hellenistic and Roman times. The possession of Diktynna was always a conflict between ancient Kydonia and Polirinia.

Matala, ancient Matelon, was a port of Phaestus and Gortys and is well known for the carved caves, which were Grecoroman tombs. The cape south of Matala has been identified as the Cape Nysos and the location where the ships of Menelaus were wrecked (Odyssey).

The present town of Hersonissos retains the name of the ancient city of Hersonissos or Heronissos. The town existed since the Minoan period, but flourished after the conquest of Crete by the Romans.

Elyros was the most important town in southwestern Crete during the Doric and Roman Periods. Ruins are conserved 500m far from the village Rodovani atop the panoramic hill Kefala. The town had two harbors: Syia(current Sougia) and Lissos. The exact location of the town was verified by an inscription with the phrase in Greek "Glory to the people of Elyros".