History

At the cape of Souda, above the shrine on the beach of Agia Pelagia we see some traces of the excavations carried out by Stylianos Alexiou. At this point he discovered the most important archaeological site of the wider area, the Prytaneum of the Hellenistic town of Apollonia (or maybe Panormos).

Psira is a small uninhabited islet located 1 mile north of Tholos beach, situated at the northeastern edge of the Gulf of Mirabello. In Psira a Minoan settlement of 15-20 acres has been found, being one of the most important sites in Crete.

Ancient Dreros (or Driros) was built on the Mount Kadistos, next to the current church of St. Anthony, 2km northeast of Neapolis town. The town was inhabited by Eteocretans and Dorians (who arrived in Crete in 1100BC) and flourished in the Classical - Hellenistic Period.

Jiouchtas in the ancient times was considered a sacred mountain, mainly because it resembles a human face that looks to the sky from the northwest. Even today the human like mountain causes awe. According to the legend, this is the face of Zeus and the mountain is his tomb. Indeed the name Jiouchtas is a corruption of the Latin word for Zeus, Jupiter.

The palace of Archanes is located in the suburb Tourkogitonia of Archanes town. It came to light only in 1964 by Giannis Sakellarakis because, by then, only a few traces of the palace had been found. Some parts of the palace are still below the houses of modern Arhanes.

The Late Minoan vaulted tomb of Maleme is located very close to the German military cemetery and the historical airport of Maleme. The tomb was already been looted since the early 20th century and was badly damaged by a bomb during the Battle of Crete.

The archaeological site of Kommos is located 4km west of Phaestus, near Pitsidia and Matala. Kommos (or Komos) was a small Minoan town founded in 2000BC and served the port needs of Phaestus, with which it was linked by road. Kommos was probably destroyed by an earthquake in 1700BC, but survived up to the Hellenistic period.

At the east side of the long Karteros bay there is the small hill of Paleochora that hosted the Minoan settlement of Amnissos. The name is mentioned as a-mi-mi-so in the Linear B tablets. Amnisos findings include a Minoan harbor, several buildings and an outdoor archaic sanctuary, where Zeus was worshiped. The habitation Amnisos started in the 19th century BC.