Gortina description and photos - Greece: Crete (Topic)

Gortina description and photos - Greece: Crete. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The name in English is Gortina.

Photo and description

About 45 km south of the administrative center of Crete, the city of Heraklion, near the village of Agia Deka, in the picturesque Messara Valley, lie the ruins of the ancient city of Gortyna, one of the oldest cities in Greece.

The results of archaeological excavations prove that people lived in the Messara Valley as early as the Neolithic era. Artifacts found during excavations confirm that the settlement existed here during the Minoan civilization, but most likely it was relatively small and did not have much influence. Gortyna from the "heroic times" period is described by Homer as a well fortified and prosperous city. True, it should be noted that little is known about this period in the history of the city.

Already in the 8th century BC. Gortyna was a very large and developed city, vying for the "palm" with its strong and prosperous neighbor - the city of Festus. The famous ancient Greek philosopher Plato in his writings writes about Gortyna as one of the richest and most influential cities in Crete. The city also flourished during the period of Roman rule, becoming the capital of the province of "Crete and Cyrenaica", and after the administrative-territorial reforms of Diocletian - the capital of the province of "Crete". Gortyna was destroyed around 828 during the Arab invasion.

Today Gortyna is one of the most important archaeological sites in Greece, as well as one of the most interesting and popular sights of Crete, where you can see the Roman baths, praetorium, odeon , the temple of Apollo, the sanctuaries of such Egyptian deities as Isis, Serapis and Anubis, the Basilica of St. Titus and much more. Gortyn gained worldwide fame largely thanks to the so-called "Gortinian laws" - one of the most important and most complete sets of ancient Greek legislation. The laws carved into stone slabs were discovered during excavations in 1884, causing a real sensation among scientists. And although some of them are exhibited today in museums, including the famous Louvre, fragments of plates with ancient inscriptions can still be seen in the ruins of Gortyna's odeon.

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Topic: Gortina description and photos - Greece: Crete.