Lissos, Crete, Greece, 17 October 2018.

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(Click on any image to see it in a larger size, if you are on a PC or tablet at least.)

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Panagia Chapel.

The last image in the last post showed the coastline of Lissos Valley, with this chapel just visible  near the sea.  This image is from the route in, and taken from at same position as that previous image, but with a long telephoto instead of a wide angle lens.

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Roman tombs in the necropolis on the far side of the valley.

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An ancient ruined house, probably from the Roman period.

Lissos was a Minoan, Greek, Roman and Byzantine city until it was destroyed by Arabs who invaded from Spain in the 820s and occupied Crete until they were driven out by the Byzantines in 961.  It was one of the two ports of the Dorian city of Elyros (further inland) along with Syia (the ancient name for Sougia).  It was the only city on this part of the South Coast to issue its own coinage.

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Temple of Asklepios.

This image and the next three is at the Temple of Asklepios, built in the 2nd or 3rd century BC.  Dedicated to the God of Medicine, people came here in ancient times to partake of the healing properties of its springs.  It was destroyed by an earthquake which covered it with rocks from the cliffs above and also partly preserved it.  When it was excavated in the 1950s many statues were recovered and marbke floors revealed.

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The Church of Agios Kyrikos.

This is a 14th century church, not the same as the one near the coast we saw earlier.  (And Agios Kyrikos is not to be confused with Nicholas Kyrgios, not the same at all).

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The view inside.

It looks as though I missed an opportunity to examine the paintings on the left hand wall, which probably come from the original church in the 6th century AD.  However, I suspect access may have been restricted to the back of the church.

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Ruined house nearby.

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There are quite a few fragments of ruined houses, many from the Roman era.

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Stone circle of unknown provenance (unknown to me at any rate).

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There is also much that is yet to be excavated.

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Unsurprisingly, there are many ancient olive trees.

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The patterns of the bark can be compelling….

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On the western side of the valley there is an extensive Roman Necropolis with many small chambers (now empty).

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Panagia Chapel.

Here we are now at Panagia Chapel, that we saw on the first image of this post and the last image of the previous one.  It is also a 14th century chapel  but incorporates some ancient Greek marble.

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The view inside.

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Ruined buildings near the chapel.

The holes may be for beams of the floor, cast out of alignment by an earthquake.

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An ancient olive tree, now barely surviving.

In the next post we return to Sougia and also check out the archaeological site of Syia.

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