About Gournia, Crete, Greece

provided by AgNik.net / makeITcrete.com

Gournia, 19kms to the southeast of Agios Nikolaos, lies on the main road as it follows the southern shores of Mirabello bay and is close to the settlement of Pachia Ammos. It is the site of excavations of an important Minoan town whose original name is actually unknown; it was given its name, in modern times, after the stone basins found on the site. The existence of the town was discovered in 1901 by the American archaeologist Harriet Boyd Hawes (1871-1945) who led the excavations.

The site is particularly interesting because it allows modern visitors insights into the everyday life of a Minoan township, not just the art and culture with which we normally associate the Minoans. It is believed that it was a prosperous trading centre with a thriving community of farmers, fishermen, weavers, carpenters and potters. Situated where it was, goods could be unloaded from ships and taken the short journey south overland instead of having to risk the more dangerous sea route around the eastern coast of the island.

The cataclysmic eruption of the volcano Thira (also known as Fira or Santorini) and the resultant tidal wave and toxic clouds, which overwhelmed so much of the Minoan empire around one and a half millenia BC, destroyed the palace and much of the city and heralded its decay. The site is sometimes referred to as Crete's "Pompeii" because so much of it still remains to be seen. The layout of the streets and villages is plain to see and many walls reach above waist level.

LINKS TO FURTHER PICTURE TOURS IN THE WIDER LASSITHI AREA - CLICK HERE