Gortyn
Encyclopedia
- "Gortyna" redirects here. For the Arcadian city, see Gortyna, ArcadiaGortyna, ArcadiaGortyna , is a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Megalopoli, of which it is a municipal unit. Its seat was in the village Karytaina...
. For the noctuid moth genusGenusIn biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
, see Gortyna (moth)Gortyna (moth)Gortyna is a moth genus in the family Noctuidae.-Species:* Gortyna basalipunctata Gaeser, 1888* Gortyna borelii Pierret, 1837 * Gortyna flavago...
.
Gortyn, Gortys or Gortyna is a municipality and an archaeological site on the Mediterranean island of Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
, 45 km away from the modern capital Heraklion
Heraklion
Heraklion, or Heraclion is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete, Greece. It is the 4th largest city in Greece....
. The seat of the municipality is the village Agioi Deka
Agioi Deka
Agioi Deka is a village in the Heraklion peripheral unit, Greece, with 796 inhabitants . It is located in the 44th km of the Heraklion-Tympaki national road and it is the centre of the municipality of Gortyna ....
. Gortyn, the Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
capital of Crete, was first inhabited around 3200 BC, and was a flourishing Minoan
Minoan civilization
The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that arose on the island of Crete and flourished from approximately the 27th century BC to the 15th century BC. It was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the work of the British archaeologist Arthur Evans...
town between 1600-1100 BC.
It is located in the valley of Messara
Messara
The Messara is a light riding and draft horse found on the island of Crete off the coast of Greece.-History:...
in the south of the Psiloritis mountain, in the current position of the settlements of Metropolis and Agioi Deka
Agioi Deka
Agioi Deka is a village in the Heraklion peripheral unit, Greece, with 796 inhabitants . It is located in the 44th km of the Heraklion-Tympaki national road and it is the centre of the municipality of Gortyna ....
, and near the Libyan Sea
Libyan Sea
The Libyan Sea is the portion of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the African coast of ancient Libya, i.e. Cyrenaica and Marmarica...
.
Municipality
The municipality Gortyna was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 4 former municipalities, that became municipal units:- Agia VarvaraAgia Varvara, HeraklionAgia Varvara is a village and a former municipality in the Heraklion peripheral unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Gortyn, of which it is a municipal unit...
- Gortyna
- KofinasKofinasKofinas is a former municipality in the Heraklion peripheral unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Gortyn, of which it is a municipal unit. Population 5,338 . The seat of the municipality was in Asimi....
- RouvasRouvasRouvas is a former municipality in the Heraklion peripheral unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Gortyn, of which it is a municipal unit. Population 2,324 . The seat of the municipality was in Gergeri....
History of Gortyn
There is evidence of human occupation in Gortyn as far back as the NeolithicNeolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
era (7000 BC). Many artifacts
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
have been found from the Minoan
Minoan civilization
The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that arose on the island of Crete and flourished from approximately the 27th century BC to the 15th century BC. It was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the work of the British archaeologist Arthur Evans...
period, as well as some from the Dorian (circa 1100 BC). Although is disputed whether the city was in development during the Minoan
Minoan civilization
The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that arose on the island of Crete and flourished from approximately the 27th century BC to the 15th century BC. It was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the work of the British archaeologist Arthur Evans...
period, it is true that the city was in existence during the heroic times, because it is referenced by Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
, among the cities of Crete with particular flowering and was mentioned as well fortified. The city has also been complimented by Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
and many others. The city of Gortyn surpassed the prominence of Phaistos
Phaistos
Phaistos , also transliterated as Phaestos, Festos and Phaestus is an ancient city on the island of Crete. Phaistos was located in the south-central portion of the island, about 5.6 kilometres from the Mediterranean Sea. It was inhabited from about 4000 BC. A palace, dating from the Middle Bronze...
during the first millennium BC, Phaistos having been the most significant city on Crete during Minoan times. The period of its great prosperity, however, coincided with the Hellenistic era. Gortyn exceeded in force and prosperity the other cities of Crete and took the hegemony of the island, dominating the entire valley from Messara to Levina, and later in the 2nd century after the destruction of Phaistos extended its power to Matala.
Gortyn had excellent relations with Ptolemy IV of Egypt, and experienced a new period of prosperity during the Roman period. As it had allied with the Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, it avoided the disaster that happened to many other Cretan cities, when invaded by Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus (died 55 BC)
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus was a politically active member of theRoman upper class. He was praetor in 74 BC and pontifex from 73 BC until his death...
in 68 BC.
Gortyn continued to rise under Roman rule
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, and became the capital of the joint province of Creta et Cyrenaica
Creta et Cyrenaica
Creta et Cyrenaica was a senatorial province of the Roman empire created in 20 BC. It comprised the island of Crete and the region of Cyrenaica in north Africa ....
. From the 4th century it was the capital of a separate province of Crete
Byzantine Crete
The island of Crete came under the rule of the Byzantine Empire in two periods: the first extends from the late Roman period to the conquest of the island by Andalusian exiles in the late 820s, and the second from the island's reconquest in 961 to its capture by the competing forces of Genoa and...
. The city was destroyed in ca. AD 828 by invading Arabs, who established their own state
Emirate of Crete
The Emirate of Crete was a Muslim state that existed on the Mediterranean island of Crete from the late 820s to the Byzantine reconquest of the island in 961....
on the island. One of the first Christian temples was built here and the remains of an important Christian cathedral of Crete can still be seen today. This cathedral, dedicated to St. Titus, the first Bishop of Crete, was erected in the 6th century AD. Built with large isodomic stones, this cathedral keeps its intended height only in the areas of the Holy Bema and in pastophoria. The church structure is a cruciform with a dome which is based on four pillars
Column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...
.
Archaeology
Excavations of Gortyn were begun in 1884 by the Italian School of Archaeology at Athens.The excavations showed that Gortyn was inhabited from the Neolithic age. Ruins of a settlement on the citadel of Gortyn, were discovered and dated back to 1050 BC, their collapse dating to the seventh century BC. Later the area was fortified with a wall. At the top of the hill in the citadel a temple was found dating to the 7th century BC. In this area two embossed plates were found, along with several other sculptures and paintings. Daedalic plastic and many other clay figurines, black and red figure paintings and plenty of pottery, especially the type called kernos
Kernos
In the typology of ancient Greek pottery, the kernos is a pottery ring or stone tray to which are attached several small vessels for holding offerings. Its unusual design is described in literary sources, which also list the ritual ingredients it might contain...
, were found in the temple. Graves dating to the geometric age were found on the south side of the citadel. Regarding the lower town, the excavation uncovered the position of the Agora
Agora
The Agora was an open "place of assembly" in ancient Greek city-states. Early in Greek history , free-born male land-owners who were citizens would gather in the Agora for military duty or to hear statements of the ruling king or council. Later, the Agora also served as a marketplace where...
(market) and the temple of Pythian Apollo, which is 600 meters from the Agora. At the foot of Prophet Elias are traces of a sanctuary of Demeter
Demeter
In Greek mythology, Demeter is the goddess of the harvest, who presided over grains, the fertility of the earth, and the seasons . Her common surnames are Sito as the giver of food or corn/grain and Thesmophoros as a mark of the civilized existence of agricultural society...
. 35°3′48"N 24°56′49"E
Monuments in Gortyn
The heart of Roman Gortyn is the PraetoriumPraetorium
- Etemology :The praetorium, also spelled prœtorium or pretorium, was originally used to identify the general’s tent within a Roman Castra, Castellum, or encampment. The word originates from the name of the chief Roman magistrate, known as Praetor...
, the seat of the Roman Governor of Crete. The Praetorium was built in the 1st century AD, but it was altered significantly over the next eight centuries. In the same area, between the Agora and the temple of Apollo are the ruins of the Roman baths (thermae), as well as the temple of Apollo, an honorary arch, and the temple of the Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian deities with the worship statues of Isis, Serapis and Anubis. Parts of the Roman settlement, such as the theater (2nd century AD), have been unearthed during excavations. The theater has two entrances and a half-circular orchestra, the outline of which may still be seen today. Behind the Roman Theater are what has been called the "Queen of the Inscriptions". These inscriptions are the law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
s of the city of Gortyn, which are inscribed in the Dorian dialect on large stone slabs and are still plainly visible.
The law code of Gortyn
Among archaeologists, ancient historians, and classicists Gortyn is known today primarily because of the 1884 discovery of the Gortyn CodeGortyn code
The Gortyn code was a legal code that was the codification of the civil law of the ancient Greek city-state of Gortyn in southern Crete.- History :...
which is both the oldest and most complete known example of a code of ancient Greek law
Ancient Greek law
Ancient Greek law is a branch of comparative jurisprudence relating to the laws and legal institutions of Ancient Greece.Greek law has been partially compared with Roman law, and has been incidentally illustrated with the aid of the primitive institutions of the Germanic nations...
.
The code was discovered on the site of a structure built by the Roman emperor Trajan
Trajan
Trajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...
, the Odeon
Odeon (building)
Odeon is the name for several ancient Greek and Roman buildings built for singing exercises, musical shows and poetry competitions. They were generally small in size, especially compared with a full-size ancient Greek theatre....
, which for the second time, reused stones from an inscription-bearing wall that also had been incorporated into the foundation of an earlier Hellenistic structure. Although portions of the inscriptions have been placed in museums such as the Louvre in Paris, a modern structure at the site of the mostly ruined Odeon now houses many of the stones bearing the famous law code.
The myth of Europa and Zeus
Classical Greek mythology has it that Gortyn was the site of one of Zeus' many affairs. This myth features the princess EuropaEuropa (mythology)
In Greek mythology Europa was a Phoenician woman of high lineage, from whom the name of the continent Europe has ultimately been taken. The name Europa occurs in Hesiod's long list of daughters of primordial Oceanus and Tethys...
, whose name has been applied to the continent, Europe. Disguised as a bull, Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
abducted Europa from Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
and they had an affair under a plane tree (platanus
Platanus
Platanus is a small genus of trees native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae....
), a tree that may be seen today in Gortys. Following this affair three children were born, Minos
Minos
In Greek mythology, Minos was a king of Crete, son of Zeus and Europa. Every year he made King Aegeus pick seven men and seven women to go to Daedalus' creation, the labyrinth, to be eaten by The Minotaur. After his death, Minos became a judge of the dead in Hades. The Minoan civilization of Crete...
, Rhadamanthys and Sarpedon
Sarpedon
In Greek mythology, Sarpedon referred to at least three different people.-Son of Zeus and Europa:The first Sarpedon was a son of Zeus and Europa, and brother to Minos and Rhadamanthys. He was raised by the king Asterion and then, banished by Minos, his rival in love for the young Miletus, he...
, who became the kings of the three Minoan Palaces in Crete. The identification of Europa in this myth gives weight to the claim that the civilization of the European continent was born on the island of Crete. Many coins were found with Europa representations on the back, showing that the people honored Europa as a great goddess.
Gortyn and The Odyssey
According to Book III of Homer's The Odyssey, MenelausMenelaus
Menelaus may refer to;*Menelaus, one of the two most known Atrides, a king of Sparta and son of Atreus and Aerope*Menelaus on the Moon, named after Menelaus of Alexandria.*Menelaus , brother of Ptolemy I Soter...
and his fleet of ships, returning home from the Trojan War, were blown off course to the Gortyn coastline. Homer describes stormy seas that pushed the ships against a sharp reef, ultimately destroying many of the vessels but sparing the crew.
Notable people
- ThaletasThaletasThaletas or Thales of Crete was an early Greek musician and lyric poet.The position of Thaletas is one of the most interesting, and at the same time most difficult points, in that most interesting and difficult subject, the early history of Greek music and lyric poetry...
(7th century BC), musician - Philip of GortynaPhilip of GortynaSaint Philip of Gortyna was Bishop of Gortyna on Crete. Little is known about him except for his authorship of a now lost treatise against the Gnostics. An Early Christian Apologist, he wrote in the time of Marcus Aurelius against Marcion...
, (d.180) Bishop of Gortyn, and saint
External links
- Hellenic Ministry of Culture: Gortyna
- Hellenic Ministry of Culture: Odeion of Gortyn
- Gortyn or Gortys
- History of Gortyn and the Law inscription
- Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: The Law Code of Gortyn (Crete)
- Photos of Gortyn
- The Labyrinth cave system near Gortyn ~ Written in 1909. Uninformed, judgmental and superficial but good on the aspects relating purely to the church.