Hagia Photia
Encyclopedia
Hagia Photia is an archaeological site of a fortified ancient Minoan
building on eastern Crete
. Sitia
lies five kilometers to the west.
with a surrounding fortification wall. The fortifications are important to note, as so few Minoan settlements have evidence of city walls. Other fortified Minoan settlements are from the Pre-Palatial Period, but Hagia Photia is of the Old Palatial period. Three apsidal buttress
es along the north wall which faces the sea and a fourth at the southwest corner of the outer wall are similar to the buttresses on fortification walls at Lerna
in the Argolid and Chalandriani on Syros
.
The site was abandoned in Middle Minoan IA
and circular structures were built over those ruins during Middle Minoan IIA
. The structures might be tholos tombs, and would be the farthest north and east tombs of their kind on the island. Many of the grave goods here are Cycladic, and may indicate that Hagia Photia was a Cycladic colony.
Two Kouphota hill caves which face the sea contain Neolithic
, Pre-Palatial and Old Palance period remnants.
150 meters to the east, a Minoan cemetery, Glyphada, has been excavated with over 250 Early Minoan I-II
chamber tombs.
Finds excavated from Hagia Photia are at the Archaeological Museum of Sitia and the Agios Nikolaos, Crete
Museum.
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...
building on eastern 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...
. Sitia
Sitia
Sitia refers both to the port town, with 8,900 inhabitants and to the municipality with 19,209 inhabitants in Lasithi, Crete . It lies to the east of Agios Nikolaos and to the northeast of Ierapetra. Sitia port is on the Sea of Crete, which is a part of the Aegean Sea and is one of the economic...
lies five kilometers to the west.
Archaeology
The building at Hagia Photia has 37 rooms which open onto a central court, but do not necessarily connect to adjoining rooms. It was originally built in Middle Minoan IAMinoan pottery
Minoan pottery is more than a useful tool for dating the mute Minoan civilization. Its restless sequence of rapidly maturing artistic styles reveal something of Minoan patrons' pleasure in novelty while they assist archaeologists to assign relative dates to the strata of their sites...
with a surrounding fortification wall. The fortifications are important to note, as so few Minoan settlements have evidence of city walls. Other fortified Minoan settlements are from the Pre-Palatial Period, but Hagia Photia is of the Old Palatial period. Three apsidal buttress
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...
es along the north wall which faces the sea and a fourth at the southwest corner of the outer wall are similar to the buttresses on fortification walls at Lerna
Lerna
In classical Greece, Lerna was a region of springs and a former lake near the east coast of the Peloponnesus, south of Argos. Its site near the village Mili at the Argolic Gulf is most famous as the lair of the Lernaean Hydra, the chthonic many-headed water snake, a creature of great antiquity...
in the Argolid and Chalandriani on Syros
Syros
Syros , or Siros or Syra is a Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is located south-east of Athens. The area of the island is . The largest towns are Ermoupoli, Ano Syros, and Vari. Ermoupoli is the capital of the island and the Cyclades...
.
The site was abandoned in Middle Minoan IA
Minoan pottery
Minoan pottery is more than a useful tool for dating the mute Minoan civilization. Its restless sequence of rapidly maturing artistic styles reveal something of Minoan patrons' pleasure in novelty while they assist archaeologists to assign relative dates to the strata of their sites...
and circular structures were built over those ruins during Middle Minoan IIA
Minoan pottery
Minoan pottery is more than a useful tool for dating the mute Minoan civilization. Its restless sequence of rapidly maturing artistic styles reveal something of Minoan patrons' pleasure in novelty while they assist archaeologists to assign relative dates to the strata of their sites...
. The structures might be tholos tombs, and would be the farthest north and east tombs of their kind on the island. Many of the grave goods here are Cycladic, and may indicate that Hagia Photia was a Cycladic colony.
Two Kouphota hill caves which face the sea contain Neolithic
Neolithic
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...
, Pre-Palatial and Old Palance period remnants.
150 meters to the east, a Minoan cemetery, Glyphada, has been excavated with over 250 Early Minoan I-II
Minoan pottery
Minoan pottery is more than a useful tool for dating the mute Minoan civilization. Its restless sequence of rapidly maturing artistic styles reveal something of Minoan patrons' pleasure in novelty while they assist archaeologists to assign relative dates to the strata of their sites...
chamber tombs.
Finds excavated from Hagia Photia are at the Archaeological Museum of Sitia and the Agios Nikolaos, Crete
Agios Nikolaos, Crete
Agios Nikolaos is a coastal town on the Greek island of Crete, lying east of the island's capital Heraklion, north of the town of Ierapetra and west of the town of Sitia. In the year 2000, the Municipality of Agios Nikolaos, which takes in part of the surrounding villages, claimed around 19,000...
Museum.
External links
- http://www.uk.digiserve.com/mentor/minoan/agphotia.htm