This morning we got up early to get organized to be ready to catch the 9:30 bus. The trek to the bus depot was nothing special other than the interesting view of the skyline.
Before we left I had time to deal with my email and I had a few questions from Rand which I thought were good questions and perhaps some of you may be interested in hearing the questions and answers. So here the questions from memory since as I write this I do not have internet access to get exact wording.
Question one is about the lack of trees or flowers in the pictures. It is early spring here and even though the sun is warm it can be a bit chilly. I think that it is a bit early for flowers and only half of the trees we see have foliage on them. However, in the city there are not a lot of trees to be found since the houses are so crowded. Along the road ways and in a few parks you will find some trees but not what we would thing of as a lot.
Question two was about the traffic on the streets and how noisy it is. There is a lot of traffic but since we are not staying at any hotels on the main roads we have not noticed it much. As for the streets around the areas we stay, they are so narrow that only one lane of traffic really can get through at a time which means traffic is slow. We have not noticed the noise in the hotels so far. This does not mean there is not a lot of traffic on the main streets but again the drivers seem to know how to ensure traffic flows – it really is like a dance as everyone seems to be insinc and the traffic flows in all directions but smoothly. For me, it looks like an accident ready to happen but these drivers have the rhythm figured out and they dance through the roads without anxiety or concern (and seldom a horn).
I think I have answered the questions asked and when I can will relook at the email I received and add more if need be.
We got onto the bus and headed out of town. This was our first real view of the countryside of Crete and I was impressed. The bus was full and taking pictures was difficult through the glass windows but I managed some countryside shots to share. Obvious there is agriculture in the area and even on some slopes I saw Olive Tree groves that were looking like a natural growth formation. I am used to seeing neat rows of trees when planted for agriculture but many a place the trees seems to have no pattern in planting. I suspect it was because trees were planted in the sports where they would grow and on the mountain sides that was not in neat rows. In addition it was very interesting to see orchards of oranges with the bright green leaves and yellow/orange fruit hanging about.
I think that here is a good place to talk about the houses we are seeing in Crete. The houses generally look fresh, clean and brightly colored (usually white or cream). What I found very interesting was the building style. It seems that concrete is used to create a form for a house with concrete floor, concrete pillars and a concrete slab for the next floor or roof. After these frames are built, then the areas between the pillars are completed again using concrete or brick. Windows and doors are built into these sections and to complete the house the concrete or brick is stuccoed over and painted white. It is was very common to find the concrete frame built for a two or three story house sitting incomplete or having only one layer of the house completed leaving the first floor open pillars (or in some cases the 2nd floor open pillars). We assumed that this style of building provided the owners with the ability to complete each floor as they could afford it or need it. Another trait noticed, and if you look closely at the pictures of houses, is the re-bar sticking up above the roofline for all the pillars below. I am thinking they left these in place in order to continue to add another floor at some time in the future. Since the roofs are concrete and flat, they could use this as the floor for the new level. This is a very interesting building plan in my opinion. I hope I explained it clearly.
As we travelled down the highway it was hard to miss the mountains in the background. Crete has two mountain ranges and the first one we could see from Heraklion called Mount Ida and as we neared Khania we were able to see the Lefka Orl range.
We arrived in Khania and used the GPS to help direct us through the rabbit warren of streets to our hotel. When we arrived the front desk was vacant so we talked to the lady at the coffee shop that is off the lobby. She told us to phone but of course we could not since we had no phone. She kindly phone the hotel manager who had stepped out to deal with business and he returned right away to let us into our room. The views from the room and the balcony are really nice and we will enjoy the balcony later.
We immediately headed along the seawall to head to the old port and the tourist information center. Finding the information center was easy, until we found the building being renovated. Fortunately there was a sign directing us around the corner to a side street where they had temporary offices. Yes, you have heard me mention often about buildings being closed for renovations – must be a constant task here but many are trying to be ready for the tourist season and we are early for that. We found very friendly staff and took some time to practise some pronunciation of Greek words…the most difficult one for us to pronounce is ‘thank you’.
From there we headed back down to the old port and enjoyed walking around. Of course we had to walk out on the breakwater to have a look at the Venetian lighthouse. It seemed to be very modern so not sure why it is called the Venetian lighthouse. The views were excellent.
On our way from the Information center to the old port we came across an archaeological site and I found the information available at this sight extremely interesting since it really has captured a lot of the cultural history of the area. Interesting enough the sight really is a large house but has several generation of construction on the one site. I have tried to capture as much detail of the description as I could and have included a site map as well.
The Greek Swedish Excavations in Haghia Aikaterini Square, Kastrelli Hill
The Greek-Swedish Excavations in Haghia Aikaterini Square, Kastrelli Hill cover 5000 years of history of the settlement at Khania – from the Transitional Neolithic period (c. 3000 BC) till the present day.
Most of what to-day can be seen at the excavation site belongs to a part of the settlement which was destroyed in a big conflagration c. 1450 BC (Late Minoan IB) The houses (brown colour on the plan) were built in blocks and divided by narrow streets and squares. One building, HOUSE 1, measuring 225 meters square has been completed excavated. From the street one entered the entrance hall which gave access to the main room, the Minoan Hall. From the entrance hall one could also go to a small lobby from where a staircase let to the 2nd floor or one might continue through into a combined kitchen and work room where remains of a loom was discovered. There is a store room and one of the vases found here contained 3 kgs of burnt peas. In the same room two Linear A tables with the Minoan script were found, fallen from the room above. One room was probably the Treasury where there were found many decorated clay vessels, sealings, amulets and jewellery. All together the house contained more than 300 complete vases, some of which are on exhibition in the Archaeological Museum.
After the destruction the people returned and settled in the ruins (rooms A, I, and Q were reused in House I). Only a Late Minoan IIIA (C. 1350 BC) new houses were erected on the site (green color on the plan). These houses were destroyed in a fire ca. 100 years later and from this destruction in Late Minoan IIIB: 1 came the sensational finds of Linear B tables written in the earliest known Greek of the Mycenaeans from the mainland. It is also in this and the following period (Late3 Minoan IIIA and IIIB) that the famous local pottery workshop flourishes, many vases of which were found in rooms a and c.
The settlement was rebuilt and habitation continued into the 12 century BC (Late3 Minoan IIIC: light blue colour on the plan). In the Late Geometric period (late 8th c. BC) people returned to the sithe, which has been inhabited since then (Light green colour on the plan). The venetian and Turkish buildings (yellow color on the plan).
When the late Minoan I B houses (brown colour) were constructed most of the previous settlement was demolished in order to build the pre-planned settlement correctly. Below these houses there are the remains of a very well constructed settlement of the Early Minoan period (3rd millennium: dark blue colour on the plan). One of the most spectacular finds is an ivory plaque – perhaps a piece of gaming board. In the area without Late Minoan I buildings was also discovered remains from the Middle Minoan period (dark green colour on the plan) with amoung others, finds of eggshell ware.
Additional information for those interested in human geography and historical perspectives follows.
History of Khania
The hill of Kastelli, dominating the natural harbour and the plain of Khania, has been chosen as the most convenient place for the establishment of the first organized Minoan settlement in the area of Khania. This goes back to the Prepalatial period (3000-2000 BC) as the systematice excavations in the area has shown. In all the years to come this same hill has always remained center and starting point of the life of the settlement.
Most scholars identify the modern city of Khania with the site of Minoan and Classical Kydonia, although the undeniable proof is yet to be found. The results of the excavations, which have increased in the recent years mainly due to the extensive civic works, enforce this idea day after day, since they bring to light the most important city of western Crete of both the prehistoric and the classical times, namely Kydonia, according to the written sources.
The Neopalatial period (1700-1400 BC) as well as the Mycenaean one (1400-1200 BC) constitutes to-date, the most familiar pages of the Minoan city life as far as archaeological evidence and history are concerned. The neopalatial settlement of Khania can be classified in the palatial centers, due to the large number of tablets and sealings with text in the Linear A Script (ie: the undeciphered Minoan script) that have been brought to light and that reveal concentrated power and bureaucratic organization (fig 2) . In addition, the very important buildings, revealed in the recent years, suggest the existence of a sound town planning, in which at least one particular notable sanctuary is integrated (figs 3-4). The clay sealing called “The Master Impression” is, undoubtedly, included amoung the most important finds of the excavations of the town. It bears a representation unique in Minoan art: a multi-storey building cluster occupies a coastal hill with a harbour in a steep rocky shore –namely scenery identical to the hill of Kastelli, where it has been discovered. Horns of consecration adorn the roofs, in the middle and hghest of which dominated a figure of a young male with a sceptre or spear in his outstreteched right hand (figs. 5-6). The settlement underwent a severe blow by the great conflagration of c. 1450 BC at the same time when all the Cretan centers have been destroyed, except for from the the Palace of Knossos. In the years to come the Mycenaean presence becomes evident. In the beginning of the 14th century BC the Palace of Knossos is destroyed. At the same period Kydonia is burned down. Trade is now in the hands of Achaeans and Crete becomes part of the Mycenaean world. The development of Kydonia as a palatial center during the last centuries of the Minoan civilization is considered a fact by various scholars. The location of Khania as the closest important Cretan settlement to the centers of Peloponnese and the Greek mainland plays a determinant role in this. The city’s contacts are not limited only to the rest of Crete, the Greek mainland and Cyclades but can also be traced in Cyprus, Canaan, Syria, Egypt, Italy and Sardina. The local pottery workshop presents objects of exceptional art and technique. Using large inscribed stirrup jars the Kydonians used to transport liquid products (mainly olive oil) to the Greek mainland. Particularly important for the history of Kydonia has been the discovery of three tablets with text in the Linear B Script 9ie: the first Greek script), one of which mentions a sanctuary of Zeus in which Zeus and Dionysus were being worshiped.
The late Minoan II-III (C. 1450-1200 BC) necropolis lies in an area of at least 1000 X 1300 m to east and southeast of the settlement. To date approximately 200 graves have been excavated arranged sporadic or in clusters. Most are chamber tombs with long dromos, multiple burials inside the chamber and often rich in grave goods, but there are also ‘pit-caves’ and ‘pit-graves’. A brilliant event for the archaeology of Khania has been the revealing in 2004 of a cluster of ‘warrior graves’ of the Mycenaean times in a building plot at the south of the Prefecture edifice.
The first results of the study of the skeletal material from these graves indicate mainly strong and tall men but also a few women as companions. The analytical study of the skeletal material of merely humble graves had formerly shown that the average span of life of women of that sample was 25.6 and of men 34.14 years and their average height 1.49 and 1.64 respectively. Women, in general, appeared to be ery afflicted. They exhibit increase of mortality due to pregnancy and child-birth, low height because of chronic bad nutrition or chronic disease. Furthermore, the rate of child mortality is high in the whole cemetery. Abruptly, around 1150 BC in a period of disorder and destruction, life in Khanaia ceases. Various internal causes, the earth quakes, the rigidity of the political and economical system, the movement of the “Sea people”, lead to the end of Minoization.
In the beginning of the first millennium BC there is very few evidence for the life of the area of Khania. The once powerful settlement plays again a leading part since the 8th century BC during the late Geometric period., the so-called “Greek renaissance’ of antiquity. At that time the first city-states are established in the Greek mainland and in Crete, either as organized, political units or as fortified communities. The location of Khania in the middle of the sea route from East Mediterranean to italy certainly played an important role in those years of colonization, as a convenient way station of trade and replenishment.
The new settlement keeps the hill of Kastelli as its center, which has later been fortified forming the acropolis, whereas the city is spread in a big radius, to the south and west of the hill. Day after day the rescued excavations bring to light a wealth of information. In particular, the recent civic works for the installation of central water pipes and drains in the big arterial roads of the modern city resulted in a further research of the extent and organization of the ancient city and in the revealing of interesting and significant ancient buildings and mobile finds.
Unfortunately, the continuous building activity has ruined in a great extent the architectural remains of the Archaic and early Classical city (6th to 5th century BC); the traces of the 4th c BC constantly increase. The data is enriched piecemeal as we come up to the upper layer of the Hellenistic and roman city (3rd c. BC – 4th c. AD). Parts of main roads, the ;possible location of the Agora of the Roman period, remains of baths and small industrial units in the city’s outskirts with pottery kilns and an installation for the production of expensive purple have been located. The best persevered ancient buildings of Kydonia being impressive mosaic floors belong to the period of the Roman occupation. Various Hellenistic and Roman sculptures, some of which are works of exceptional artists, originate from different places of the ancient city. The cemeteries of Kydonia embosom the city, from southeast, south and west.
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