2. Falasarna or Phalasarna
Falasarna or Phalasarna is an ancient Greek harbor
town on the northwest coast of Crete. The currently
visible remains of the city were built around 333 BC, and
include several imposing sandstone towers and
bastions, with hundreds of meters of fortification walls
protecting the town, and a closed harbor, meaning it is
protected on all sides by city walls. The harbor is ringed
by stone quays with mooring stones, and connected to
the sea through two artificial channels. Notable finds in
the harbor area include public roads, wells, warehouses,
an altar, and baths. Most of these structures were
revealed by excavations that began in 1986.
3. The acropolis is built on a cape that rises 90
meters above the harbor and juts into the sea.
The acropolis has many remains, including a
temple dedicated to goddess Dictynna,
fortification towers, cisterns, wells, and
watchtowers that could have been used to guard
sea routes.
Today Phalasarna is an agricultural area and
tourist attraction.
The valley is filled with olive groves and
greenhouses cultivating mainly tomatoes; there
are also scattered family-run hotels and
restaurants. The seaside has long sandy
beaches and crystal clear waters that are
popular both with residents of the province of
Chania and visitors from Greece and abroad.
Falasarna beach was voted, in the CNN poll,
among the best 100 beaches of the world
4. Ancient history
Phalasarna was mentioned by the ancient historians and
geographers Scylax, Strabo, Polybius, Livy, Pliny,
Dionysius Kalliphontis, and the anonymous geographer
known as Stadiasmus. The ancient geographers took
note of the artificial closed port carved out of a lagoon
and ringed with fortification walls and towers. Phalasarna
was a maritime power; the harbor was the reason for the
city's existence, the source of its wealth, and led to its
recognition. A city-state with its own laws and minting its
own coins, Phalasarna provided military advisers and
thousands of mercenaries for a war under the
Macedonian king Perseus against the Romans.
5. Phalasarna was involved in two major wars with neighboring city-states during the
Hellenistic period. The first was with Polyrrhenia, probably triggered by land
disputes. It started in the late fourth century and ended around 290 BC, following
mediation by Cleonymus of Sparta. The peace treaty was inscribed on a stone
tablet which is today in the museum of Kissamos. A second war was fought with
Cydonia around 184 BC and the disputes were finally resolved through Roman
intervention (Polybius).
The city-state prospered with its maritime affairs, evidenced by the remains of
monumental buildings and artwork. The treaty with Polyrrhenia gives evidence
that in the third century BC the inhabitants of Phalasarna were engaged in piracy,
a common practice of the Cretan city-states. In 69-67 BC the Romans sent forces
to eliminate piracy from the eastern Mediterranean, stormed Phalasarna, blocked
its harbor with massive masonry, and destroyed the whole city, probably killing its
citizens. No ancient sources testify directly to these events, but evidence of
burning and the harbor blockage itself suggest the tentative conclusions of the
excavators.
6. The location of the city was then forgotten, and
Phalasarna appears in Venetian records only as a lost
city. The site was rediscovered in the 19th century by
British explorers Robert Pashley and Captain T. A. B.
Spratt. Spratt, of the Royal Navy, noted in 1859 that the
former harbor of the deserted site was now 100 yards
from the sea, and that the ancient sea coast must have
risen at least twenty four feet. Modern excavation has
confirmed this judgment, and also has shown that the
harbor rapidly silted up after the Roman
attack.Radiocarbon dating of fossil algae along the
ancient sea level mark on the cliffs around Phalasarna
estimates the sudden sea level change at some time
more than sixteen centuries ago. A probable event was
the great earthquake and tsunami of 21 July A.D. 365,
which wreaked catastrophic damage on all the coasts of
the eastern Mediterranean and was recorded by
Ammianus Marcellinus and others. An ancient fish basin
with two flights of steps carved into the coastal rocks
near the harbor entrance has been cracked in half,
probably during the same earthquake.
7. Excavations
Rescue excavations at Phalasarna began in 1966 directed by the
Ephor of the Department of Classical Antiquities in Chania, Dr.
Yannis Tzedakis, and continued under Vanna Niniou-Kindeli. Over 70
graves were uncovered, some of them pithos burials, and others cist
graves. The early excavations were important, proving the site to
have been inhabited in the 6th century BC. Since then, only a small
part more of the cemetery has been excavated, and many beautiful
artifacts have been recovered, among them a 4th-
century pelike showing Eros chasing a Maenad. In the area of the
necropolis there stands a two-meter high throne carved from stone,
probably dedicated to the Phoenician goddess Astarte.
Research excavations began in 1986 under Elpida Hadjidaki of
the Greek Archaeological Service, and Frank Frost, of the University
of California, Santa Barbara.Major items excavated to date include
two towers, a fortified gate, long sections of harbor quays
with bollards in situ, a secondary basin, an industrial area, a public
road, warehouses, an altar, and a water tank.
