Gortys

Gortys is a former Roman town founded around 67 BC. According to ancient sources, it had 10 km in diameter, with the archaeological finds scattered on the area of hundreds of hectares of olive groves. The different ruins, parts of columns nd stonework are just lying close to the road, overgrown with grass and bushes, where you keep stumbling over history literally on every step. In the fenced in premises of Gortys at the very entrance, you will find the Agios Titos Basilica from the 6th century. North of the basilica, there is a Roman Odeon made of stone blocks into which the code of Dorian settlers was carved out around 500 AD - the the legal code of the town of Gortis that included both civil and criminal law. Behind the Odeon, the path will take you to a huge plane tree where Zeus brought Europe according to a myth. Outside the fenced in premises of Gortys, you will find the remains of the acropolis, a theatre, baths, a stadium and a few sanctuaries.

Location

Gortys can be found in the island interior on the Messara Plateau 10 km from the town of Mires and about 45 km south-west of Heraklion.