Summer is beautiful! - Hersonissos Online

Limenas Herson<strong>is</strong>sou Herson<strong>is</strong>sos <strong>is</strong> officially named Limenas Herson<strong>is</strong>sou (Port of Herson<strong>is</strong>sos), because it was once the harbour of the village of Ano Herson<strong>is</strong>sos (Upper Herson<strong>is</strong>sos), now known as Old Herson<strong>is</strong>sos. Ano Herson<strong>is</strong>sos <strong>is</strong> 2 kilometres south of seaside Herson<strong>is</strong>sos, which essentially developed from the 1960s onwards due to tour<strong>is</strong>m. Until then it had been just a small village with a rudimentary harbour, from which local agricultural goods were exported. T he Municipality of Herson<strong>is</strong>sos extends from the north coastline of central Crete to the imposing mountain chains of Lasithi. It <strong>is</strong> located east from the city of Heraklion, 24 km away from the airport of N. Kazantzak<strong>is</strong> and 26 km from the port of Heraklion. Herson<strong>is</strong>sos has developed due to tour<strong>is</strong>m and in just a few decades, has grown into the largest tour<strong>is</strong>t resort in Crete. Herson<strong>is</strong>sos has about 3,000 permanent inhabitants (2,981 in the 2001 census), but th<strong>is</strong> number increases exponentially each summer, with the thousands of seasonal workers in tour<strong>is</strong>m, and of course the hundreds of thousands of tour<strong>is</strong>ts who come to Herson<strong>is</strong>sos on holiday. H<strong>is</strong>tory of Herson<strong>is</strong>sos The h<strong>is</strong>tory of Herson<strong>is</strong>sos begins in Minoan Crete, when the city of Cherronesos or Chersonesos stood on the site of the present resort. Following the destruction of the Minoan civil<strong>is</strong>ation, Herson<strong>is</strong>sos continued to be inhabited. In Hellen<strong>is</strong>tic times it became the port of the Dorian city of Lyttos inland, which had become very powerful. From that period dates a wall on Kastri Hill, above the harbour and the small church of Agia Paraskevi, which you see as soon as you walk down the Herson<strong>is</strong>sos beach road. It <strong>is</strong> though that here stood a sacred acropol<strong>is</strong> with a sanctuary dedicated to Artem<strong>is</strong> Britomartys. 6 /<strong>Summer</strong> Breeze/Aug-Sept 2010 Gold, silver and jewelry The cemetery of 30 rock-cut tombs, recently excavated in modern-day Herson<strong>is</strong>sos belongs to the Hellen<strong>is</strong>tic period. In the tombs were found rich grave goods, including many vessels of various shapes and sizes, gold and silver coins and much jewellery. Big city Herson<strong>is</strong>sos flour<strong>is</strong>hed in the Roman period and the first centuries of the Byzantine Empire. The aqueduct which brought water to Herson<strong>is</strong>sos from mountain villages to the south <strong>is</strong> thought to have been 14 kilometres long, while an underground reservoir has also been found, measuring 58 metres long, 22 metres wide and 5.5 metres deep. Th<strong>is</strong> shows that Herson<strong>is</strong>sos had grown into quite a large city during Roman times. The '60 The <strong>beautiful</strong> beaches of Herson<strong>is</strong>sos and its location near Heraklion airport and harbour attracted investors, and the first hotels began to spring up around 1960. Coastal Herson<strong>is</strong>sos quickly became one of the most popular tour<strong>is</strong>t resorts in Crete and Greece. New Herson<strong>is</strong>sos Coastal Herson<strong>is</strong>sos, officially known as Limenas Herson<strong>is</strong>sou (Herson<strong>is</strong>sos Harbour), the Cheron<strong>is</strong>sos of antiquity, rose from the ashes and became new Herson<strong>is</strong>sos as opposed to old Herson<strong>is</strong>sos, the village in the hills. Today Herson<strong>is</strong>sos <strong>is</strong> still growing, welcoming and entertaining more and more tour<strong>is</strong>ts every summer. source: "Malia, Herson<strong>is</strong>sos...", A. Vasilak<strong>is</strong>, p.38-62, Adam editions Evangel<strong>is</strong>tria Church, center of Herson<strong>is</strong>sos