Crete-Discover the Unknown Crete

C H A P T E R 5
Mountain-top sanctuaries
In the easternmost part of Crete we find
the traces of one of the most important and
mysterious religious manifestations of the
Minoan Civilization: the rites of worship that
took place on the mountain peaks. The peak
sanctuaries originated in the Middle
Minoan period, around 2000 B.C., and
remained functional up to the time of the
Eteocretans. According to the Greek
archaeologist Costis Davaras, in the area
between Itanos and Goudouras alone there
are concentrated a full nine sacred
mountains, the best-known of which are
Petsofas and Modi above Palaekastro,
Traostalos and Vigla on the road to Zakros,
Kalamaki near Itanos, and Prinias and
Piskokephalo which are found just outside
Sitia.
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Our knowledge of
Minoan religion is
still very limited.
The finds from
peak-sanctuaries,
caves, domestic
shrines and tombs
seem to indicate
that the natural
world played an
important part in
magical
ceremonies
The traveller notes nothing in
particular, if not the mountain peaks with
irregular rock formations which contrast
with the surrounding landscape and catch
the eye: a conical summit, jagged boulders,
rings of rock or majestic ridges. Many of
these sanctuaries did not even have a sacred
enclosure (only on the mountain of Petsofas
do the walls of a temenos remain), and for
this reason scholars believe that the devout
made their way to the mountain tops simply
to pray close to the sky, where the gods