Crete-Discover the Unknown Crete

C H A P T E R 5
Palaekastro and the
mountain villages
Overlooking a
natural harbour
near the bay of
Kouremenos, in
the Middle
Minoan period
there flourished
a town today
called
Roussolakos - the
red hole -
because of the
area's purple soil
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The immense arc of the bay of
Kouremenos (where nowadays the
students of a windsurfing school whisk past)
was inhabited by an important Minoan
community right from the dawn of that
civilization. Among the olive groves of
Palaekastro, in the area known as
Roussolakos at the foot of Mount Petsofas
(which watched over one of the most
frequented peak sanctuaries of ancient
times) a vast rosy-stoned Minoan settlement
has been
brought
back to
light. The
real name
of this city
is not
known, but
we do
know that later on the Greeks were to call it
Heleia for its marshy terrain. Rectangular in
plan with paved streets, steps and a dense
weave of houses built one up against the
other to form small districts, the city enjoyed
great prestige in the Middle Minoan period.
Following the natural disaster of around
1450 B.C. which destroyed all the palaces
and cities of Crete, Palaekastro also