Crete-Discover the Unknown Crete

C H A P T E R 1
Lato
Lato, once an
important Dorian
city-state, amidst
a beautiful
mountainous
landscape
These small
daedalic figurines
are typical of the
Doric style of
sculpture that
flourished during
the eighth and
seventh centuries
B.C.
As everywhere in Greece, on Crete the
sacred and the profane live side-by-side, and
if on one hand churches and monasteries
record the profound religiousness of the
population, numerous ancient ruins evoke
the foreign powers, wars and conflicts that
have tormented the island over the
centuries. Some kilometres before arriving at
Kritsa a turning off the main road leads to
Lato, one of the island's best-preserved
ancient cities, enclosed between two hills
below Mount Thylakas. The city-state, which
took its name from the goddess Leto,
mother of Apollo and Artemis, was founded
in the eighth century B.C. by Dorians hailing
from the Greek mainland, who invaded
Crete in around 1000 B.C., chasing the native
inhabitants from their lands: they spoke a
dialect similar to Greek and proclaimed
themselves descendents of the offspring of
Hercules. Strengthened by their absolute
authority over the island after the fall of the
Minoan and Mycenaean kingdoms, they
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