Crete-Discover the Unknown Crete

C H A P T E R 4
Sitia from Minoan times
to Venetian dominion
Clear, light waters
and a wide horizon
characterize the
bay of Sitia
Like a white amphitheatre, Sitia hugs the
bay with its port from which the ships that
sail towards the islands of the Dodecanese
leave. In ancient times the port was called
Eteia and belonged to the city of Pressos
(Praisos), a settlement on the hills inland that
remained important from Minoan times to
the Hellenistic period.
Later the Romans were to occupy Sitia as
an eastern Cretan outpost: the remains of
a large fish tank date back to this period,
whilst all traces of the earlier civilisations
were destroyed by the continual incursions
of pirates and by the numerous earthquakes
that have plagued the area.
80
Before the ninth century an important
diocese was founded in Sitia, to then be
devastated shortly after by the Saracens.
For this reason it was decided to transfer
the bishopric to Episkopi, less exposed to
raids and pillaging. On the Byzantine ruins
the Genoese Enrico Pescatore built a fortress
which the Venetians took possession of in
1280, and which became, together with
Hania, Rethymnon and Heraklion, one of
Crete's most powerful strongholds.