Phalasarna
Encyclopedia
Falasarna/Phalasarna is an ancient Greek
harbor town on the northwest coast of Crete
. The currently visible remains of the city were built around 335 BCE and include several imposing sandstone towers and bastions, with hundreds of meters of fortification walls protecting the town and a closed harbor. The harbour is surrounded by quays with mooring stones, and connected to the sea through two artificial channels. There is also a small acropolis above the city, which predates most of the surviving ruins. Most of these structures were revealed by excavations that began in 1986 and are ongoing.
Today Falasarna is an agricultural area and tourist attraction. The valley is filled with olive groves and greenhouses cultivating mainly tomatoes and cucumbers. The seaside has large sandy beaches and crystal clear waters that are popular both with residents of the province of Chania
and foreign visitors.
, Polybius
, Livy
, Pliny
, Dionysius Kalliphontis, the anonymous geographer known as Stadiasmus, and Stephanos of Byzantium
. Falasarna was known to be at war with another Cretan city, Kydonia, in the third century BC. (Hogan, 2008)
The location of the city was then forgotten, and Falasarna appears in Venetian
records only as a lost city
. The site was rediscovered in the 19th century by British explorers Robert Pashley
and Captain T. A. B. Spratt. Spratt, of the Royal Navy
), noted in 1859 that the former harbour of the deserted site was now 100 yards from the sea and that the ancient sea coast must have risen at least twenty four feet. Modern excavation has confirmed this judgment. Radiocarbon dating
of fossil
algae along the ancient sea level mark on the cliffs around Falasarna estimates the sudden sea level change at some time more than sixteen centuries ago. A probable event was the great earthquake
and tsunami
of 21 July A.D. 365, which wreaked catastrophic damage on all the coasts of the eastern Mediterranean and was recorded by Ammianus Marcellinus
, Theophanes
, and Georgios Monachos.
But four centuries previously Falasarna had already been destroyed by the hand of man. The inhabitants were notorious pirates, and when in 68-67 BC the Romans sent forces to eliminate piracy from the eastern Mediterranean they stormed Falasarna, blocked its harbor with massive masonry, and destroyed the whole city, probably killing its citizens. No ancient sources testify to these events, but evidence of burning and the harbor blockage itself suggest the tentative conclusions of the excavators, Elpida Hadjidaki of the Greek Archaeological Service, and Frank Frost, of the University of California, Santa Barbara
.
More probably Falasarna was partly re-inhabited around 1450BC, after the giant tsunami caused by the volcanic island Thyra/Santorini explosion, and a major earthquake lifted western Crete between 6 and 9 meters, turning the all important Falasarna harbour into a useless dry-dock.
Before that catastrophic event Falasarna was the only port on Kriti/Crete from which one could sail on eyesight to the Peloponnese following Bodikonisos, Antikythira and Kythira
.
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
harbor town on the northwest coast of Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
. The currently visible remains of the city were built around 335 BCE and include several imposing sandstone towers and bastions, with hundreds of meters of fortification walls protecting the town and a closed harbor. The harbour is surrounded by quays with mooring stones, and connected to the sea through two artificial channels. There is also a small acropolis above the city, which predates most of the surviving ruins. Most of these structures were revealed by excavations that began in 1986 and are ongoing.
Today Falasarna is an agricultural area and tourist attraction. The valley is filled with olive groves and greenhouses cultivating mainly tomatoes and cucumbers. The seaside has large sandy beaches and crystal clear waters that are popular both with residents of the province of Chania
Chania
Chaniá , , also transliterated Chania, Hania, and Xania, older form Chanea and Venetian Canea, Ottoman Turkish خانيه Hanya) is the second largest city of Crete and the capital of the Chania peripheral unit...
and foreign visitors.
Ancient history
Falasarna was mentioned by ancient historians and geographers Scylax, StraboStrabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
, Polybius
Polybius
Polybius , Greek ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his work, The Histories, which covered the period of 220–146 BC in detail. The work describes in part the rise of the Roman Republic and its gradual domination over Greece...
, Livy
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
, Pliny
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
, Dionysius Kalliphontis, the anonymous geographer known as Stadiasmus, and Stephanos of Byzantium
Byzantium
Byzantium was an ancient Greek city, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas . The name Byzantium is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...
. Falasarna was known to be at war with another Cretan city, Kydonia, in the third century BC. (Hogan, 2008)
The location of the city was then forgotten, and Falasarna appears in Venetian
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
records only as a lost city
Lost city
A "Lost City" is a term that is generally considered to refer to a well-populated area which fell into terminal decline, became extensively or completely uninhabited, and whose location has been forgotten. Some lost cities whose locations have been rediscovered have been studied extensively by...
. The site was rediscovered in the 19th century by British explorers Robert Pashley
Robert Pashley
Robert Pashley was a 19th century English traveller and economist. See Pashley was born in York and studied at Trinity College, Cambridge. Distinguished in mathematics and Classics, in 1830 he was elected a Fellow of Trinity at his first sitting...
and Captain T. A. B. Spratt. Spratt, of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
), noted in 1859 that the former harbour of the deserted site was now 100 yards from the sea and that the ancient sea coast must have risen at least twenty four feet. Modern excavation has confirmed this judgment. Radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years. Raw, i.e. uncalibrated, radiocarbon ages are usually reported in radiocarbon years "Before Present" ,...
of fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
algae along the ancient sea level mark on the cliffs around Falasarna estimates the sudden sea level change at some time more than sixteen centuries ago. A probable event was the great earthquake
365 Crete earthquake
The AD 365 Crete earthquake was an undersea earthquake that occurred at about sunrise on 21 July 365 in the Eastern Mediterranean, with an assumed epicentre near Crete. Geologists today estimate the quake to have been 8 on the Richter Scale or higher, causing widespread destruction in central and...
and tsunami
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
of 21 July A.D. 365, which wreaked catastrophic damage on all the coasts of the eastern Mediterranean and was recorded by Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus was a fourth-century Roman historian. He wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from Antiquity...
, Theophanes
Theophanes
-Saints:*Theodorus and Theophanes , called the Grapti, proponents of the veneration of images during the second Iconoclastic controversy*Theophanes the Confessor Byzantine 8th-9th century historian*Theophan the Recluse Russian saint...
, and Georgios Monachos.
But four centuries previously Falasarna had already been destroyed by the hand of man. The inhabitants were notorious pirates, and when in 68-67 BC the Romans sent forces to eliminate piracy from the eastern Mediterranean they stormed Falasarna, blocked its harbor with massive masonry, and destroyed the whole city, probably killing its citizens. No ancient sources testify to these events, but evidence of burning and the harbor blockage itself suggest the tentative conclusions of the excavators, Elpida Hadjidaki of the Greek Archaeological Service, and Frank Frost, of the University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
.
More probably Falasarna was partly re-inhabited around 1450BC, after the giant tsunami caused by the volcanic island Thyra/Santorini explosion, and a major earthquake lifted western Crete between 6 and 9 meters, turning the all important Falasarna harbour into a useless dry-dock.
Before that catastrophic event Falasarna was the only port on Kriti/Crete from which one could sail on eyesight to the Peloponnese following Bodikonisos, Antikythira and Kythira
Kythira
Cythera is an island in Greece, once part of the Ionian Islands. It lies opposite the south-eastern tip of the Peloponnese peninsula. It is administratively part of the Islands regional unit, which is part of the Attica region , Greece.For many centuries, while naval travel was the only means...
.