Archaeological Museum of Mesara in Gortys, Crete now open!
Archaeological Museum of Mesara in Gortys, Crete now open! Gortys, also known as Gortyn or Gortyna is one of the most important cities in Crete with an unbroken history of 6,000 years and one of the most extensive archaeological sites in Greece. It lies in south central Crete in the fertile Mesara plain, the site of the first human habitation of Crete at the end of the Neolithic period (5th millennium BC). Gortys was one of the f irst areas of Crete to attract the attention of researchers and archaeologists as early as the period of Turkish occupation in the late 19th century, when Minoan civilization was still a matter of conjecture and myth. In 1884 the discovery and preservation of the Great Inscription by Iosif Hatzidakis, Stefanos Xanthoudides and Italian Federico Halbherr led to excavations in the Gortys area and these explorations brought important buildings and finds to light, although a large part of the Roman city still remains unexplored today. The area has been inhabite...