{"id":15082,"date":"2026-08-19T12:33:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T19:33:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.roamintheempire.com\/?p=15082"},"modified":"2026-06-28T10:34:38","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T17:34:38","slug":"kisamos-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.roamintheempire.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/19\/kisamos-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Kisamos, Creta – Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Detail<\/a>
Detail of a mosaic with Dionysiac themes depicting a Cupid at a shrine and altar. Found locally near the Plateia Eleftherios Venizelos. Dated to the late 2nd or early 3rd century CE. Archaeological Museum of Kissamos.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Most Recent Visit:<\/strong> June 2025<\/p>\n

The Kisamos that was the precursor to modern Kissamos was one of two settlements in western Crete with that name. The Kisamos at hand is located in the northwest of Crete, at the south side of the Sinus Myrtilos (modern Kolpos Kissamou) created by the Tityros and Korykos promontories (the modern Rodopou and Gramvousa peninsulas, respectively). The other must have been farther east along the coast, as it is described by Strabo as the seaport of Aptera.<\/a> This western Kisamos is sometimes described as possibly having been the seaport of Polyrrhenia, though that distinction is typically attributed to nearby Phalasarna instead, located along the west coast of Crete, about 8 kilometers from Kisamos.<\/p>\n

Though remains of an Early Minoan II to Late Minoan III settlement and a 3rd<\/sup>-4th<\/sup> century BCE settlement have been found in the area (to the west near modern Drapanias), Kisamos itself seems to have been founded in the mid to late 1st<\/sup> century BCE, probably following the destruction of Phalasarna by the Romans in 69 BCE. By 67 BCE the entirety of the island had come under the hegemony of the Romans. Following the destruction of its port of Phalasarna, Polyrrhenia itself entered a period of decline. With Roman hegemony came a steep decline in piracy in a once heavily pirated area, no longer necessitating an inland, fortified hilltop settlement like Polyrrhenia.<\/p>\n

\"Funerary<\/a>
Funerary inscription of Eutychos, who is noted as having worked for the city and boule. Dated to the 3rd century CE. Archaeological Museum of Kissamos.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Though Polyrrhenia continued to exist in the Roman period, populations seem largely to have shifted to the coast and Kisamos. The earthquake of 66 CE may have further encouraged migration to the coast, and by the end of the 1st<\/sup> century CE, Kisamos seems to have eclipsed Polyrrhenia in importance, though it is interestingly not mentioned among the cities of Crete by Pliny the Elder. The city is believed to have been at its most prosperous in the late 2nd<\/sup> and early 3rd<\/sup> century CE. By the 4th<\/sup> century CE, it was listed as one of the four primary cities of the island. The city may have had civitas libera<\/em> status by this time as well. The presence of an inscription (pictured above) dated to the 3rd century CE which mentions the boule<\/em>, in the absence of evidence indicated the city had colonia<\/em> or municipium<\/em> status, has supported the theory of civitas libera<\/em>. The city was heavily damaged in an earthquake occurring July 21, 365 CE and centered off the southwest coast of the island. Kisamos was not totally abandoned following the earthquake, but saw a significant reduction in prominence through the remainder of antiquity.<\/p>\n