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POLYRRHENIA POLIRINIA
Polyrrhenia was an ancient city-state in West Crete. The settlement was built at an altitude of 418 meters above sea level: Kissamos 7.8 km, Chania 44.4 km.
The name of the city comes from the ancient Greek, meaning: “many lambs”.
1100 BC – The Achaean and Laconian settlers began building the city in Late Minoan period
– had an aristocratic political system: like that of Sparta
– the area was inhabited even before the city was built
– the flourishing of the city-state from the 6th century (Archaic period) to Roman times
– It was the 2nd most important city-state in West Crete: Kydonia, today’s Chania, was the largest
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– the rivals of the city-state: Knossos, Kydonia, and neighbouring Phalasarna – there was hostility between the city-states
10th century
The city-state in the notes of the Greek historian Strabo:
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1942-44 – result of the first excavations in Polyrrinia
– the city was strongly fortified in Byzantine times
– the place of worship dates from this era
1986 – the archaeological excavations began again
– the site shows the remains of ancient walls: 3.0 to 5.5 m high
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– archaeologists have excavated a rock chapel, and houses carved into the rock
– the remains of the aqueduct were found
– the surviving Hellenistic watchtower in the town square was reconstructed – the tower was in a severely damaged condition, because the stones from the tower were used as building materials for the local primary school in the early 20th century
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The houses carved into the rock
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The rock chapel
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