Vasiliki is the name of a village in the municipality of

Ierapetra Ierapetra ( el, Ιεράπετρα, lit=sacred stone; ancient name: ) is a Greek town and municipality located on the southeast coast of Crete. History The town of Ierapetra (in the local dialect: Γεράπετρο ''Gerapetro'') is located on ...

, in the prefecture of

Lasithi Lasithi ( el, Λασίθι) is the easternmost regional unit on the island of Crete, to the east of Heraklion. Its capital is Agios Nikolaos, the other major towns being Ierapetra and Sitia. The mountains include the Dikti in the west and the Th ...

, on

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

, and the name of the nearby Minoan archeological site. The site took its name from the village.

Geography

Vasiliki lies on a small hill in the north of the

Ierapetra isthmus The Isthmus of Ierapetra (Ισθμός της Ιεράπετρας) is a strip of land on the Greek island of Crete which connects the easternmost municipality, Siteia, to the rest of the island. Its name comes from the largest settlement, Ier ...

. It is located about 2 km inland from the north coast of Crete and the

Mirabello Bay Mirabello Bay (also ''Bay/Gulf of Mirabello/Mirabella'') is an embayment of the Sea of Crete on the eastern part of Crete in present-day Greece. It is the largest bay of the Greek islands and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean Sea. The tourist ...

. The nearby archaeological site of

Priniatikos Pyrgos Priniatikos Pyrgos is an archaeological site near Istron River, in the eastern Cretan regional unit of Lasithi, (Greece). The nearest big town is Agios Nikolaos, Crete. The site is on a coastal promontory. It appears to have been first settled in ...

is about 7 km to the north-west. The exit of the impressive

Ha Gorge Ha Gorge ( el, Φαράγγι Χά) is a narrow gorge, at the Monasteraki Dakos, on the eastern part of the island of Crete in Greece. It is located in the west slope of Thrypti mountain range, and exits east of Vasiliki village in the plain ...

is located nearby.

Archaeology

Vasiliki was first excavated 1903-1906 by American archaeologist R. B. Seager. Nicolas Platon continued excavations in 1953. In 1970, A. A. Zois began meticulous work that lasted until 1982, and returned to the site again in 1990 to continue the work. The Minoan village was in use from EMIIA to LMIA. The first structures were constructed during EM IIA period. These buildings were destroyed and new buildings went up during EM IIB. From about 2500 BC onwards, the culture of Vasiliki resembled art elements as other Cretan sites such as

Knossos Knossos (also Cnossos, both pronounced ; grc, Κνωσός, Knōsós, ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and has been called Europe's oldest city. Settled as early as the Neolithic period, the na ...

and Trapeza based upon pottery finds. A nearby

tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...

from LMIII was once discovered, but the location has not been rediscovered.

Vasiliki ware

The site includes houses, many Vasiliki-ware pottery finds and a paved courtyard. The distinctive pottery found at this site and named Vasiliki Ware is not unique to Vasiliki. It was also produced at several other sites and widely distributed elsewhere. The first examples of Vasiliki Ware are to be found in East Crete during EM IIA period, but it is in the next period, EM IIB, that it becomes the dominant form among the fine wares throughout eastern and southern Crete.Minoan settlement of Vasiliki
minoancrete.com There's another important archaeological site nearby, Priniatikos Pyrgos, roughly contemporary with Vasiliki. It contains many examples of Vasiliki ware.

References

External links

* http://www.minoancrete.com/vasiliki.htm {{Authority control Ierapetra Minoan sites in Crete