Itanos () is a municipal unit (demotike enoteta) of the municipality (demos)

Siteia Sitia (Latin and Italian) or Siteia (, ) is a port town and a municipality in Lasithi, Crete, Greece. The town has 11,166 inhabitants and the municipality has 20,438 (2021). It lies east of Agios Nikolaos and northeast of Ierapetra. Sitia's ...

in the

Lasithi Lasithi () 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 Thrypti in the ...

regional unit, eastern

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. A former municipality itself, it was included in Siteia as part of the 2011 local government reform. The municipal unit has an area of . The population was 2,014 in 2021. The seat of the municipality was in

Palaikastro Palaikastro or Palekastro (, officially ), with the Godart and Olivier abbreviation PK, is a thriving town, geographic heir to a long line of settlements extending back into prehistoric times, at the east end of the Mediterranean island Crete. T ...

, but now all municipal units are administered from the municipal seat, Siteia. Until 2017 Itanos comprised four local communities (topika koinoteta):

, Karydi,

Zakros Zakros ( also Zakro or Kato Zakro) is a Minoan archaeological site on the eastern coast of Crete in Lasithi, Greece. It is regarded as one of the six Minoan palaces, and its protected harbor and strategic location made it an important commercial ...

, and Mitato (Μητάτο). Subsequently by Presidential Decree No. 70/207, on recommendation of the Minister of the Interior, and approval by Sitia and Palaikastro, Mitato was abolished, due to its seriously declining population (being a few mountain communities) and its settlements were turned over to Palaikastro.

Etymological speculations

Unlike most Greek demes (municipalities) Itanos did not have a modern city or town to serve as a namesake to the deme. There was a promontory named Itanos, the base of

Cape Sidero Cape Sideros or Cape Sidero () is a cape at the eastern end of the island of Crete, Greece. Anciently it was known as Samonium or Samonion (), Sammonium or Sammonion (), Salmonium or Salmonion (Σαλμώνιον) and Salmone (Σαλμώνη). T ...

, and Itanos Beach on its east side. There had been in fact an ancient city named

Itanos Itanos () is a municipal unit (demotike enoteta) of the municipality (demos) Siteia in the Lasithi regional unit, eastern Crete, Greece. A former municipality itself, it was included in Siteia as part of the 2011 local government reform. The muni ...

. A

Doric Greek Doric or Dorian (), also known as West Greek, was a group of Ancient Greek dialects; its Variety (linguistics), varieties are divided into the Doric proper and Northwest Doric subgroups. Doric was spoken in a vast area, including northern Greec ...

-speaking city, at least in the classical period, the time of its inscriptions, it was founded in the 7th or 8th century BC and lasted until its abandonment in the 7th or 8th century, well before modern times. At its height its territory was approximately equal to Itanos municipal unit. Whether the promontory was named after the city or the city after the promontory is not known for certain. It is generally agreed, however, that Itanos is not a Greek word, whatever it should turn out to be; consequently it is more likely that the peninsula already had the name. Although no Minoan city has been found under Itanos, the entire area was discovered in the Itanos Archaeological Survey to have supported Minoan sites. The nearest large Minoan center was in Palaikastro, where a Minoan city has been discovered and excavated. There is no evidence of its name. (Palaikastro is a later name.) The major speculation is that it was named Itanos, and the Greeks who settled later adopted the pre-existing name of its territory. The modern name of the Minoan city is

Roussolakkos Roussolakkos is the site of a Minoan city, located near Palekastro, Crete. The Bronze Age town was occupied from Early Minoan IIA to Late Minoan IIIB, and its remains are relatively well preserved. A later Greek temple to Diktaian Zeus was bu ...

, "red pit," named after a preceding quarry of red clay, and the ancient Greek city

is now Erimoupolis. The

Minoan The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age culture which was centered on the island of Crete. Known for its monumental architecture and Minoan art, energetic art, it is often regarded as the first civilization in Europe. The ruins of the Minoan pa ...

settlement may have been called Utana (cf.

Linear B Linear B is a syllabary, syllabic script that was used for writing in Mycenaean Greek, the earliest Attested language, attested form of the Greek language. The script predates the Greek alphabet by several centuries, the earliest known examp ...

U-ta-ni-yo N E 749, but there are no Linear B tablets from the area and there is no evidence that this Linear B name extended as far east as Lasithi. J. Bennet ruled out the possibility that any Linear B tablets found at Knossos referred directly to classical Itanos. A beach north of Itanos Beach was named Erimoupolis as though there had been a polis. The name, however, means "deserted city.This translation is that of Federico Halbherr, early excavator of

Itanus Itanus or Itanos () was a Greek city and port on the northeast coast of ancient Crete, on the promontory which the Romans called Itanum, the neuter form of Itanus, Latin for Greek Itanos. The base of the tripartite northeast promontory, today c ...

: Archaeological investigation discovered a rather large ancient city sprawling over the hills next to the beaches. Scientific studies showed that Itanos Beach was a sedimented harbor. There was no longer a question of the location of Itanos.

Etymological speculations

Notes

Citations

Reference bibliography

External links