Poecilasium or Poikilasion ( grc, Ποικιλάσιον) or Poecilassus or Poikilassos (Ποικίλασσος)''

Stadiasmus Maris Magni The ''Stadiasmus Maris Magni'' ( grc, Σταδιασμός ήτοι περίπλους της μεγάλης θαλάσσης) is an ancient Roman periplus or guidebook detailing the ports sailors encounter on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. ...

'', p. 299 ed. Hoffmann was a town on the south coast of

ancient Crete The history of Crete goes back to the 7th millennium BC, preceding the ancient Minoan civilization by more than four millennia. The palace-based Minoan civilization was the first civilization in Europe. After the Minoan civilization was devast ...

. Ancient sources disagree as to its location:

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of import ...

places the town east of

Tarrha Tarrha or Tarra ( grc, Τάρρα), also Tarrhus or Tarros (Τάρρος), was a ''polis'' (city-state) in the southwestern part of ancient Crete, near the Samaria Gorge, at the village of Agia Roumeli. It is situated near the sea, on the hill. Hi ...

, between it and the promontory called Hermaea; the ''

'' places it west of Tarrha, between it and

Syia Syia or Suia ( grc, Συῒά), also Syba (Σύβα),''Stadiasmus Maris Magni'' §§ 321-322. was a maritime town of ancient Crete. It was located on the south coast of Crete and functioned as the harbour of Elyrus. According to the ''Stadiasmus ...

60 stadia from the former and 50 stadia from the latter. Poecilasium was not an autonomous city-state (''

polis ''Polis'' (, ; grc-gre, πόλις, ), plural ''poleis'' (, , ), literally means "city" in Greek. In Ancient Greece, it originally referred to an administrative and religious city center, as distinct from the rest of the city. Later, it also ...

''). In the town there was found inscription that testifies to the existence of Temple of

Serapis Serapis or Sarapis is a Graeco-Egyptian deity. The cult of Serapis was promoted during the third century BC on the orders of Greek Pharaoh Ptolemy I Soter of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt as a means to unify the Greeks and Egyptians in his r ...

. There were also found hollowed tombs in the rocks and marble pits. In the 918 Code of Markian Library, it is called Pecilasio overo Pescalio. The site of Poecilasium is located near modern

Trypiti Trypiti ( el, Τρυπητή) is a small town in the island of Milos, Greece (400 citizens). It is famous for being located next to the Milos Catacombs (the Milos Catacombs, not to confused with the Paris Catacombs The Catacombs of Paris (fre ...

; confirming the accuracy of Stadiasmus and the error of Ptolemy.

References

Populated places in ancient Crete Former populated places in Greece Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Greece Archaeological sites in Crete {{AncientCrete-geo-stub