IF THE WORD ‘labyrinth’ does not lead us eventually back to the very earliest human communities, it has a good try. The Greek labyrinthos appears to be a linguistic echo from Egypt and Asia Minor. It is possible that it relates to labrys, a double-edged axe, emblem of the Cretan royal family. No one is certain, since tracing the origin of the word ‘labyrinth’ is itself an etymological labyrinth.

New from the Publications Office! (new book).
ΣΤΕΓΑ: The Archaeology of Houses and Households in Ancient Crete

Edited by Kevin T. Glowacki and Natalia Vogeikoff-Brogan

Brendan Foley peels his wetsuit to the waist and perches on the side of an inflatable boat as it skims across the sea just north of the island of Crete. At his feet are the dripping remains of a vase that moments earlier had been resting on the sea floor, its home for more than a millennium. “It's our best day so far,” he says of his dive that morning. “We've discovered two ancient shipwrecks.”

Mount Vrisinas rises up south of Rethymno Town (858 m high). Its sides are verdant in the cause of many springs (called vrises in Greek); that is why it is called Vrisinas. From its cone-shaped summit the entire province is visible and the 21 villages around it.

Two years after the destruction, on September 1573, the Rector Alvise Lando laid the foundation stone of the castle, which was to be built according to the drafts of Sforza Palavicini. After a large number of modifications, the fortress was finally completed in 1590.

The Rimondi Fountain is located at the North End of Petychaki square, in the centre of the old town of Rethymnon. 

Τhe village of Oaxos, one of the most important cities of ancient Crete, was situated in the area of the modern village of Axos, 44km southeast of Rethymno Town, and flourished from Late Minoan and Geometric up until Roman and consecutive times.

The ancient sit eof Inatos is located 65 km from Iraklion, on the south coast of Crete next to the the small village of Tsoutsouros. Tsoutsouros is mainly a fishing/ farming community of about 100 permanent residents, is becoming a popular base of operations for visitors who prefer a less intense style of vacations, than that offered by big towns and popular resorts.

The cave is situated at the South West side of Arkalochori village, specifically at the SouthWest aisle of Profitis Ilias Church, 400m above sea level.

Prinias ancient acropolis - Periods: Late Bronze Age - Dark Age - Geometric - Archaic - Classical - Hellenistic

Near the modern village of Prinias in central Crete, Heraklion Prefecture is a site possibly to be identified with ancient Rhyzenia.