Gortyn - St. Titus

Like nearby Phaistos, Gortyn in the Messara Plain is said to have been founded by the legendary King Minos. Indeed, traces of early settlement date back to the Neolithic period. Gortyn is mentioned in Homer's Iliad.

During the Dorian immigration, Gortyn became the most important city of the Messara. During the heyday of the city-states in the Classical and Hellenistic periods, Gortyn was one of the most important and, with 40,000 to 80,000 inhabitants, the most populous city on the island.

In the 3rd century BC, the city dominated south-central Crete. Hannibal found refuge here in 189 BC. When Gortyn became involved in the conflict with Rome against Knossos, it became the capital of the Roman province of Crete after the Roman occupation of the island.

The city was an early center of Christianization. In 59 AD, the Apostle Paul preached here. In 250 AD, the so-called Ten Holy Bishops are said to have been martyred nearby. The name of the city, Agioi Deka, dates back to this event. Gortyn is said to have been a bishopric as early as the 2nd century, with Saint Titus, a disciple of the Apostle Paul, said to have been the first bishop.

In 395, Gortyn was annexed to Byzantium. Gortyn possessed several early Byzantine churches and remained the sole bishopric of Crete for a while after the Arab conquest. Byzantine troops were not able to recapture Crete until 961.

The Basilica of St. Titus is the ruin of an early Christian basilica from the 6th century; only the altar area of ​​the basilica remains. The church received its name from its excavators in the 19th century, based on local tradition.

It looks like crusaders left their mark by carving these graffiti