Olous - The sunken city

Olous was considered to be a city of utmost importance. It’s history is discovered from various inscriptions during the Minoan Ages. The destructions of the ancient city are still visible and can be seen on the canal of Poros. On 1937, the French archaeologist H. Van Effenterre found on top of the arch, on the early-christian basilica of Olous, an inscription which contained the end of the conventional alliance between Olous and Rhodes. On 1960, professor A. Orlandos found, in one of his excavations, a missing piece of this inscription that can now be seen on the museum of Agios Nikolaos. It was written in a common dorian dialect. The agreement was rather humiliating for the citizens of Olous, since they were obliged to take up quite a few responsibilities in part of Rhodes. In Olous, they used to honor Dias, Aris and Artemis Vritomartes. Olous, as a self-governed city and a center of exportations towards East and towards the Ionian ports, had it's own currency.


Spinalonga

Spinalonga lies on the northwest opening of the Persian Gulf of Elounda. On 1954, the island was renamed “Kalidon” for unknown reasons. The fortress which already existed since the ancient times, was built to protect the port of the ancient city of Olous! Remainings of this fortress were discovered afterwards from the Enetian architecture, during his visit on the island on 1574 in order to construct a new fortress.
On the old Enetian documents, concerning the name of the island, the name “STINELONDA” is translated in greek: "Go to Elounda". The Venetians were unable to understand the word and soon the adjusted it on their own language, as Spina (spine) and Longa (a lot). The truth is that the name’s origin came from an island close to Venice, which is nowadays known as Giudecca. The fortress of Spinalonga was one of the greatest in Crete.

The early-Christian Asilica

Various archaeological researches which were conducted in different times, show that the temple of the early-christian basilica was built during the Byzantine times. The architectural style that prevails in the area, is the style of the basilica. The application of this style gives a rectangular shape, which is divided, on the inside by columns and on the east side by round arches.
There is a certainty that the basilica Olous was founded on top of the ruined Roman temple. After the dominance of Christianity, the Christians preferred building their churches above the previous foundations or in the existing idolatrous temples after conducting the necessary changes. We can say that the first Christian church of Olous was a remarkable project of three main temples, in the basilica style.