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The old town of Itanos and Itanos Beach in Crete
A short drive north of Vai (in the nort east of Crete) you find the relatively isolated bays and beaches of Itanos (also including a nudist beach). As an extra bonus there is a Minoan city at the entrance of the main beach. Itanos was one of the most influential places in the east of Crete. It florished from early Minoan to early Byzantian times. There are traces of a basilic and of Greek walls, and a lot of fallen apart traces on the hill.
Itanos was particularly powerful during the Greek era and it was flourishing by the seventh century B.C. Itanos was continuously at war with its neighbours, originally with Praisos, and when Ierapytna / Ierapetra destroyed Praisos, Itanos was at war with Ierapytna Ierapetra. An important reason for the conflict was dispute over the control of the Temple of Zeus in Palaikastro / Palekastro.
Only after Praises was defeated and some sort of cooperation with Ierapatra was established Itanos started to florish. This was a few centuries BC. The port of Itanos was situated in a very strategic place and the town started to trade with Egypt and the surrounding towns.
In the 8th century AD Itanos was destroyed in an earthquake but the inhabitants stayed and rebuilt the town. Only in the 15th century after attacks by pirates the town was finally destroyed and deserted.
Because the west of Crete slowly elevates upwards and the east odf the island is slowly sinking (6 to 9 meters in the last 2000 years, mainly caused by earthquakes, see also: Gramvousa) parts of the harbour of Itanos have now sunk into the sea.
The site of Itanos covers an area of more than 16,000 square meters, and most of it is still not escavated.
If after you've seen the nearby palmbeach of Vai you think that that is too commercial and too cultivated, than these beaches are closeby and a good option. In the area there are more quiet places to be found. Up north the road suddenly ends. Well: you are not allowed to drive any farther for one reason or another.
There are no tavernas, restaurants or anything at all at the site, so you must bring your own supplies. I think that because a lot of the site has not been escevated yet, it is not allowed to build houses any longer (we saw one). If you want a nice beach in the area with restaurants and hotels than Kouremenos (close to Palekastro) would be a good choice.
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Hans Huisman, https://www.angelfire.com/super2/greece/ 2007 2008