Agioi Deka ( el, Άγιοι Δέκα, "Holy Ten") is a village in the Heraklion regional unit,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, with 861 inhabitants (2011 census). It is located in the 44th km of the Heraklion-Tympaki national road and it is the centre of the municipality of

Gortyna Gortyna ( grc, Γόρτυνα; also known as Gortyn (Γορτύν)) was a town of ancient Crete which appears in the Homeric poems under the form of Γορτύν; but afterwards became usually Gortyna (Γόρτυνα). According to Stephanus of ...

(Δήμος Γόρτυνας). The village is built on the feet of a green hill with view to the plain of Messara, at altitude of 170 meters, over the remains of ancient

Gortys Gortyna ( grc, Γόρτυνα; also known as Gortyn (Γορτύν)) was a town of ancient Crete which appears in the Homeric poems under the form of Γορτύν; but afterwards became usually Gortyna (Γόρτυνα). According to Stephanus of ...

. It is supposed that the cemetery of Gortys was located in this area, and many of the old houses are built using recycled material from the ruins of Gortys. There is a local archaeological museum containing finds from the area. Other archaeological remains include the ''

Praetorium The Latin term (also and ) originally identified the tent of a general within a Roman castrum (encampment), and derived from the title praetor, which identified a Roman magistrate.Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 2 ed., ...

'' located between Agioi Deka and Gortys, the tombs of Agioi Deka and the old church in the centre of the old village.

Name

The name of the village means Ten Saints, referring to the ten Martyrs of Crete (Agathopus, Basilides, Gelasius, Evaristus, Eunician, Euporus, Zoticus, Theodulus, Saturninus, and either Cleomenes or Mobius or Pompeius''Crete: The Island in the Wine Dark Sea''.

Agioi Deka, the Ten Saints of Crete." Accessed 24 Aug 2011.) who martyred there in 250 AD during the

religious persecution Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or a group of individuals as a response to their religion, religious beliefs or affiliations or their irreligion, lack thereof. The tendency of societies or groups within soc ...

s of the Roman emperor

Decius Gaius Messius Quintus Traianus Decius ( 201 ADJune 251 AD), sometimes translated as Trajan Decius or Decius, was the emperor of the Roman Empire from 249 to 251. A distinguished politician during the reign of Philip the Arab, Decius was procla ...

. At the site of their martyrdom stands a 12th-century church.

References

{{Authority control Messara Plain Populated places in Heraklion (regional unit)