Lasithi ( el, Λασίθι) is the easternmost

regional unit The 74 regional units of Greece ( el, περιφερειακές ενότητες, ; sing. , ) are the country's Seventy-four second-level administrative units. They are divisions of the country's 13 regions, and are further divided into municipa ...

on the island of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

, to the east of

Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban A ...

. Its capital is Agios Nikolaos, the other major towns being

Ierapetra Ierapetra ( el, Ιεράπετρα, lit=sacred stone; ancient name: ) is a Greece, Greek town and municipality located on the southeast coast of Crete. History The town of Ierapetra (in the local dialect: Γεράπετρο ''Gerapetro'') is loc ...

and

Sitia Sitia ( el, Σητεία) is a port town and a municipality in Lasithi, Crete, Greece. The town has 9,912 inhabitants (2011) and the municipality has 18,318 (2011). It lies east of Agios Nikolaos and northeast of Ierapetra. Sitia port is on the ...

. The mountains include the

Dikti Dikti or Dicte ( el, Δίκτη) (also Lasithiotika Ori; el, Λασιθιώτικα Όρη "Lasithian Mountains"; anciently, Aigaion oros ( grc, Αἰγαῖον ὄρος) or la, Aegaeum mons) is a mountain range on the east of the island of C ...

in the west and the

Thrypti Thrypti ( el, Θρυπτή) is a mountain range in Lasithi in eastern Crete, Greece. It trends to the northeast from Ierapetra in the southwest in the direction of Sitia. However, it only goes half-way in that direction. The rest of the distance ...

in the east. The

Sea of Crete 300px, Map of the Sea of Crete The Sea of Crete (, ''Kritiko Pelagos''), or Cretan Sea, is a sea, part of the Aegean Sea, located in its southern extremity, with a total surface area of . The sea stretches to the north of the island of Crete, eas ...

lies to the north and the

Libyan Sea The Libyan Sea ( Greek , Latin ''Libycum Mare'', Arabic البحر الليبي) is the portion of the Mediterranean Sea north of the African coast of ancient ''Libya'', i.e. Cyrenaica, and Marmarica (the coast of what is now eastern Libya ...

to the south. To the east of the village of

Elounda Elounda ( el, Ελούντα, Elúnda), alternatively transliterated as Elounta or Elouda, is a small town on the northern coast of the island of Crete, Greece. It is part of the municipality of Agios Nikolaos. Settlement structure Elounda is f ...

lies the island of

Spinalonga Spinalonga ( el, Σπιναλόγκα) is an island located in the Gulf of Elounda in north-eastern Crete, in Lasithi, next to the town of Plaka. The island is further assigned to the area of Kalydon. It is near the Spinalonga peninsula ("larg ...

, formerly a Venetian fortress and a

leper colony A leper colony, also known by many other names, is an isolated community for the quarantining and treatment of lepers, people suffering from leprosy. '' M. leprae'', the bacterium responsible for leprosy, is believed to have spread from East Af ...

. On the foot of Mount Dikti lies the

Lasithi Plateau The Lasithi Plateau ( el, Οροπέδιο Λασιθίου, ''Oropedio Lasithiou''), sometimes spelt Lassithi Plateau, is a high endorheic plateau, located in the Lasithi regional unit in eastern Crete, Greece. Since the 1997 Kapodistrias reform, ...

, famous for its

windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called windmill sail, sails or blades, specifically to mill (grinding), mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and ...

s. Vai is well known for its

datepalm ''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as date or date palm, is a flowering plant species in the palm family, Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across northern Africa, the Middle Ea ...

forest. Thanks to its beaches and its mild climate year-long, Lasithi attracts many tourists. Mass tourism is served by places like Vai, Agios Nikolaos and the island of Chrissi. More off-beat tourism can be found in villages on the south coast like

Myrtos Myrtos is a coastal village in the west of the municipality of Ierapetra, in the Regional Unit (previously called prefecture) of Lasithi on the Greek island of Crete. It is located from Agios Nikolaos and from Ierapetra, on the road to V ...

, Makrys Gialos or Makrigialos, Xerokambos and

Koutsouras Koutsouras (Κουτσουράς) is a village in Lasithi regional unit, in Crete, Greece 22 kilometers east of Ierapetra. Its population is 818 (2001 est.). It was the headquarters of the municipality of Makry Gialos (''Dimos Makry Gialou'') and ...

. Lasithi is home to a number of ancient remains. Vasiliki,

Fournou Korifi Fournou Korifi is the archaeological site of a Minoan settlement on southern Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and th ...

, Pyrgos,

Zakros Zakros ( el, Ζάκρος; Linear B: zakoro) is a site on the eastern coast of the island of Crete, Greece, containing ruins from the Minoan civilization. The site is often known to archaeologists as Zakro or Kato Zakro. It is believed to have be ...

and

Gournia Gournia ( el, Γουρνιά) is the site of a Minoan palace complex on the island of Crete, Greece, excavated in the early 20th century by the American archaeologist, Harriet Boyd-Hawes. The original name for the site is unknown. The modern nam ...

are ruins of

Minoan The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age Aegean civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean Islands, whose earliest beginnings were from 3500BC, with the complex urban civilization beginning around 2000BC, and then declining from 1450B ...

date,

Lato Lato ( grc, Λατώ, Latṓ) was an ancient city of Crete, the ruins of which are located approximately 3 km from the village of Kritsa. History The Dorian city-state was built in a defensible position overlooking Mirabello Bay betw ...

and

Itanos Itanos ( el, Ίτανος) is a municipal unit (demotike enoteta) of the municipality (demos} Siteia in the Lasithi regional unit, eastern Crete, Greece. A former municipality itself, it was included in Siteia as part of the 2011 local governm ...

were Doric towns.

History

The history of Lasithi can be traced over at least three millennia. The region has considerable ancient history antecedents, including the Dorian era settlement of

Olous Olous or Olus ( grc, Ὄλους, or ''Stadiasmus Maris Magni'' § 350.) was a city of ancient Crete; now sunken, it was situated at the present day town of Elounda, Crete, Greece. According to the ''Stadiasmus Maris Magni'', it had a harbour and w ...

and

Etymology

It has been speculated that ''ra-su-to'', found in

Linear B Linear B was a syllabic script used for writing in Mycenaean Greek, the earliest attested form of Greek. The script predates the Greek alphabet by several centuries. The oldest Mycenaean writing dates to about 1400 BC. It is descended from ...

, corresponds to an unattested ancient ''Lasynthos''. There is also a Lyttian tribal name ''Lasynthioi'', presumably reflecting the same name. Earlier proposals that it is derived from a Venetian 'la' preposed to derivatives of ''

Lyttos Lyctus or Lyttos (Greek: or ), was one of the most considerable cities in ancient Crete, which appears in the Homeric catalogue. Lyttos is now a village in the municipality of Minoa Pediada. Lyctus in mythology According to Hesiod, ''Theogony' ...

'' (''Lyttus'' > ''Tselyttus'' > ''Tselethe'' > ''Xeethe'' > ''La Xeethi'' > ''Lasithi'')

Thomas Abel Brimage Spratt Thomas Abel Brimage Spratt (11 May 181112 March 1888) was an English vice-admiral, hydrographer, and geologist. Life Thomas Spratt was born at Woodway House, East Teignmouth, the eldest son of Commander James Spratt, RN, who was a hero of ...

, ''Travels and Researches in Crete'', 1865, chapter XIX
p. 201
/ref> or ''

'' (''Sitia'' > ''La Sitia'' > ''Lasithi'') are unlikely, as the name Lasithi was attested as early as 1211, whereas the Venetians only first arrived in Crete in 1205. Another unlikely etymology derives it from ''lakkos'' 'hole or basin' (''Lakkos'' > ''Lakkidion'' > ''Latsidi'' > ''Lasidi'' > ''Lasithi'').Philip Betancourt, ''Hagios Charalambos: A Minoan Burial Cave in Crete'' 1:9, 2014

Administration

The regional unit Lasithi is subdivided into four municipalities. These are (number as in the map in the infobox): * Agios Nikolaos (1) *

(2) * Oropedio Lasithiou (3) *

Siteia Sitia ( el, Σητεία) is a port town and a municipality in Lasithi, Crete, Greece. The town has 9,912 inhabitants (2011) and the municipality has 18,318 (2011). It lies east of Agios Nikolaos and northeast of Ierapetra. Sitia port is on the ...

(4)

Prefecture

As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the regional unit Lasithi was created out of the former

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

of Lasithi ( el, Νομός Λασιθίου), which was created while Crete was still an

autonomous state An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, entity, unit, region, subdivision, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or internal territory of a sovereign state that has a degree of autonomy— ...

and was retained after the island joined Greece in 1913. The prefecture had the same territory as the present regional unit, except Viannos area that belonged to Lasithi but was annexed to Heraklion prefecture in 1932. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below.

Provinces

Before 2006, Lasithi was divided into 4

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

: *Province of Mirambelos - Neapolis * Province of Lasithi - Tzermiado *Province of

- Ierapetra *Province of

- Sitia

Transport

* GR-90/ E65, NW, Cen., E, NE * GR-99, Cen., S

References

External links

Geographical profile of Lasithi
{{Authority control Prefectures of Greece Regional units of Crete