Olous or Olus ( grc, Ὄλους, or ''

Stadiasmus Maris Magni The ''Stadiasmus Maris Magni'' ( grc, Σταδιασμός ήτοι περίπλους της μεγάλης θαλάσσης) is an ancient Roman periplus or guidebook detailing the ports sailors encounter on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. ...

'' § 350.) was a city of

ancient Crete The history of Crete goes back to the 7th millennium BC, preceding the ancient Minoan civilization by more than four millennia. The palace-based Minoan civilization was the first civilization in Europe. After the Minoan civilization was devastat ...

; now sunken, it was situated at the present day town 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. According to the ''

'', it had a harbour and was located 260

stadia Stadia may refer to: * One of the plurals of stadium, along with "stadiums" * The plural of stadion, an ancient Greek unit of distance, which equals to 600 Greek feet (''podes''). * Stadia (Caria), a town of ancient Caria, now in Turkey * Stadi ...

from

Chersonasus Chersonasus or Chersonasos ( grc, Χερσόνασος), later Chersonesus or Chersonesos (Χερσόνησος), was a town and ''polis'' (city-state) on the north coast of ancient Crete. It functioned as the harbour of Lyctus, and had a temple o ...

and 15 stadia from Camara.

History

After continuing boundary disputes with the hillfort of

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 betwee ...

, the citizens of Olous eventually entered into a treaty with those of Lato. There was a temple to

Britomartis Britomartis (; grc-gre, Βριτόμαρτις) was a Greek goddess of mountains and hunting, who was primarily worshipped on the island of Crete. She was sometimes believed to be an oread, or a mountain nymph, but she was often conflated or syn ...

in the city, a wooden statue of whom was erected by

Daedalus In Greek mythology, Daedalus (, ; Greek: Δαίδαλος; Latin: ''Daedalus''; Etruscan: ''Taitale'') was a skillful architect and craftsman, seen as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and power. He is the father of Icarus, the uncle of Perdix, an ...

, the mythical ancestor of the Daedalidae, and father of Cretan art. Her

effigy An effigy is an often life-size sculptural representation of a specific person, or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certai ...

is represented on the coins of Olous.

Present conditions

Archaeologists Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

discovered ancient texts within the ruins linking the town with the ancient cities of

Knossos Knossos (also Cnossos, both pronounced ; grc, Κνωσός, Knōsós, ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and has been called Europe's oldest city. Settled as early as the Neolithic period, the na ...

and the island of

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...

.SEG_23.547
- treaty between Rhodes and Olous. The sunken city can be visited by tourists swimming in Elounda Bay. Today, the only visible remnants of the city are some scattered wall bases.

Notes

References

Tourist site of the Spina Longa area
Submerged places Underwater ruins Ruins in Greece Cretan city-states Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Crete Geography of Crete Populated places in ancient Crete Former populated places in Greece {{AncientCrete-geo-stub

History

Present conditions

See also

Notes

References