Kydonia ( or ), also known as Cydonia (, ''Kydōnía'') was an ancient city located at the site of present-day

Chania Chania (, , ), also sometimes romanization of Greek, romanized as Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania (regional unit), Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno ...

near the west end of the

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. The city is known from archaeological remains dating back to the Minoan era as well as literary and historical sources.

History

In the area of Kastelli Hill, which is the citadel of Chania's harbor, archaeological excavations have discovered ceramic sherds and finds that date from the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

to Late Minoan IIIC.

Early Bronze

Scarce finds such as walls and ground floors confirm that the systematic habitation of the hill began during Early Minoan (EM) II period.

Middle Bronze

In the Middle Bronze Age, the material culture on Crete is known as Middle Minoan (MM).

Late Pre-Palatial Period

In the MM IA (c. 2050/2000-1925/1900 BC), the architecture was still pre-palatial. These levels were destroyed with the construction of the neopalatial town.

Neo-Palatial Period

In the Middle Minoan III (MM III; c. 1750/1720-1675/1650 BC), a palace was built marking the beginning of the Neo-Palatial Period. A large archive of Linear A tablets (97) have been found, the second largest archive known. The tablets were largely economic records of agricultural produce, people and animals.

Late Bronze

A Minoan House (House I) with the characteristic hall was also unearthed. It was destroyed by fire during Late Minoan (LM) IB period. The houses from LMIIIA phase belonged to a palatial settlement, which ceased to exist in LMIII. The city extended beyond Kastelli Hill as the excavations in Daskalogiannis Street revealed, where a LMI sanctuary or "

lustral basin The lustral basin is an architectural form used in Minoan architecture. Consisting of a small sunken room reached by a staircase, they are characteristic of elite architecture of the Neopalatial period (c. 1750-1470 BC). They are hypothesized ...

" came to light. The discovery of a corpus of

Linear A Linear A is a writing system that was used by the Minoans of Crete from 1800 BC to 1450 BC. Linear A was the primary script used in Minoan palaces, palace and religious writings of the Minoan civilization. It evolved into Linear B, ...

and

Linear B Linear B is a syllabary, syllabic script that was used for writing in Mycenaean Greek, the earliest Attested language, attested form of the Greek language. The script predates the Greek alphabet by several centuries, the earliest known examp ...

tablets points out the presence of an archive. Moreover, the archaeologists have identified the existence of a local pottery workshop, which was active in LMIII. At the end of the LM IB, Kydonia seem to have been abandoned for a period.

Mycenean Period

In the Late Minoan IIIA (LM IIIA; 1435/1405-1360/1325 BC), new houses are built. At the end of LM IIIA, the houses are destroyed by fire. In "House 1" three Linear B tablets were found. In the Late Minoan IIIB (LM IIIB; 1360/1325-1200/1190 BC), the town was rebuilt again. In the Mycenean Period, Linear B is only found at the Cretan sites of Knossos, Kydonia/Chania and Malia. This indicates a scriptorium and archive within a possible palace in Kydonia. The name of the city is first mentioned in

tablets from

Knossos Knossos (; , ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is a Bronze Age archaeological site in Crete. The site was a major centre of the Minoan civilization and is known for its association with the Greek myth of Theseus and the minotaur. It is located on th ...

as (). Unlike other sites on Crete, Kydonia maintained major trading activities. In the LM IIIA and LM IIIB, it was a large commercial and maritime center, exporting pottery, oil, perfume and wine throughout the Aegean.

Iron Age

Archaeological evidence from the Early Iron Age and Archaic Era is limited. In 429 BC, during the

Peloponnesian War The Second Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), often called simply the Peloponnesian War (), was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek war fought between Classical Athens, Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Ancien ...

, Kydonia was attacked by the

Athenians Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

after the accusations of Nikias from

Gortyna Gortyna (; 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 Byzantium it was or ...

for pro-Spartan policy. In 343 BC the city was besieged by Phalaikos and his army of mercenaries after his failed attempt to capture Lyttus. He was killed from a lightning strike that burnt his siege engines.

Hellenistic Period

In the

Hellenistic period In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

, Kydonia took part in the struggle for domination among the cities of Crete. At the end of the 3rd century BC a peace treaty with Aptera was signed. During the Lyttian War In 220/219 BC both cities joined the alliance of Oreioi (in which Polyrrhenia was a member) and canceled the one with Knossos. Aggressive policy led to the capture of Phalasarna (184 B.C.E) and 14 years later that of Apollonia, an action criticized by

Polybius Polybius (; , ; ) was a Greek historian of the middle Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , a universal history documenting the rise of Rome in the Mediterranean in the third and second centuries BC. It covered the period of 264–146 ...

since they were allies.

Roman Period

In 69 BC the Romans under

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus (c. 114 BC – late 50s BC) was a politically active member of the Roman upper class. He was praetor in 74 BC and pontifex from 73 BC until his death. He was consul in 69 BC along with Quintus Hortensius Hortal ...

, after the failed attempt of Marcus Antonius Creticus, invaded Crete. The Cretan general Lasthenes confronted them in the battle of Kydonia, where he lost and retreated. This outcome forced Cretan general Panares to capitulate to the Romans and deliver them the city without resistance. The coins of the

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

depict Kydon either as an infant suckling a female Cretan hound or as an archer stringing his bow, accompanied by his dog. The remaining base from the Hellenistic wall can be seen below the Byzantine wall of Kastelli Hill. Rescue excavations have discovered Hellenistic facilities below buildings of the modern city.Maria Andreadaki-Vlazaki, Khania (Kydonia) : a tour to sites of ancient memory (2009) After the

battle of Actium The Battle of Actium was a naval battle fought between Octavian's maritime fleet, led by Marcus Agrippa, and the combined fleets of both Mark Antony and Cleopatra. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC in the Ionian Sea, near the former R ...

(31 BC)

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

set Kydonia free for its assistance to him. Kydonians are mentioned in book 12 of the ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan War#Sack of Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Ancient Rome ...

'', where their excellent bow skills are used in an extended

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

ian

simile A simile () is a type of figure of speech that directly ''compares'' two things. Similes are often contrasted with metaphors, where similes necessarily compare two things using words such as "like", "as", while metaphors often create an implicit c ...

describing the Fury's descent to Juturna. The editors of the ''

Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World The ''Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World'' is a large-format English language atlas of ancient Europe, Asia, and North Africa, edited by Richard Talbert, Richard J. A. Talbert. The time period depicted is roughly from Archaic Greece, ...

'' suggest that the city also bore the name Apollonia (, ''Apollōnía'') at some point.

Late Antiquity

In 365 the city must have been affected by the earthquake that devastated many cities of Crete. The Episcopate of Kydonia is referred in many ecclesiastical documents. The earliest is in 381 when Cydonius the bishop of Kydonia takes part in the First council of Constantinople. The prosperity of the city during Late Roman times is illustrated by the mosaics of houses found near Agora Square. Roman workshops have been found in some parts of the modern city.Michalis Andrianakis and Maria Andreadaki-Vlazaki, The Old City of Hania Historical Review, Monuments, Archaeological Museum (1997) Material from the urban architecture of the ancient city was used for the construction of Kastelli Hill's Byzantine wall.

Middle Ages

The first Byzantine period of Kydonia ended with the Arab conquest of Crete in the 820s. After the Byzantine reconquest of Crete in 961, the bishopric was transferred outside the city near the village of Agya. It is uncertain when the toponym Kydonia ceased to be used in place of forms of the modern

. The scholars suggest that the name was changed by the Arabs, who named the city (, "the

Caravanserai A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was an inn that provided lodging for travelers, merchants, and Caravan (travellers), caravans. They were present throughout much of the Islamic world. Depending on the region and period, they were called by a ...

" or " Inn"). This name may have derived from a suburb of Kydonia called , where the god Welchanos had been worshipped in antiquity. Under Venetian rule, the city was known as Canea.

Modernity

The name is preserved in the Metropolis of Kydonia and Apokoronas, which was established in 1962. Today's archaeological recoveries from the ancient city of Kydonia are largely stored in the Chania Archaeological Museum in present-day

Identification

The exact location of Kydonia was not understood until Robert Pashley worked it out based solely on ancient historical literature without any

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

recovery.

John Pendlebury John Devitt Stringfellow Pendlebury (12 October 1904 – 22 May 1941) was a British archaeologist who worked for British intelligence during World War II. He was captured and Summary execution, summarily executed by German troops during the ...

also identified

with ancient Kydonia. Ancient authors suggest that Kydonia was located in western

, facing the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...

. Strabo calculated its distance from other cities of Crete.

Necropolis

Since Kydonia was inhabited for centuries, the

necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...

of the city is quite extended and includes graveyards from all periods. It lies below the modern city of

. Burial types that have been found include chamber tombs,

cist In archeology, a cist (; also kist ; ultimately from ; cognate to ) or cist grave is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. In some ways, it is similar to the deeper shaft tomb. Examples occur ac ...

graves, and loculus tombs.

Legacy

The ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

'' mentions a tribe called the Kydonians who live on both sides of the Iardanos River.

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

claims that the city was founded by Samians , who later on were defeated and enslaved by a coalition of Aeginetans and other

Cretans Crete ( ; , 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 Corsica. Crete is loc ...

. Some legends claim that Kydonia was founded by a king named

Cydon In Greek mythology, the name Cydon (Ancient Greek: Κύδων) may refer to: *Cydon of Crete, eponym of Cydonia. According to one version, he was a son of Tegeates and possibly, Maera, daughter of the Titan Atlas. He was the brother of Leimon, ...

(, ''Kýdōn''), a son of

Hermes Hermes (; ) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology considered the herald of the gods. He is also widely considered the protector of human heralds, travelers, thieves, merchants, and orators. He is able to move quic ...

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

and of Akakallis, the daughter of King

Minos Main injector neutrino oscillation search (MINOS) was a particle physics experiment designed to study the phenomena of neutrino oscillations, first discovered by a Super-Kamiokande (Super-K) experiment in 1998. Neutrinos produced by the NuMI ...

. According to Pausanias, he was son of king Tegeates.

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily (; 1st century BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek historian from Sicily. He is known for writing the monumental Universal history (genre), universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty ...

claimed that the city was founded by King

.Diod. Sic. 5.78 The region of Cydonia on

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

was named for the Cretan city.

Famous Kydonians

* Aristocles (5th century BC), sculptor *

Kresilas Kresilas ( ''Krēsílas''; ) was a Greek sculptor in the Classical period (5th century BC), from Kydonia. He was trained in Argos and then worked in Athens at the time of the Peloponnesian War, as a follower of the idealistic portraiture of My ...

(5th century BC), sculptor

References

Citations

Sources

* C. Michael Hogan, ''Cydonia'', Modern Antiquarian, January 23, 200

* Robert Pashley, ''Travels in Crete'', 1837, J. Murray * Ian Swindale, ''Kydonia''

* Marie-Louise Winbladh, The Greek-Swedish Excavations at Chaniá), Stockholm 2000. * Marie-Louise Winbladh, Adventures of an archaeologist. Memoirs of a museum curator, AKAKIA Publications, London 2020 {{Minoan civilization Chania (regional unit) Cretan city-states Former populated places in Greece History of Crete