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Roussolakkos


Coordinates: 35°11′43″N 26°16′32″E / 35.19525°N 26.275426°E / 35.19525; 26.275426

Roussolakkos is the site of an important Minoan city, located near to Palekastro, Crete. It is the only Minoan city to have survived intact. Its harbor, outlying settlements, sanctuaries and quarries are preserved under sediments accumulating over more than 2,000 years. It was here, the ancient authors tell us, that Diktaian Zeus (the youthful Cretan equivalent of the classical Greek god Dionysos and Egyptian Osiris) was born and where this young god founded his holy city. A temple to Zeus was built at the nearby Elaea promontory. It was also here that Jason and the Argonauts confronted Talos, the man of bronze, a generation before the Trojan War.

The ancient town was in use from Early Minoan IIA to Late Minoan IIIB. Minoan houses and streets, and offerings from the Greek temple of Diktaian Zeus have been excavated at the site.

The earliest written records documenting the worship of Diktaian Zeus at Roussolakkos come from the Mycenaean Greek Linear B archives at Knossos and date to the close of the Cretan Bronze Age (ca. 1300 BC), however, sacred art and architecture dating from all periods have been found, suggesting that the site was hallowed throughout its history. Among the most beautiful artifacts attesting the worship of Diktaian Zeus is a unique gold and ivory statuette of the god made ca. 1500 BC. See this and more finds at the museum in Sitia.


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