Ancient ports. Ancient ports swallowed up by the sea
Tiwanaku, or Tiaguanaco - the ruins of a mysterious ancient city, which is located in the Andes at an altitude of about 4000 meters. This place is located 19 kilometers from the most beautiful lake in South America - Titicaca. Scientists believe that the secrets of this ancient Indian city are connected with it. However, is it an Indian? But first things first. Let's start with the lake.
Titicaca is a very beautiful freshwater lake with an area of 8,370 sq. km. (for comparison, the area of Lake Onega is 9,700 sq. km.). It is located on the Altiplano plateau on the border of Peru and Bolivia at an altitude of 3800 meters and is even navigable. Geologists have discovered very interesting facts from the life of this lake. It turns out that in the past this area was located much lower, and the lake was a sea bay. This is evidenced by traces of the surf on the rocky shores, as well as the unusual fauna of the reservoir. Alpine freshwater lake, located 250 kilometers from the Pacific Ocean and not connected with it through rivers, is inhabited mainly by marine species of fish and crustaceans. Researchers suggest that in the past a terrible geological catastrophe occurred here, which caused a sharp rise in this land area. In the mythology of the Incas, there are also legends about this, which tell of a terrible flood that struck the world.
Photo: panorama of the Kalasasaya temple in Tiwanaku This is evidenced by the remains of the city of Tiwanaku, which, as researchers believe, was previously a large seaport and was located on the shores of Lake Titicaca. The remains of people found along with household items, debris of buildings and other objects that are not at all characteristic of traditional burials also speak of the terrible catastrophe that happened. And a number of city buildings resemble a sea embankment. This city was the center of the eponymous Andean civilization. What is left of it raises more questions from researchers than answers. The time of the construction of the ancient structure is not precisely determined, and inside the city there are buildings of different ages. In all likelihood, the city was built, completed and rebuilt for more than one millennium. Some researchers believe that the oldest parts of Tiwanaku were built in 200 BC, while later structures date back to 600-1000 AD.
In the photo: Gate of the Sun
Older buildings differ markedly from the newest ones. These are, for example, the Gate of the Sun and the Kalasasaya Temple. They are made up of giant slabs with perfectly straight edges that fit together with amazing precision. Many researchers doubt that all this was built by the Indian civilization. Most likely, these are the ancient remains of a city of a more highly developed civilization unknown to science. And the Indians who came here simply used the surviving foundations and sections of buildings, eventually completing them.
The fact that Tiwanaku and Lake Titicaca are closely related is also evidenced by a relatively recent discovery at the bottom of the lake. In 2000, an underwater temple was discovered here, to which stone steps lead, and its age dates back to about 500 AD. Moreover, the steps lead to a high mountain trail on land. The temple has dimensions of 50 by 200 meters, and there is an agricultural terrace near it. The location of the temple at the bottom of the lake also raises a lot of questions and has not yet found an intelligible explanation.
In the photo: the wall of the Kalasasaya temple, lined with perfectly flat blocks The ruins of Tiwanaku are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Exploration of Lake Titicaca and its associated ancient city continues. And there is no doubt that a lot of interesting things related to the ancient civilizations of our planet will still be found here.
In August, another archaeological sensation was broadcast on television. An ancient Greek port was discovered at the mouth of the Don River near the farm of the Donskoy Azov region.
Let's get ahead of ourselves. On the site of the supposed ancient port, research was carried out with the help of scuba divers for two weeks. What exactly they found and what conclusions the archaeologists made remains a mystery.
Accidental finds
In this place, ships, barges go, raising a wave, which in turn brings interesting ceramics and ancient coins to the shore. Studying random finds on the coast, archaeologists suggested that there could well be an ancient Greek port. Good location, the depth of the river allows ships with a large displacement to pass.
After conducting geophysical exploration at the mouth of the river, interesting deviations were found, indicating that there are fragments of previously unknown structures under the water. That is why they initially decided to explore the place with the help of scuba divers.
The result of the first studies
Divers came from Moscow to investigate the bottom, and an interesting laborious work began to collect objects from the bottom. Indeed, numerous ruins of buildings, pottery and a Scythian cheekpiece, originally taken for a doorknob, have been discovered.
More accurate research results are still unknown. Perhaps in order not to attract the attention of black archaeologists to the interesting find.
Archaeological hypothesis
The main argument in favor of the ancient Greek port is the navigability of this place. According to scientists, there was shallow water near Azak itself, which means that large ships could not approach the coast. That is, the ancient port served as a harbor for large ships, and from here, on small boats and boats, merchants delivered their goods to Azak.
Interesting site materials
We continue to look at an interesting book from the 18th century called "Hydraulic architecture, or the art of diverting, raising and managing waters for the various needs of life" (Architecture hydraulique, ou, L'art de conduire, d'elever et de menager les eaux pour les différens besoins de la vie), 1737 In the first part of the article, 3 volumes of this book were considered. Last, 4th volume, dedicated to the art of building ports, and everything related to their maintenance and defense: forts, lighthouses, locks, drawbridges. But let's start by looking at the ancient ports.
Antique ports
1 Plan of the ancient port of Carthage in Africa, 2 Plan of the ancient port of New Carthage 3 Plan of the ancient port of Alexandria in Egypt, 4 Plan of the ancient port of Athens (present-day Fetin).
Carthage
This is what a modern port looks like. Carthage:
It does not seem to resemble the old port at all, but the size of the water area is about the same. If you believe the scale of the ancient plan, 500 toises on which are equal to 1 km. Then the bay, in which the old port was located, has about 7-8 km in diameter (the new port is 5x10 km - measured in the Planet-Earth program), the island in the middle, on which the city was located, is about 4x5 km. The military port (Port des galeries) was located separately from the commercial port (Port Marchand). But the entrance to the military port was through the trade port. The description of the port of Carthage given in this book:
“The naval arsenal was located on Kohon Island; its perimeter was about 4000 toises (8 km), lined with the most beautiful stones, the eastern side consisted of vaulted niches that could shelter from the heat of the sun 220 of the most powerful ships that were then made. The entrances to these niches were decorated with rich marble columns of the Ionian Order, and at the end were warehouses for rigging and everything needed by the crews of each ship. Two superb porticos ended this island at both ends; its perimeter, bordered by splendid marinas, included buildings designed to accommodate naval officers; schools where pilots and other students were trained, leading maneuvers. (and maneuvering in a confined space with a large number of ships, using only the power of the wind and sails (?), I think it was very difficult - approx. mine)... There were also docks for the repair of the underwater part of the ship and a shipyard for the construction and conversion of ships; in a word, every convenience imaginable. In the middle of this island was the admiral's palace, so elevated that he could see from his house everything that took place in the two ports and beyond. The same splendor was observed in the trading port, which had to be passed in order to enter the port of warships; its entrance was closed by two large breakwaters, at the ends of which there were 4-storey towers, and the distance between them for the passage of ships into the harbor was only 20 tauzes (40m). There were lighthouses on the tops of the towers. "
This is what the place, which is now believed to be the Port of Carthage and its reconstruction, looks like:
This place is located 2.5 km north of the modern port of Carthage. My opinion: it does not fit the description of the ancient port of Carthage, if only because it has a small size - the diameter of the water circle is only 300 meters, and the diameter of the central island is -130 m. It could not accommodate everything that is present in the description. It was probably a harbor, but built later. By the same principle as Old Carthage, only in a very reduced version.
New Carthage
Today Cartagena is located in the south of Spain. The Romans called it the new Carthage because it was founded by the Carthaginians. At the time of this writing, the configuration of some ports has already been changed. For example, New Carthage, during its conquest by the Roman commander Scipio in 209 BC, was on a peninsula connected to the land by a narrow isthmus. Perhaps this island was artificial? And, apparently, it was built on the principle of old Carthage.
Manuel de la Cruz: View of Cartagena, 1786, oil on canvas, Madrid, Moncloa Palace Now this port does not look at all the same as in ancient times:
Modern view of the port of Cartagena Alexandria
This is how the book describes the founding of Alexandria:
“The Carthaginian Republic was at its highest point of power when Alexander the Great, after the siege of Tire, laid the foundations of Alexandria in 332 before the birth of Jesus Christ. This prince, wandering along the shores of Egypt to the western arm of the Nile, noticed between the island of Pharos and Lake Mareysk (Mareotida - note mine), a place most suitable for realizing the project he conceived for building a city worthy of bearing his name.
After the death of Alexander the Great, Ptolemy ( dynasty of rulers of Egypt in the IV-I centuries BC NS. - in the era of Hellenism - approx. my) with Egypt at their disposal, they used everything they could to increase the initial glory of Alexandria: the one they called Philadelphus (King of Egypt 285-246 BC), made the greatest contribution to enriching it with the works necessary to make it the greatest port in the world. He managed to connect the island of Pharos to the mainland by a large dam, which divided the bay into two separate harbors, connected by passages made in the dam and blocked by two bridges, each of which was supported by a fortress. Built out to sea on a foundation that, like the foundation of the dam, was over 36 feet (11 m) deep. The eastern entrance to the harbor was difficult due to the rocky stretch of the coast. But on the eastern promontory there was a famous lighthouse that not only illuminated but also protected access to the port.
This superb building, worthy of being ranked as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, was completed under the direction of Sostratus, the most accomplished architect of his time; its square base, each side of which was 104 toises long (208m), on the ground floor of this magnificent building was a garrison; in the middle was raised a tower of eight stories, each of which receded into a gallery, splendidly decorated, faced with huge square slabs of white marble. At night, at the top of this tower, raised 75 fathoms (160m), there was a great fire visible in the sea for 300 stadia, that is, at a distance of about 20 leagues (96 km). "
Sorry, there is no description of what was the source of the fire? And the description of the lighthouse differs from the modern one both in size and appearance. This is a modern view of what the Lighthouse of Alexandria looked like:
Reconstruction of the Alexandria lighthouse Athens
The old plan incorrectly shows that the port of Piraeus was located near Athens. In fact, there are 8.5 km between them. This is shown more correctly in another diagram:
Map of Piraeus and Athens: the port, consisting of three naturally isolated bays, is connected to the city by a road protected by the Long Walls, a double wall for about 10 km. It is believed that these walls were built in the 5th century BC. to protect the passage from the port to the city of Athens. Subsequently, they were destroyed and rebuilt again. A small section of this wall has survived to this day:
Thanks to such a wall, which cleared the road connecting the city to the port, the townspeople could withstand prolonged sieges from land, being able to supply food and other goods by sea.
Modern view of the port of Piraeus Syracuse
1 Plan of the port of Syracuse, 2 Plan of the port of Rhodes, 3 plan of the port of Genoa, 4 plan of the port of Messina Sicily, according to the author, is the most favorable island in the Mediterranean Sea for the arrangement of ports. The most beautiful of these ports was in Syracuse, the capital of Sicily, and had an amazing triple fence, more than 8 leagues in a circle (38.5 km).
aerial view of Ortigia island in Siracusa, Sicily, Italy The ancients loved the number “three”. The next port under consideration on the island of Rhodes also had a triple fortification:
“In the old days, the harbor of Rhodes was surrounded by three rows of fortifications, with extremely high towers, and with a deep moat at the foot of each ring. The first ring surrounded the city beyond the port, and rested on the military arsenal, enclosed in a fortress, which includes the citadel. The second ring included everything, and the third was built in such a way as to protect the entrance to the harbor from the flanks. "
I think that many have heard of the Colossus of Rhodes - one of the 7 wonders of the world, built or erected in 280 BC. But for some reason, modern sources are silent about the fact that it was not only a giant statue, but also a lighthouse. Here's what this book says about him:
“The passage to the inner harbor was between the legs of the colossus, which served as a lighthouse. The colossus was so large that ships passed between its legs with sails raised. It was planted on the platforms of two towers, each of which was based on a rock. This colossus, which was a 120-foot-high statue of Apollo (36.6m or about a 12-storey building - approx. Mine), held in one hand a scepter, and in the other, raised upward, a hearth, which gave a large flame, which served for illumination at night. To keep the light from this lantern, a staircase was located inside the colossus. The entrance to the interior of the statue was at the sole of the foot. It is said that the Rhodians erected it in honor of Apollo, shortly after Demetrius lifted the siege of the city. It was the first of the seven wonders of the world, the work of the sculptor Hares, a student of the famous Lysippos, who took 12 years to build.
The Saracens, having captured the island of Rhodes in 653, found this colossus lying near the harbor for a long time, destroyed by an earthquake. They sold it to a Jew who cut it into pieces and collected 7200 centners of metal (720 tons); it was worth three hundred talents, or 1,500,000 livres of black coin. "
engraving depicting a colossus from the Geographical Dictionary with a source of fire in hand I wonder what they used as a light source? Is it really firewood? Or Greek fire? The author of the book, unfortunately, does not write about this. Or I could not find this description in the text. Greek fire (or liquid fire) is a combustible mixture used for military purposes during the Middle Ages. The first prototype of this fire just appeared during the defense of the island of Rhodes in 190g. BC. (90 years later than the construction of the colossus lighthouse). It was a mixture of crude oil, sulfur and oil. (information taken from the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907).
modern view of Rhodes Now deer are standing in the place of the colossus. Poor to do a reconstruction of a giant statue?
Rhodes. The walls of the old fortress 
Modern view of Rhodes Are these walls about 2.5 thousand years old?
Sunken cities of the Mediterranean and Black seas
I will make a small digression in my story, as there is one interesting point concerning all ports located on the Mediterranean Sea and the waters connected to them. Actually, is this the entire world ocean, by and large? But let's not cover it so broadly, here at least sort it out locally. Everyone understands that the port can only be at the water level. Since he is directly related to it, and his visitors are ships, they do not know how to fly through the air or climb stairs. They can, however, overcome a certain height with the help of locks or special devices, but seaports, as a rule, are at sea level. And if the sea level rises, then it rises by one amount over the entire area of the water surface. And accordingly, the coast goes under water by the same amount. And, in theory, all ports after that should be under water? All ports built BEFORE the water level rise. There was such a rise in water in the Mediterranean, and, accordingly, in the Black and Azov Seas. Researchers are now finding underwater ruins of cities along the coast of Italy, Greece and on the opposite side of the Mediterranean Sea.
Flooded city of Pavlopetri, Greece 
Flooded city of Baia, Gulf of Naples, Italy Alexandria on the opposite side is partially flooded:
And the city of Heraklion located not far from it. Now it lies two and a half kilometers from the coast under a 10-meter water column.
The ancient city of Acra is considered the Crimean Atlantis:
It was first mentioned in the 4th century BC. And it is believed that the city was completely flooded in the 3rd century AD. The reason for the flooding of the city, as well as of other flooded cities, is considered an earthquake, as a result of which the coast was submerged. Those. it was not the water that rose, but the dry land. This may explain the fact that not all of the ancient Mediterranean and Black Sea ports are now under water, but only a few of them. Another option: there was a rise in the water level, and all the ports that have survived to this day were built later.
A large study on the sunken cities of the Black Sea region in series of articles Elena Topsida
Atlantis
Speaking of sunken cities. I discovered an interesting reconstruction of the capital of Atlantis as described by Plato:
According to him, this capital was located in a place created by the god Poseidon for his earthly beloved:
“When the girl has already reached marriageable age, and her mother and father have passed away, Poseidon, inflamed with lust, unites with her; he strengthens the hill on which she lived, separating it from the island around the circumference and enclosing it alternately with water and earth rings (there were two earth rings, and three water ones) of ever larger diameter, drawn like a compass from the middle of the island and at an equal distance from each friend. "
After many centuries, when Poseidon's beloved had already died, her numerous descendants transformed the place where their Progenitor lived into their capital:
“First of all, they threw bridges over the water rings that surrounded the ancient metropolis, building a path from the capital and back to it. ... From the sea, they drew a channel 96 m wide and 30 m deep, and 50 stades long (9.6 km) up to the extreme of the water rings: thus they created access from the sea to this ring, as if to a harbor, having prepared a sufficient passage even for the largest vessels. As for the earthen rings separating the water rings, they dug channels of such width near the bridges that one trire could pass from one water ring to another. From above, they laid overlaps, under which the navigation was to take place: the height of the earth rings above the sea surface was sufficient for this. The largest water ring in circumference, with which the sea was directly connected, had a width of 3 stadia (576 m), and the earthen ring that followed it was equal to it in width; of the next two rings, the water was 2 stages (384 m) wide, and the earthen again was equal to the water; finally, the water ring that surrounded the island in the middle was stadia wide (192m). "
This description is interesting in that it repeats the basic principles of the ancient Mediterranean ports and fortresses-stars: the alternation of three rings of water with two earth rings, and a long canal or road (in the case of Athens) connecting the seashore with the city. Were these ports and fortresses built on the principle of the capital of Atlantis? Or were they built at the same time? And Atlantis sank not at all 9000 BC, but at the same time when Alexandria, Heraklion, Bayi, Pavlopetri and the ancient cities of the Black Sea coast? Or were they simply built according to the same principle, now unknown to us?
Fortress Lille, France The same three water rings and two earthen rings, only not round, but star-shaped.
We return to our ports.
Genoa
From the description in the book it follows that in 206 BC. this city already existed and flourished, which does not coincide with the official version. But personally, I got used to it for a long time.
“At the time when the Romans completed the conquest of Italy, Genoa, one of the oldest cities in Liguria, was already beautiful and prosperous. It was in his port that the Carthaginian general Mago, approached in the year of Rome 548 (206 BC - note mine) with a fleet of 30 warships and a large number of transport ships laden with warriors who joined the Gauls against their common enemies. This port, now richer and more prosperous than ever, is formed by a cove that faces south and is protected by a jutting headland on the east side. This led to the appearance of the navy among the first inhabitants of Genoa, since in this place the ships were protected from cross winds. "
About Liguria from the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary:
“The name Liguria comes from the once powerful pre-Indo-European people of the Ligurs, whose sphere of influence in the prehistoric era reached the north of Europe, until the Celts drove them back to the Mediterranean coast where they were from. The ancestor of the Ligurs was the archaeological culture of square-necked vessels. Under the Romans, the Ligurians were quickly assimilated. "
The peoples of Italy in the VI century BC NS. In general, the Lirugs are a people who lived in Italy before the arrival of the Romans. So did the Etruscans and Illyrians. The question of who the Etruscans and Illyrians were and where did the Romans and Greeks come from, who drove them out of these territories, is too big to be considered in this article. The port of Genoa, in my opinion, has practically not changed since those prehistoric times:
Port of Genoa, modern look Messina
Description of the port of Messina:
“Among the other ports of Sicily, Messina seems to deserve special attention for its position on the strait, called the Lighthouse of Messina, so formidable in because of the fury of its currents, underwater reefs and depths, which were called by the ancients Scylla and Charybdis, located at their northern entrance, whose passage is so dangerous that when ships are blown away by the force of a stream or by wind, they have no chance of salvation.
If we consider the port of Messina, we cannot deny that it is truly admirable; it is protected on the eastern side by a peninsula or headland, at the end of which is the castle of San Salvador, which protects the entrance along with the batteries, not to mention the recently built citadel, which inspires reverence from all sides. This port, which stretches along the city, is almost 1,500 toises (3 km) long and wide, and is in excellent condition. "
Modern view of the port of Messina From the fortress of the star and the tower, nothing is left, from the castle of San Salvador a wall with a column, apparently built in our time:
Between Scylla and Charybdis or Hypeborean Maelstrom
It is believed that the expression "To pass between Scylla and Charybdis" means to pass between two mythical monsters, one of which personifies a rock, the other - a whirlpool:
Mythical monsters, mythical Hyperborea. What do they have in common? And the general is the Rock and the Whirlpool. Remember the description from the Mercator card:
“There was an unknown country, which consisted of four main islands located in a circle around the Pole. Four large rivers flowing inward connected the world ocean with the inland sea, in which, exactly at the point of the pole, a large black rock protruded, having a circumference of 33 nautical miles, and almost reached the sky: Black Rock. This rock was magnetic, which explains why all compasses point north. Due to the inward velocity of the flowing water, a large vortex or vortex formed around the rocky island, in which the water eventually disappeared into the depths of the earth. "
Perhaps something similar to what the authors of the movie "Star Wars Rogue One" tried to portray:
My guess is that the entire mainland of Hyperborea was an artificial structure. And, perhaps, this installation in the center of the mainland contributed to the creation of a favorable climate on the mainland, and maybe on the entire planet? Isn't the Gulf Stream an echo of it? And the myth of Scylla and Charybdis - a description of this installation?
But besides the Gulf Stream, there are also local eddies in the world's oceans. They are shown in this diagram:
M2 tide, tide height shown in color. White lines are cotidal lines with a phase interval of 30 °. Amphidromic points are dark blue areas where white lines converge. Arrows around these points show the direction of the "sweep". Officially, they are not called whirlpools, but amphidromic points. But we read what these points are:
“An amphidromic point is a point in the ocean where the tidal wave amplitude is zero. The tide height increases with distance from the amphidromic point... These points are sometimes called tide nodes: the tidal wave "runs" around this point clockwise or counterclockwise. The cotidal lines converge at these points. "
Some whirlpools rotate clockwise, others counterclockwise. They always move at the same speed and make 1 complete revolution in 12 hours 25 minutes, i.e. about 2 times a day. It is believed that this is due to the rotation of the moon around the earth.
And if the Mediterranean ports had the complexity of their structure, then the ports of the Atlantic coast of France had (and still have) the complexity many times greater. Look at the diagram of the whirlpools. The tide in the Mediterranean is practically absent, while off the coast of France it reaches 12 meters in some places. I already wrote about this in the 1st part, describing the complexities of the device of the port of Dunkirk.
Ports on the west coast of France
1 Project for the Port of La Hougues, 2 Project for the Port of Cherbourg, 3 Granville, including the project for the port and inner harbor to be formed there 
Modern view of the port of La Hugue The territory sinking under the water is clearly visible at high tide.
Modern view of the port of Cherbourg There is practically nothing left of the old port here. The round forts at the ends of the pier were built in the middle of the 19th century. But one of them was destroyed during the 2nd World War:
Fort de l'Est (eastern end of the long sea wall), dilapidated during World War II The second is alive:
Fort de l'West (western end of the long sea wall) 
Modern view of the port of Granville That's all for now. Until next time.
This article was designed using an illustration of the siege of Carthage from the computer game "Total war rome 2"
When using the materials of the article, an active link to tart-aria.info with an indication of the author is required.
The chapter "Ports" of the subsection "Architecture of the Roman Empire" of the section "Architecture of Ancient Rome" from the book "General history of architecture. Volume II. Architecture of the Ancient World (Greece and Rome) "edited by B.P. Mikhailova.
During the era of the empire, there was a further increase in the volume of maritime trade in the Mediterranean. The number of ships and their tonnage is increasing, as well as the number of sea traffic. This process naturally requires the construction of new ports and the reconstruction of old ones. In the first centuries A.D. emerge, giant ports such as Ostia, Carthage, Alexandria.
All ports, including those using natural harbors, had artificial structures of a different nature: breakwaters, breakwaters, dams, lighthouses, etc. Small ports had one basin for parking, unloading or loading ships, the largest ports had several.
The simplest type of port (the ports of Trajan in the Centumcells and Tarracin in Italy and the port in Caesarea in Palestine) with one basin could have a different arrangement. They tried to use a bay or lagoon as a basin for the port (for example, the port of Claudia in Ostia, Fig. 165), equipped with a number of artificial structures. In those cases, when economic or other needs forced to build a port in a place where there were no bays, an artificial bay was created, protected from the sea by breakwaters. Sometimes the pier went in a long strip along the coast, fencing off the port from the sea. More often, however, ports were built with two breakwaters and a narrow passage between them.
In the II century. AD very popular were the ports, the basin of which had a rounded or polygonal shape (for example, the port of Trajan in Ostia). The convenience of this type was the large length of the berths, which allowed a large number of ships to moor at the same time.
Ports with not one but several basins were widespread. Rising to the type of Hellenistic port, where one basin was intended for commercial and the other for warships, they largely lost their military function during the era of the empire. All the largest ports of the empire belonged to this type, as well as many others (Tire, Sidon, Cyzicus). Sometimes a system was used that combined sea and river ports (Ostia, Antioch in Syria). To improve the conditions of navigation in such cases, canals were often laid.
Much attention was paid to the construction of lighthouses. The canal connecting the port to the sea was often divided into two branches by a natural or artificial island on which the lighthouse was located. In this case, one of the sleeves was intended for the entrance, and the other - for the exit of ships.
The port was viewed not only as a utilitarian structure, but also as a monumental ensemble. The entrance, where the high towers of the lighthouses were erected, stood out especially. Porticos were usually built along the quays, triumphal arches were erected on the breakwaters, and in the depths of the complex of port facilities - temples of sea gods.
Updated: 30 June 2018On the west coast of Crete lies the amazing archaeological treasure of Falasarna - an ancient port, the only one in the world and unique of its kind. This place takes us back centuries to a long-lost culture that has left behind many mysteries and traces of its existence. The combination of unique natural phenomena associated with lower and higher sea levels in the western part of Crete, as well as the strongest destructive earthquake in 365 AD, created an artificial harbor and raised land from the sea, revealing the treasures of a great civilization that flourished during the time of Alexander the Great.
Archaeologist Elpida Hadzidaki devoted 20 years of her life to the research and excavation of ancient Falasarna so that we could see the ancient Acropolis, two cemeteries and the ancient port.
The uniqueness of the ancient port of Falasarna
The artificial harbor of ancient Falasarna was built in the 4th century BC. during the time of Alexander the Great, using a method that combines Phoenician and ancient Greek shipbuilding technologies.
One of the most powerful earthquakes in the entire history of the Earth, which occurred in 365 AD. NS. led to the disappearance of Falasarna and its culture, but left a unique legacy for contemporaries. The uplift of the western part of Crete led to a change in the underwater infrastructure, brought port facilities to land, which allowed archaeologists to explore the seabed ... on land.
Two years ago, a large part of the ancient embankment was discovered, which is perfectly preserved. Even the mooring places of triremes (warships) with traces of ropes have been preserved, and there are no analogues to such finds anywhere else in the world.
Also, various structures for flood protection and footprints were found that indicate that there was a flood in Falasarna earlier, and people were looking for ways to protect themselves from natural disasters.
The Rise and Fall of Ancient Falasarna
Falasarna was inhabited during the Neolithic and pre-Minoan times. Many people here were destroyed during the Bronze Age during earthquakes, so the frightened inhabitants left Falasarna for 2000 years. Then, around the 8th - 7th century BC, the Dorians from Laconia came to Falasarna and began building a new settlement on the old ruins.
A state was created, functioning in a normal legal regime and having a political system, which became the impetus for the development of a progressively developing society. Falasarna was one of the first cities to enact laws, engrave in stone and place in temples (especially at the beginning of the era). The state had a Doric system of government as in Sparta, but without a king. There were no kings, there were rulers, a senate, a national assembly and slaves. In general, there was a democratic system, as it was at that time in Athens, Sparta and other Greek cities.
The main economic direction of Falasarna was the sea routes, thanks to which it was an international trade center with broad economic and cultural ties with the peoples of the east.
At the excavation site in Falasarna, many coins have been found from various ancient cities of Crete, such as: Kydonia, Polyrinia, Eleftterna, Aptera, as well as from Sicily. Which means that there was a trade and exchange of products. They also found vessels from Egypt, with which trade relations developed.
Falasarna's naval superiority was so great that she controlled the entire coast of the western part of Crete from Cape Krios to the island of Antikythira. Falasarna flourished since the 4th century BC, when Persian gold began to penetrate the Greek world, with the aim of stopping the advance of Alexander the Great against King Darius and his empire. In Falasarna, with money received from the Persians, they began to increase the height of the city walls and erect military buildings.
One of the sources of income for the city - the state of Falasarna, was piracy and the organized slave trade, which in turn provoked the wrath of Rome. Falasarna was first destroyed by the Romans in 67 BC. during the famous expedition of the Great Pompey against the pirates from Cilicia (in ancient times, the southeastern region of Asia Minor), as well as during the military operation of the commander Quintus Cecilius Metellus against the Cretan cities.
An analysis of the data obtained during the excavations shows that after the destruction caused by the Romans, there were two major natural disasters in Falasarna. According to stratigraphic data, the first catastrophe occurred in 66 AD, it was a tsunami from a strong earthquake. The second and final blow to Falasarna was struck by the largest earthquake in human history in 365 AD, when the western part of Crete rose from the depths of the sea by 6.5 meters in a few seconds, after which, a huge tsunami covered the port with tons of mud and sea deposits for 1600 years.
A glorious civilization that flourished for 300 years, lost and still buried underground in Falasarna, awaits to rise to the surface again centuries later.
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