Listed 2 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for destination: "ETIS Ancient city SITIA".
City on the N coast of E Crete. The ancient site is probably under
the modern town, which goes back certainly to the Venetian period. Another site
nearby has been suggested (Petras), but the only good harbor, then as now, is
on the W side of the bay, sheltered from the N wind.
Little is known of its history. One of the Seven Sages, Myson, was
born at Eteia or Etis, probably to be identified with Seteia. No coins are known,
and it may never have been a fully independent city in antiquity, but a dependency
of inland Praisos, serving as its port on the N coast: an early 3d c. inscription
of Praisos refers to the Setaetai making overseas voyages on behalf of Praisos.
When that city was destroyed (145-140) the Praisians may have continued to hold
Seteia; later it was a bishop's see.
Objects belonging to the EM, MM, and LM, Archaic, Classical, Roman
and Byzantine periods have been found at the modern town site, but few remains
of buildings: only some Roman walls at the river mouth on the S side, and a Classical
wall on the SW side. Part of the ancient site may now be submerged, owing to local
subsidence. On the coast at Petras, 3 km E-SE of the town, are remains of a major
Minoan site, with EM, MM, and LM finds but hardly a trace of post-Minoan settlement,
so that it is unlikely to be Seteia. On the E side of a headland just E of Petras,
called Karavopetra or Trypeti, is a rock cutting--a "shipshed" for a
guardship, probably for protection against piracy.
D. J. Blackman, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
Eteia (Eteia), a town of Crete. Pliny (iv. 20) places a town of this
name (some of the MSS. and the old text have Elea or Eleae), between Phalasarna
and Cisamus.
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