Hermes and Aphrodite Sanctuary
natural · 2000 BC – 2100 AD
This large, open-air sanctuary near Syme Viannou in southern Crete was in use from 2000 BCE until at least the sixth century CE. It attracted pilgrims who are assumed to have camped at the site, which is far from any contemporary settlement. Monumental construction began in the early second millennium BCE and multiple phases and changes are evident, including the construction of Christian chapels in late antiquity. Although the identities of the deities worshiped here at the earliest periods are uncertain (as are the saints venerated in the Christian period), the association with Hermes and Aphrodite seems to have begun as early as the 10th century BCE.
- Coordinates
- 35.05592, 25.50001
- Also known as
- Hermes Aphrodite (en), Hermes, Aphrodite (en), Kato Simi, Kato Syme, Kato Symi (el), Krya Vrysi (el), Sanctuary of Hermes and Aphrodite at Syme Viannou (en), Sanctuary of Hermes and Aphrodite at Syme Viannou (en), Κάτω Σύμη (el)
- Dating
- attested
Sources
- Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places · CC BY 3.0Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places (CC BY 3.0)
- Wikidata · CC0 1.0Wikidata (CC0)