Historical place profile
Gortyn(a)
The Roman capital of Creta et Cyrenaica province, then Creta, and later seat of the Archbishop of Crete, Gortyna was a thriving community from the Geometric period to the Middle Byzantine period. The first traces of urban settlement date from the Archaic period. The ancient Greek law code known as the "Gortyn Code" was discovered there in 1884.
Record details
- Research ID
- catholon:place:pleiades:589796
- Catalogue ID
- pleiades:589796
- Place type
- settlement, urban
- Coordinates
- 35.062107, 24.946943
- Precision
- precise
- Locator semantics
- representative_point_not_boundary
Historical description
The Roman capital of Creta et Cyrenaica province, then Creta, and later seat of the Archbishop of Crete, Gortyna was a thriving community from the Geometric period to the Middle Byzantine period. The first traces of urban settlement date from the Archaic period. The ancient Greek law code known as the "Gortyn Code" was discovered there in 1884.
Geographic evidence
The coordinates are a representative_point_not_boundary. They identify a research anchor and do not by themselves assert an ancient administrative boundary or the full extent of the settlement.
Provenance: Barrington Atlas: BAtlas 60 C2 Gortyn(a)
Source and reuse
This profile derives from the Pleiades current GIS record, licensed CC BY 3.0. Pleiades place record The profile preserves the source name, point, type, description, precision and provenance without silently adding a boundary reconstruction.
Research path
Compare this place with the chronological map at the relevant year, nearby political units, routes, institutions and the period portals. Where the source record is silent about jurisdiction, population or ecclesiastical rank, this profile makes no such claim.
Phase II — chronological and spatial research layer
Historical problem
The Roman capital of Creta et Cyrenaica province, then Creta, and later seat of the Archbishop of Crete, Gortyna was a thriving community from the Geometric period to the Middle Byzantine period. The first traces of urban settlement date from the Archaic period. The ancient Greek law code known as the "Gortyn Code" was discovered there in 1884.
Spatial reading
The record classifies this location as settlement, urban with precise point precision. The coordinate is a research anchor, not a timeless urban, political or ecclesiastical boundary.
Source path
Geographic provenance: Barrington Atlas: BAtlas 60 C2 Gortyn(a). The place should be compared with the active time slice, routes, neighbouring polities, institutions and dated textual witnesses.
Questions for further dossier work
- Which occupation phases are directly attested at this coordinate?
- Which ancient or medieval names refer to the same site, and which remain disputed?
- Which political and ecclesiastical jurisdictions changed over time?
- Which routes, ports or regional centres explain the place’s historical importance?