Site details

Aghios Nikolaos

PK	C5613
TITLE	Aghios Nikolaos
WGS84	35.023536° N, 25.419786° E
Accuracy	Unknown

LAT/LON	35.023536, 25.419786
LON/LAT	25.419786, 35.023536

DMS

35° 1' 24.7296" N

25° 25' 11.2296" E

W3W	onlooker, temp, alleyway
UTM	35 S, 355838, 3876794
EGSA87	629377, 3876285

Elevation m	422
Elevation feet	1384.5
Region	Crete
Subregion	Viannos

GENERAL SITE TYPE hab

TYPE

1.    Sherds.   Hood et al. [1964], 84    'Over a wide area on a steep slope facing east above a stream bed we noted a scatter of red sherds, ...', 'There was probably a Minoan farm or hamlet here.'

PERIOD (High Chronology)

1. Late Minoan: (1675 BC - 1075 BC)
    a.    Hood et al. [1964]: 84, '..., all of which (sherds, RHC) appeared to be Minoan, ...'

2. Late Minoan I: (1675 BC - 1470 BC)
    a.    Hood et al. [1964]: 84, '..., including a scrap of a cup with traces of decoration in dark on light (L.M. I?).'

NOTE

1. My location for this is quite doubtful. The two bearing lines (1) to the church of the Panayia near 'Fortetsa' above Arvi and (2) to Amira village converge at 35.026063°, 25.389533°. This could work if the third constraint (5.3 km. from Vianno) means start in Ano Vianno and go west and south to Kato Vianno, then south to Pervola and then south to Chondros. This path is about 5.7 km. and it is the only significant road (not a field road) that goes (eventually) to Arvi. The phrase 'about ten minutes north-east of the road to Arvi' is of uncertain meaning. Perhaps the authors intended this to mean on foot. From the closest point on the Arvi road to the place where the two bearing lines converge is 715 m. in a straight line. There is a second possibility. There is a location named 'Haghios Nikolaos' along with a church of that name at 35.024160°, 25.419607°. This is directly E of the first location (2738.7 m. at a bearing of 93.67°). This has a bearing to Amira/Amiras village of 53° and not 73°. The bearing from here to 'Fortezza/Fortetsa' and the Panagia is 111° and not 105°. This church of Haghios Nikolaos is about 411 m. to the NE of a road which one could take from Vianno to Arvi, if one were determined to ignore all the better alternatives. To reach this ridge top church one would have to take the field road which opens up at 35.018797° N, 25.418953° E. This might be a ten-minute drive to the church. Perhaps the picture was different in 1962 when the authors were doing their field research. I have used the coordinates of this second location although, in truth, I cannot justify my choice and it is very likely to be incorrect.

rhc

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Hood et al. [1964]: Hood, Sinclair and Peter Warren, Gerald Cadogan . ‘Travels in Crete, 1962’, The Annual of the British School at Athens (59), pp. 50-99, 1964., '(3) 'Agios Nikolaos'', pg. 83. Online here.