Tylissos

Tylisos (Τύλισος, also Pyrgos Tylissos, Tylissos) is a town and a former municipality in the Heraklion regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Malevizi, of which it is a municipal unit.^[1] Population 3,941 in 2001. It is an ancient Minoan peak sanctuary and town. The Municipality of Tylisos was created in 1999 and includes 11 villages. The economy is based around agriculture, mainly grape cultivation (accounting for 4.8% of the island’s production) and olive cultivation. At the same time stock farming of sheep, goats and chickens and beehive farms are abundant.

Archaeology

Tylissos was excavated 1909-1913 by Joseph Hadzidakis, 1953-1955 by Nicholas Platon and in 1971 by A. Kanta. The town was in use Early Minoan II to Late Minoan IIIA, and the peak sanctuary,excavated in 1963 by Alexiou was in use until at least Late Minoan IA. Structures include houses, a cistern and an aqueduct with clay pipes. Excavation finds have included a pithos with Linear A inscriptions, stone horns, and clay human and animal figurines.

There are also a significant number of caves include the he Kamilari Cave, Hainospilios Cave, Doxsa Cave, Trapeza Cave and Arkalospilios Cave. There are also two gorges which are namely: the Almiros gorge, the Gonies gorge. Agrotourism is also a very popular among visitors all year round. Arolithos village, Ktima Kares and Agrotikon are the most visited sites for this and other leisure activities.

References

• Jones, Donald W. 1999 Peak Sanctuaries and Sacred Caves of Minoan Crete ISBN 91-7081-153-9
• Kyriakidis, Evangelos, 2005, Ritual in the Aegean: The Minoan Peak Sanctuaries, London: Duckworth publishers
• Kyriakidis, Evangelos 2007, ‘Finding Ritual: Calibrating the Evidence’, in Kyriakidis, E. (ed.), 2007. The Archaeology of Ritual, Los Angeles: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology UCLA publications, pp. 9–22

External links

• Tylissos