Onithé, Goulediana

The first building visitors come across on the road from the village of Goulediana to Onithé is the chapel of the Virgin Eleousa (the Merciful). It stands on the west side of the road, on the ridge of the plateau, sanctifying and demarcating with its presence the territory of Onithé. The downward slope that follows and covers the rocky scarp of its plateau is densely-wooded and virtually impenetrable.

The church is small, single-aisle and vaulted, with pitched roof and a spacious courtyard that fills with people on 15 August, when the feast of the Dormition of the Virgin is celebrated.

The entrance to the church is on the west side and has a semicircular lintel decorated with ribs and two incised bands. Above the lintel is a fanlight. In the interior of the church are two strainer arches with plain braces at their base, while on the long sides of the wall runs a horizontal decorative cornice which emphasizes the point of transition to the vaulted ceiling. The sanctuary conch is cut in the bedrock. The founding of the church has been dated to as early as the fifteenth century.

Exactly opposite the church, on the east side of the road, is a built fountain. The date incised on its front records that it was constructed in 1945. It is a simple square building of dressed-stone blocks, literally nestled in the rocky embrace of the slope. Inside the fountain house is a water-abstraction tank and at the foot of the front is a stone water-collecting basin. Exactly above the fountain-house passes a cobbled street, today ruined, which led to the adjacent settlement.

After walking up a few metres on the verge of the plateau, visitors encounter the first houses of the most recent settlement of Onithé. The hamlet (metochi) comprises scattered stone-built houses in the northwest part of the plateau, which were used seasonally until the mid-twentieth century. Today, the buildings are badly dilapidated or in ruins, although some have been repaired and serve as storehouses.

The stone-built houses are examples of vernacular architecture, with distinctive architectural elements of the Venetian and Ottoman periods. Most have outbuildings and threshing floors cut in the bedrock.

It is difficult to date the hamlet, in the absence of chronologically reliable evidence and given the conservativism in the development of buildings, without essential changes in the long term. Nevertheless, it is speculated that it was established in the Late Middle Ages (16th-17th c.), when there was settlement development in the wider area.

Curious, of course, is the lack of reference to the settlement in registers and lists from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. However, some researchers have proposed that it should be identified with the toponym Christochori, mentioned by Barozzi and recorded in notarial documents of the mid-seventeenth century (such as those of the notary Marinos Arkoleos).

Shortly before reaching the locality ‘Plakes’ and the spring of that name, just above the main street, visitors see a rectangular building with entrance in the first storey and relatively luxurious building features. In its upper storey is a rectangular doorway which led onto a balcony. Preserved inside it are stone brackets. In all probability this is a country house (‘villa rustica’) of Venetian times, which continued in use during the period of Ottoman rule.

‘Plakes’ is one of the most typical points on the Onithé Plateau. It is a spacious rocky terrace with an unimpeded view and a gushing water source, a cool place to halt and rest. Situated at the entrance to the plateau, ‘Plakes’ could be described as the ‘reception hall’ of Onithé, since it not only welcomes visitors but also prepares them before they penetrate further inside.

A copse of plane trees and a ruined Late Ottoman house form the west border of the rocky terrace and flank a fountain that is still in use. In 1954, Professor N. Platon excavated here and the modern interventions were completed.

Today the fountain is in the form of a rectangular basin, open on the north side and without shelter. The east face of the trench is cut in the bedrock, while the other two sides are built. On the south face, a conduit cut in the bedrock channels water to a small cistern.

The ancient fountain is on the west side of the trench, on the rock-cut face of which there are three small mouths. According to Platon, metal lion-head water spouts were affixed to these. In other words, this was a kallirrhoe (fair-flowing) fountain from which issued the chalkopylon hydor (water from bronze gates). The surmised sculptural decoration of the spouts with lion-heads is not unusual, as from the sixth century BC onwards the lion as krenophylax (guardian of the fountain) was selected almost exclusively to decorate the waterspouts of fountain houses. Today, water no longer flows through the spouts of the ancient fountain because the spring now supplies the later spout on the modern front of the south side.

The façade of the ancient fountain may well have been completed with basins for collecting water (that is, as it was laid out in the modernist version along its south front) and possibly had some kind of shelter, like those depicted in a host of ancient vase-paintings.

The ancient fountain at Onithé is considered rare – indeed unique for the Archaic period – as such buildings were not popular in ancient Cretan cities. We do not know of such buildings in Minoan times, while in historical times they are few and far between.

Recent rescue interventions by the Ephorate of Antiquities of Rethymnon, on the outside of the south front of the fountain, brought to light rock-cut conduits and walls of basins, likewise rock-cut. The cuttings seem to have been made in various periods (Antiquity, Byzantium, Venetian rule), bearing witness to the diachronic use of the fountain.

The fountain acquired its present aspect in 1938, with the formation on the south side of a built front with spout and water troughs. In the same year, in the angle formed between the ancient fountain and its westernmost terrace, a poros statue of a seated female figure was revealed. The fact that the sculpture, obviously of a goddess, was found turned towards the fountain reinforces the hypothesis that a sanctuary existed on this spot.

In antiquity, the belief that divine forces were ubiquitous and could appear through springs or trees was widespread. For this reason, it was common practice to found sanctuaries near water sources, which were frequently considered numinous, particularly in areas susceptible to drought. The fountain sanctuary at Onithé, which was possibly in the form of an open-air sacred precinct (temenos), may have been dedicated to Hera or Artemis (as Britomartis – frequent epithet of the goddess in Crete), or some local Nymphs.

From ‘Plakes’ visitors take the modern pathway leading westwards, 200 m along which is the chapel of St Antony. It projects from within a cavernous hollow in the east bank of the long and narrow gorge that begins at this point and ends to the north in the village of Goulediana.

The church is partially cut in the rock, at the foot of which was trickling water (hagiasma). It is not known whether this space was a locus of pagan cult, prior to the advent of Christianity. However, worship in caves and rock shelters in antiquity was not unknown, and, by the same token, the founding of churches in ancient sacred places.

The church is difficult to date exactly. From analogous cave chapels, an early dating in late Medieval times is possible, but a much later date, in the nineteenth century, cannot be ruled out.

South of the ancient fountain, a short distance from and in visual contact with ‘Plakes’, is a rock face, cut vertically to great depth and over a wide extent. The configuration of the rock, in combination with remnants of masonry on one side of it suggest the presence of a building. Bearing in mind the robust construction and privileged position of the building, between important houses and the fountain, it must have served a special function, such as a temple or a public edifice. The modern name of the space, ‘gymnasium’, is conventional and does not imply the identification in the architectural remains of a use corresponding to ancient gymnasium complexes. Obviously it is due to the strong impression the monument creates even today.

The vertical cutting encountered here, as well as the horizontal cutting and quarrying found all over Onithé confirm the rule applicable not only to Crete but also to Greece as a whole in areas with rocky terrain: the bedding surface is cut horizontally to ensure the stability of the foundations and the stone quarried in the process is used as construction material.

‘House A’, measuring 21 x 36 m and 400 sq. m. in area, comprises eight rooms. Its façade faces east, while its back is founded in the bedrock. A cross-wall that divides the complex into two parts, the south and the north, may well define two residential units. Inside the rooms were several stone bases of wooden columns and pillars (now perished), which upheld the ceiling.

The building complex is entered from the east, through a small trapezoidal porch (Θ). This leads into a spacious precinct (Ζ), just before the long corridor (Ε), to which there are three entrances. On the west side of the corridor are three new entrances, leading respectively to three contiguous parallelogram rooms (Η, Α, Β).

In the north part of the house, the successive arrangement of rooms is repeated, with front and entrance on the east side. The southernmost room (Γ) is smaller and rectangular. Its arrangement is interesting because with the four columns in its interior and the existence of an antechamber (Δ), it brings to mind the type of the Mycenaean megaron. The middle room (Ι) is the largest in the north part, while the room even further north (Κ) is oblong with a triangular extension in the northwest corner.

All the rooms, including the corridor (Ε), contained vases of various sizes, as well as storage jars (pithoi). The vases were placed carefully along the length of the walls and were set upon stone slabs or blocks. The greatest concentration of vases and pithoi was observed in Room B, which yielded also two fragments of bronze vases (spout and handle). Some pithoi had outstanding decoration. From Room A, correspondingly, an impressive marble basin with lion-head waterspout was brought to light.

Both the large size of the building complex and its content are unusual for a conventional house-residence. The quantity of vases and storage jars exceeds the needs of a household, while the construction emanates a sense of prosperity which is at variance with the dismal economic circumstances believed to have been prevailing in sixth-century BC Crete. Unusually luxurious for an ordinary house are the fragments of bronze vases found, as well as the marble basin (vessels that could have had also a ritual use). Interesting too is the lack of objects for everyday use.

When all this evidence is taken into account, it seems more likely that House A was a public building, even though its architectural layout does not conform to any of the known types of public buildings, such as the andreia or the prytaneia (‘council chambers’).

The truth is that although buildings such as the andreia are documented philologically, they are extremely difficult to identify archaeologically. The fourth-century BC Cretan poet Dosias gives the most informative description of them, as complexes which included halls for meals and quarters in which guests were accommodated. House A at Onithé could be identified as a building of this kind, such as those dispersed throughout Crete.

The dating of House A in the Archaic period (late 7th-early 6th c. BC) was based mainly on the dating of the pithoi found inside it. However, such storage jars remained in use for a long time after their production. The pottery that could be considered a more reliable chronological pointer has not been studied systematically. Moreover, there are persuasive indications that the building continued in use in Classical times. This is advocated by the dating of objects, such as the bronze handle, which is placed in the fifth century BC, of some architectural elements, such as the large number of wedge-shaped stones found in one room, which refer to later times, as well as by the architecturally advanced conception of the building.

In the southernmost part of a wide terrace, just a few hundred metres southeast of Houses A and B at ‘Tsigouna’, the remains of a building have come to light. The building, at a higher level, covered a cavernous hollow in the rock (‘tou Vasili o spilios’). On the flanks of the rock-shelter are holes or sockets for inserting beams, at different levels. At the lowest point of the rocky flank is an outcrop in the form of an acute-angled triangle. Immediately south of the building, above the rock-shelter, another complex of buildings existed, the spaces of the lower part of which are rock-cut.

The complex of buildings, which stands out by virtue of its extent and sturdy construction, must have served a public function, with cultic use equally possible, particularly of the cave.

Just below the foot of the east slopes of Onithé spreads the fertile vale of Geni. At the far end of the panoramic horizon stands Mount Kedros, to the northeast the fortified height of Veni and even further north the manmade lake of Potamoi.

A winding and largely untrodden path on the edge of the precipitous slopes of the Onithé Plateau brings visitors to the fortification of the ancient city. A stone ‘arm’ cuts off the highest part of the slope with the triangular finial. Its function as an enceinte is obvious, while its fortified character emerges from the form, the extent and the robustness of the construction, as well as its complementary role in relation to the other fortress features of the location.

The enceinte is almost triangular in plan, with its sides ending at the precipitous and unscalable scarps of the plateau. It is built of rubble masonry with fieldstones, very few of which have traces of working or of the use of mortar. Τhe thickness of the enceinte ranges from 1.10 to 1.30 m, and the average height is 1.30 m. The uppermost courses of stones have been filled in in recent times. The space enclosed by the enceinte is arranged on two slightly-sloping levels. The marked concentration of stones inside it indicates the existence of buildings, probably of administrative function.

The way in which the enceinte is built refers to early constructions, the beginning of which can be dated to the Post-Palatial period (c. 1400 BC). Given the presence of Early Minoan and Late Minoan pottery in the wider area of ‘Pyrgos’, the existence of a prehistoric settlement cannot be ruled out. In the years following the collapse of the Minoan palaces, a host of external threats, in combination with internecine conflicts, pushed the population into the mountains. During this period of instability, sites such as Onithé, with natural fortification and other advantages, such as potable water, proved to be attractive destinations.

The acropolis, which evidently was constructed in various phases, occupies the summit of the triangular slope (638 m. asl). Its present aspect is probably due to a reconstruction in Hellenistic times, a period when many Cretan cities completed or rebuilt their fortifications.

The acropolis is delimited to the south by the sheer scarp, which is why there are no fortifications on this side. On its other two other sides is a fortification wall of pseudo-isodomic masonry, 12 m. long in each case, which form a right angle.

On the west side there was a gate, which was protected by a tower – now difficult to discern. Further west, the rock has been cut to form a long channel with split-level floor and a rock-cut parapet towards the precipice. Its function was related to the defensive needs, perhaps a lookout post for the guard.

The high altitude and the naturally fortified position of the acropolis ensured its unimpeded surveillance of both the road axis to and from Agios Vasileios, which links the south to the north area of the Prefecture of Rethymnon, and of the valley linking the district of Agios Vasileios with the district of Amari.

Due to its strategic and nodal location, ‘Pyrgos’ must often have been a theatre of war and battles. Onithé played an important role in the Cretan uprisings of recent times (1821, 1878 and 1897), which fact is recorded in folk poetry. Its blood tribute in the struggle for freedom is referred to by an anonymous bard:

Ah wretched Onithé, which has devoured strapping lads and produces nothing but broadbeans and fish.

Even your stones are soaked in blood and no man can say how many have been killed…

The modern toponym ‘Dabia’, given to the area around the acropolis, also echoes its fortress role, as it derives from the Turkish word dabya, which means bastion.

We walk up the dirt road in this direction and come across two fragments (possibly belonging together) from the shaft of a ‘twisted’ column, built into a modern dry-stone wall between the south kerb of the road and a vineyard.

The presence of the column, and indeed close to gigantic heaps of stones which in folklore tradition were said to conceal a golden loom, could point to the existence of an important building hereabouts, dating from Early Christian times. However, it is more likely that these spolia had been brought from the Early Christian basilica, the columns of which had been plundered.

The gentle slope in the north part of the plateau, is known as ‘Pezoulos’, thus named after the stepped terraces. These terraces are planted with some of the oldest vines in the area.

The choice of this place for viticulture is not fortuitous. The slope is protected from the blustery winds and the limestone subsoil is favourable to the planting of vines. Furthermore, the area fulfils another essential precondition for vine-tending: good exposure to the sun and good ventilation.

‘Pezoulos’, and specifically the rocky verge of its slope, must have been the site of one of the cemeteries of the settlement. Scant remains of rock-cut tombs have been identified here. A short distance southwards of this point other graves have been located, although it is not clear whether they date from the same period.

The development of the cemetery on a hillside and outside the boundaries of the settlement (extramural) is a quite common phenomenon in antiquity, not only for sanitary reasons but also to secure a symbolic distance between the living and the dead.

The rural road continues northwards, leading to the locality ‘Leivadia’, which lies outside the bounds of the ancient city and is now covered by cultivated fields. About 1,000 m. from the modern settlement, a grape-pressing installation (lenos) of rectangular plan has been found. It is dated to Venetian times or to the early Ottoman period.

We return along the dirt road to the point where it forks and this time take the main branch to the east. The route crosses the small Onithé plain, the depressions of which, together with the terraced fields of ‘Tsigounas’ and ‘Pyrgos’ were the area’s main source of income.

Just before we reach the end of the dirt road, to the east, we deviate from the main route and walk about 50 m. in order to reach the Early Christian basilica, which was brought to light by N. Platon. Its discovery has contributed to the better understanding of the Early Byzantine period in Crete.

Built at the foot of a hillside, the basilica is three-aisled and measures approximately 36 x 17 m. It is entered through a small porch  on the south side of the naos. From there three steps lead into the narthex. West of the narthex there was probably the atrium, into which the doorway at its south end led.

From the narthex we enter the three-aisled naos. The aisles are developed at three different levels, following the slope of the ground. The central aisle is the widest, while the north aisle is slightly narrower than the south one. The three aisles will have been separated from each other by stylobates, on which the columns stood.

In a later period and after the basilica had fallen into disuse, a small chapel destroyed part of the sanctuary and the apse. At its entrance a hole 34 x 45 cm. deep was revealed, which contained a few potsherds and a small bowl. This may have been the enkainion or foundation deposit of the basilica, a phenomenon that has been observed elsewhere.

To the east the basilica ends in a semicircular apse which is provided with a three-stepped synthronon or sedile, where the bishops sat behind the altar table when attending the Liturgy.

Interesting is the arrangement of the spaces on either side of the holy bema. It has been suggested that these were pastophoria, the north one functioning as the prothesis, the space were the Sacraments were placed before the celebration of the Divine Eucharist, and the south as the diakonikon, where the vestments and church plate were kept. The pastophoria communicate with the sanctuary proper through two small double doors and with the lateral aisles through large openings.

In the northern extension of the narthex there are also apartments of indeterminate use. The large room communicated with the narthex through a doorway and was perhaps the baptistery. The last room to the east is a narrow corridor giving access to the north aisle.

The floors of the basilica in the sanctuary, the north pastophorium, the central aisle and the narthex were covered with mosaics. In contrast, the floors of the side aisles were of bricks and flagstones.

The basilica is now bereft of its main architectural members and columns, as well as its sculptural decoration. Only some parts of the poros openwork closure panels, of provincial workmanship, have survived. The rest of the finds included very little pottery and fragments of glass hanging lamps. The basilica is dated to the end of the fifth and the beginning of the sixth century.

As we continue our way along the dirt road, about 200 m. east of the basilica we come to an interesting but puzzling – in terms of use – building complex.

This is a stone-built vaulted building with flat roof, constructed of material taken from the adjacent basilica. Its entrance is on the wide east front, with a second entrance immediately next to it, perhaps opened when the first entrance was blocked up. The interior of the building is a single hall with plastered walls. On the tympanum of the north narrow side is a window opening. Around both the north narrow side and the long west one runs a low bench.

The date of the building is far from clear. Vaulted spaces in Crete are known already from Late Byzantine times, are characteristic of the years of Venetian rule and continue in use into the Early Ottoman period. The edifice appears as if it could have been built in the sixteenth or seventeenth century.

Enigmatic too is its use. Although it could have been the country house or farmstead of a local landowner, it seems more likely that it was a hostelry or han. Its nodal position on the pass leading northwards towards the provincial road axis, through the ‘Skourochlada’ ravine, its proximity to an abundant water source, from which the adjacent fields were irrigated until recently, the existence of a cistern in its north part and the presence of a series of rock-cut basins at a level below this reinforce the above proposal.

In recent times the building, also known as ‘metochi’, was lived in during the summer months, which use has left many traces. West of the building and close to it is a threshing floor.

Just below the han, a stream marks the eastern limit of the area of Onithé. Within the deeply-shadowed ravine through which it flows, 200 m. northeast of the han, is the church of the Life-giving Source (Zoodochos Pege). This is a small single-aisle vaulted church with pitched tiled roof. Its entrance has a rectangular frame and an archivolt in the shape of a pointed arch. Above this is a cruciform fanlight. There are fanlights of semicircular shape also on the long sides, while in the sanctuary conch there is a fenestella.

In the interior of the church are two strainer arches with plain braces at their springing, while a cornice runs around the sanctuary at the point where the curvature of its conch begins.

The church has been dated to the late fourteenth or the early fifteenth century and is still used for worship.

We come back to the road towards ‘Plakes’ and follow the dirt road westwards, which brings us to the diametrically opposite edge of the plateau, the area of ‘Sykidi’. In this locality, clearly outside the speculated limits of the ancient city, two burial chambers have been found inside a modern sheepfold. The first chamber is cut in the limestone bedrock and is almost square in shape. Its entrance is a square doorway on the east side. Inside the chamber on the three sides are blind arcades in the form of arcosolia, that is, arched apses starting from the ground (arcus = arch and sol = earth), inside which the coffin of the dead (solium) was placed. Carved in the tympanum of each arch is a small niche, perhaps for placing offerings.

The tomb must have been created in Early Christian times, if not in the Late Roman period, as the last resting place of a distinguished person, perhaps a local dignitary or official, and possibly members of his family.

In a later period the tomb may have been converted into a Christian chapel. Oral tradition has it that the chamber was used as a secret school in Ottoman times, but this does not seem to be verified by historical sources and conceptions.

A short distance from the burial chamber is a second similar rock-cut tomb, but in a poor state of preservation.