Knossos – Aqueducts of the Greater Iraklio Area (AGIA) - 2021
Informations Générales
Numéro de la notice
18034
Année de l'opération
2021
Chronologie
Mots-clés
Nature de l'opération
Institution(s)
Localisation
Toponyme
Knossos, Knosos, Cnossus, Cnossos
Knossos, Knosos, Cnossus, Cnossos
Notices et opérations liées
20192021
Description
Knossos – Aqueducts of the Greater Iraklio Area (Agia). Amanda Kelly (University College Dublin) reports on a second season of survey of the aqueducts of the Knossos region.
In November 2019, as part of the AGIA project, Amanda Kelly with UCD colleague Brendan O’Neill walked the Roman aqueduct supplying Knossos, using a handheld Trimble GPS station. The survey mapped the full length of the aqueduct supplying the Roman city of Knossos as well as the section of the 19th-century Ottoman-Egyptian aqueduct.
The Venetian aqueduct had not been surveyed since Giuseppe Gerola’s fieldwork in the 1900s and
was the subject of field study in December 2021. This was meant to be straightforward as the aqueduct route had been marked on the military maps of Crete and the terrain was familiar. But it was not to be so, and perhaps the biggest surprise of the 2021 fieldwork was the discovery of an in situ Roman-type stone pipeline at Karydaki (the main spring source of the Venetian aqueduct).
Roman-Type Stone Pipeline in-situ at Karydaki
The discovery of the Roman-type stone pipeline at Karydaki (Fig. 2,3) constitutes a unique find in Crete and perhaps even in Greece. While fallen stone pipes have been known from the east side of the Venetian bridge at Karydaki (Fig. 1 for location), the in situ stone pipeline is a completely new discovery. The supporting wall carried at least 19 in situ stone pipes (11 complete and at least another 8 damaged in situ pipes) with at least another 8 stone pipes lying on the ground below.
This constitutes an impressive number of in situ stone pipes in any ancient stone pipeline. Similar stone pipelines from Asia Minor (modern Turkey) have largely been regarded as Roman in date, so this type of pipeline was a surprising find at the start of the walking study of a known Venetian aqueduct (to be published with the Frontinus Society).
The Venetian Aqueduct of Iraklio
The Venetian aqueduct tapped a series of springs in the upper reaches of the Katsambas River, the lowest of which was located at Karydaki within the Knossano Gorge. While the inscription marking the Pelecites Springs is well documented, the spring itself lies to the immediate south below the inscription, where it issues from a tunnel or compartment cut into the rock (Fig. 4).
Panagia Karydakiani
At Karydaki, the spring is located at the ruined chapel of the Panagia Karydakiani monastery (nestled in the Knossano Gorge to the north of Epano Archanes). Just north of the Panagia Karydakiani chapel, the team traced a rock-cut channel follows the 224-223m amsl contour for 50m. The vertical rock-face above the channel has been cut flat to present a sheer face.
On a terrace below the chapel, the team plotted an arched fountain house while, on another terrace, an arched culvert directed excess water safely through the site and into the valley below. On lower terraces, tiers of Cyclopean walling were also visible, and more of this walling type is located on either side of the riverbed below to the south of the bridge.
Other key monuments along the course of the Venetian aqueduct studied in 2021 include the aqueduct bridges at Karydaki, Silamos and Caronissi, a possible fountain opposite the Venizelion Hospital, and a substantial tract of walling along Erithreas Street.
The Venetian bridges at Karydaki and Silamos
The form of the Karydaki Bridge comprises a single pointed arch spanning the river surmounted by a second storey of three pointed arches (Fig. 5). The bridge deck is 135cm wide and its channel is 40cm wide. An inscription is located on the north façade of the bridge between the west and middle arch of the second storey (published by Gerola 1932-40, IV, 377, no. 4).
Along its northerly route, coasting the western contours above the Katsambas river, the aqueduct had to traverse an intervening ravine, descending from the Silamos village (Fig. 1 for location). The Silamos Bridge was a free-flow bridge like the Caronissi Bridge further along the aqueduct’s course. While large sections of bridge piers can still be seen on either side of the ravine, little of the central section of the bridge now remains. To the north of the river, wall elevations reach 5m, but even here the wall does not survive to its full height. The deck of the bridge sits at 173-4m but the bridge only survives to its full height at its northernmost extent (Fig. 5).
Between the aqueduct running along Erithreas Street and the Jesus Gate, little could be detected, and we know that some elements of the aqueduct were either subterranean or have long been destroyed.
In November 2019, as part of the AGIA project, Amanda Kelly with UCD colleague Brendan O’Neill walked the Roman aqueduct supplying Knossos, using a handheld Trimble GPS station. The survey mapped the full length of the aqueduct supplying the Roman city of Knossos as well as the section of the 19th-century Ottoman-Egyptian aqueduct.
The Venetian aqueduct had not been surveyed since Giuseppe Gerola’s fieldwork in the 1900s and
was the subject of field study in December 2021. This was meant to be straightforward as the aqueduct route had been marked on the military maps of Crete and the terrain was familiar. But it was not to be so, and perhaps the biggest surprise of the 2021 fieldwork was the discovery of an in situ Roman-type stone pipeline at Karydaki (the main spring source of the Venetian aqueduct).
Roman-Type Stone Pipeline in-situ at Karydaki
The discovery of the Roman-type stone pipeline at Karydaki (Fig. 2,3) constitutes a unique find in Crete and perhaps even in Greece. While fallen stone pipes have been known from the east side of the Venetian bridge at Karydaki (Fig. 1 for location), the in situ stone pipeline is a completely new discovery. The supporting wall carried at least 19 in situ stone pipes (11 complete and at least another 8 damaged in situ pipes) with at least another 8 stone pipes lying on the ground below.
This constitutes an impressive number of in situ stone pipes in any ancient stone pipeline. Similar stone pipelines from Asia Minor (modern Turkey) have largely been regarded as Roman in date, so this type of pipeline was a surprising find at the start of the walking study of a known Venetian aqueduct (to be published with the Frontinus Society).
The Venetian Aqueduct of Iraklio
The Venetian aqueduct tapped a series of springs in the upper reaches of the Katsambas River, the lowest of which was located at Karydaki within the Knossano Gorge. While the inscription marking the Pelecites Springs is well documented, the spring itself lies to the immediate south below the inscription, where it issues from a tunnel or compartment cut into the rock (Fig. 4).
Panagia Karydakiani
At Karydaki, the spring is located at the ruined chapel of the Panagia Karydakiani monastery (nestled in the Knossano Gorge to the north of Epano Archanes). Just north of the Panagia Karydakiani chapel, the team traced a rock-cut channel follows the 224-223m amsl contour for 50m. The vertical rock-face above the channel has been cut flat to present a sheer face.
On a terrace below the chapel, the team plotted an arched fountain house while, on another terrace, an arched culvert directed excess water safely through the site and into the valley below. On lower terraces, tiers of Cyclopean walling were also visible, and more of this walling type is located on either side of the riverbed below to the south of the bridge.
Other key monuments along the course of the Venetian aqueduct studied in 2021 include the aqueduct bridges at Karydaki, Silamos and Caronissi, a possible fountain opposite the Venizelion Hospital, and a substantial tract of walling along Erithreas Street.
The Venetian bridges at Karydaki and Silamos
The form of the Karydaki Bridge comprises a single pointed arch spanning the river surmounted by a second storey of three pointed arches (Fig. 5). The bridge deck is 135cm wide and its channel is 40cm wide. An inscription is located on the north façade of the bridge between the west and middle arch of the second storey (published by Gerola 1932-40, IV, 377, no. 4).
Along its northerly route, coasting the western contours above the Katsambas river, the aqueduct had to traverse an intervening ravine, descending from the Silamos village (Fig. 1 for location). The Silamos Bridge was a free-flow bridge like the Caronissi Bridge further along the aqueduct’s course. While large sections of bridge piers can still be seen on either side of the ravine, little of the central section of the bridge now remains. To the north of the river, wall elevations reach 5m, but even here the wall does not survive to its full height. The deck of the bridge sits at 173-4m but the bridge only survives to its full height at its northernmost extent (Fig. 5).
Between the aqueduct running along Erithreas Street and the Jesus Gate, little could be detected, and we know that some elements of the aqueduct were either subterranean or have long been destroyed.
Auteur de la notice
Michael Loy
Références bibliographiques
Unpublished field report
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Date de création
2022-03-09 15:30:42
Dernière modification
2022-03-09 15:31:03
Figure(s)
Fig. 1/ Location of aqueducts visited in 2019
Fig. 2/ Roman-type stone pipeline at Karydaki
Fig. 3/ Roman-type stone pipeline at Karydaki
Fig. 4/ Pelecites Springs
Fig. 5/ Karydaki Bridge
Fig. 6/ Silamos Bridge