HERAKLEION, COASTAL WALL - 2008

Herakleion, coastal wall. E. Kanaki and E. Papagianakis (13th ΕΒΑ) report that excavation of a stretch of the coastal wall close to Agios Petros revealed part of the Byzantine fortification. When the Venetian fortifications were built further to the north, an abandoned tower was transformed into a church. Inside were 14 graves. All but one were oriented east-west: the exception was oriented north-south and its cover bore the monogram of Saint Catherine of Sinai. A further eight graves were found in the narthex and nine outside the narthex next to its west wall. The church decoration and inscriptions date to the 14th century. The pottery ranged from Middle Byzantine to Ottoman.