Lassithi Lato Minoan Site

Location: Kritsa

Among the most important Doric city-states in Ancient Crete, Lato is thought to have been in existence even before the Doric Descent. The location of ancient Lato, built between two hills, offers a magnificent view of Mirabello Bay and has provided natural protection against invaders in the past.

The city-state of Lato, named after the mother of Apollo and Artemis, Leto (Lato in the Doric dialect), was a flourishing city and a member of the League of Cretan Cities, while it was continuously engaged in a border dispute with Olous, a neighboring city-state. The identification of the present site as Ancient Lato belongs to the work of archaeologists F. Halbherr, L. Mariani and A. Taramelli in the second half of the 19th century. The first systematic excavation of the site was undertaken by a French team of archaeologists from 1899 to 1901.

Ancient Lato had a double acropolis. People lived in houses of simple construction that had two square rooms with a hearth in the center. Rainwater was collected and stored in underground cisterns cut into the rock, to meet the needs of the households. From the internal courtyards, one had to mount 80 steps to reach the Agora (public square, a place of assembly and center of civic life), which had a small columnless temple from the remains of which many figurines dating from the 6th century BC have been unearthed.

An important monument of Lato is the Prytaneion, the seat of government, an immense seven-tiered structure divided into three wings, resembling an ancient theater. The central room of the complex, with a seating capacity of 80 people and a perpetually flaming hearth, was used as a conference room and dining place for distinguished citizens. The other prominent structures of the site include the remains of the large temple of the city and an open-air theater which could accommodate about 350 persons.