DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1066#0102
THE SITES : GOURNIA
FROM Phaestos a pleasant way of reaching the
east end of the island is by travelling the
length of the Messara Plain and pushing one's
way through the picturesque valleys that wind in
and out among the eastern foot-hills of Lasithi.
One passes ancient Priansos (modern Kastelliana),
Homeric Rhytion, Homeric Malla, and Kalamavka,
a prehistoric post; thence northward, by the site
of Hellenic Oleros to Kalo Khorio, the Istron of
coins and inscriptions. With the lovely Gulf of
Mirabello before him, the wayfarer now turns east,
and follows closely the north shore of the Isthmus
of Hierapetra. One cove succeeds another, each
a veritable delight to the eye by reason of golden
rocks and richly hued water. At length a wider
valley is reached, surrounded on three sides by
hills, which drain into a small river that courses
through the valley to the sea, debouching between
rugged and picturesque promontories. This valley
is called Gourmd, because its formation is thought
to resemble the trough (gorni) from which barn-
yard animals drink. The name occurs elsewhere
in Crete for similar situations; in fact, it is almost
equivalent to our topographical use of the word
'basin.'
FROM Phaestos a pleasant way of reaching the
east end of the island is by travelling the
length of the Messara Plain and pushing one's
way through the picturesque valleys that wind in
and out among the eastern foot-hills of Lasithi.
One passes ancient Priansos (modern Kastelliana),
Homeric Rhytion, Homeric Malla, and Kalamavka,
a prehistoric post; thence northward, by the site
of Hellenic Oleros to Kalo Khorio, the Istron of
coins and inscriptions. With the lovely Gulf of
Mirabello before him, the wayfarer now turns east,
and follows closely the north shore of the Isthmus
of Hierapetra. One cove succeeds another, each
a veritable delight to the eye by reason of golden
rocks and richly hued water. At length a wider
valley is reached, surrounded on three sides by
hills, which drain into a small river that courses
through the valley to the sea, debouching between
rugged and picturesque promontories. This valley
is called Gourmd, because its formation is thought
to resemble the trough (gorni) from which barn-
yard animals drink. The name occurs elsewhere
in Crete for similar situations; in fact, it is almost
equivalent to our topographical use of the word
'basin.'