Aptera

City / RuinsEuropeGreecec. 700 BCEDorian Cretan (Minoan/Mycenaean antecedents)

Large city-state on a plateau commanding Souda Bay, attested as A-pa-ta-wa in Linear B and enclosed by a fortification circuit of which about 4 km survives in fine polygonal and coursed Hellenistic masonry. Inside are Doric temples, a theatre, huge three-vaulted Roman cisterns and baths; the city was famed for its mercenary archers.

35.4626°, 24.1415°