A large section of a public building has been discovered at the remote ancient site of Lissos, south of Chania in Crete, during the first season of an archaeological excavation held after 62 years, the Ministry of Culture & Sports said on Tuesday, according to ANA.
Facing east, the building appears to be either an odeum (where musical activities took place), or a bouleuterion (where members of the boule met). According to preliminary information, the building appears to have been constructed in the early Roman years, during the 1st century AD.
The building is part of a theater complex and the excavation took place in order to preserve the findings already exposed to the elements from the late ’50s when it was first excavated by Nikolaos Platon. Further north, there was a temple dedicated to the healer god, Asclepius.
Current excavations unearthed part of the stage, a corridor on each side of the theater with a vaulted roof, and 14 rows of seats. The seating part of the theater rests on a built base, and most of the surviving seats are found south and southwest. The northern section is heavily damaged from large boulders carried by the overflowing of a stream nearby, and broke through the building diagonally, towards the east. It is speculated that the flooding occurred after a powerful earthquake in the Late Roman era (4th c AD), which destroyed most of western Crete’s ancient sites.
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Source: tornosnews.gr/en/