Church of Christ the Savior

The Church of Christ the Savior in Kounavoi, within the Archanes-Asterousia municipality of Heraklion, is a Byzantine church dated to around 1600. Yet its true distinction lies beneath the nave. Excavations between 1987 and 2000 uncovered a deep archaeological sequence, including ten Proto-geometric tombs found in 1998, one with a bothros for pouring libations. Rock-cut shaft graves yielded glass vessels, bronze and bone pins, and coins. Here, centuries of worship rest atop far older ceremonies for the dead.