House, Eleftherna

On the northern slopes of Mount Idi, some thirty kilometres from Rethymno, stands a rather poorly preserved Byzantine tower within the archaeological site of Ancient Eleftherna. The city itself was founded in the ninth century BC and prospered through the Hellenistic and Roman eras, but this tower dates from a later rebuilding. Between 430 and 450 AD, Eleftherna was reconstructed in the early Byzantine period, becoming a significant centre as the seat of a bishop. The tower is the surviving remnant of that phase. The city’s fortunes turned after an earthquake in 796, and it was ultimately destroyed following the Arab conquest of 824. Today, the structure is in poor condition, yet it offers a tangible link to a settlement that endured for well over a millennium, from archaic prosperity through late antiquity, before its final collapse.