Gortys, that was one of the most important cities of Crete, lay 46km
south of Heraklion.
The history of the city has its origins in the Minoan era, as testified by
the ruins of the 16th century B.C. farmhouse, which has been excavated,
but the city flourished
particularly during the Roman era.
Gortys was the capital of the Roman province of Crete and Cyrenaica.
The most distinctive monuments are the Praetorium (2nd century A.D.), residence of the Roman
governor of the province and the Nymphaion (2nd century A.D.), where the Nymphs
were worshipped; the temple of Pythian Apollo; the sanctuary of the Egyptian
divinities; and the Odeon, where the famous inscription with the laws of Gortyn
was found. Plato spoke of these laws, which were written in a Doric dialect
and date from the 6th century B.C., with admiration.