Vasiliki is the name of a village in the municipality of Ierapetra

Ierapetra

Ierapetra is a town in the southeast of the Greek island of Crete and a municipality of Crete region.-History:The town of Ierapetra is located on the southeast coast of Crete, along the beach of Ierapetra Bay. It lies south of Agios Nikolaos and southwest of Sitia and is an important regional...

, in the prefecture of Lasithi

Lasithi

Lasithi is the easternmost regional unit on the island of Crete, to the east of Heraklion. Its capital is Agios Nikolaos, the other major towns being Ierapetra, Sitia and Neapoli. The mountains include the Dikte to the west and the Sitia Mountains to the east...

, on Crete

Crete

Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...

, and the name of the nearby Minoan

Minoan civilization

The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that arose on the island of Crete and flourished from approximately the 27th century BC to the 15th century BC. It was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the work of the British archaeologist Arthur Evans...

 archeological site. The site took its name from the village.

Geography

Vasiliki lies on a small hill in the north of the Ierapetra isthmus

Isthmus

An isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas usually with waterforms on either side.Canals are often built through isthmuses where they may be particularly advantageous to create a shortcut for marine transportation...

. The exit of the impressive Ha Gorge

Ha Gorge

Ha Gorge is a gorge on the eastern part of the island ofCrete in Greece. It is located in the west slope of Thrypti mountain and exits eastof Vasiliki village in the plain of Ierapetra. The gorge is about 1.5km...

 is located nearby.

Archaeology

Vasiliki was first excavated 1903-1906 by American archaeologist R. B. Seager. Nicolas Platon continued excavations in 1953. In 1970, A. A. Zois began meticulous work that lasted until 1982, and returned to the site again in 1990 to continue the work.

The Minoan village was in use from EMIIA

Minoan pottery

Minoan pottery is more than a useful tool for dating the mute Minoan civilization. Its restless sequence of rapidly maturing artistic styles reveal something of Minoan patrons' pleasure in novelty while they assist archaeologists to assign relative dates to the strata of their sites...

 to LMIA

Minoan pottery

Minoan pottery is more than a useful tool for dating the mute Minoan civilization. Its restless sequence of rapidly maturing artistic styles reveal something of Minoan patrons' pleasure in novelty while they assist archaeologists to assign relative dates to the strata of their sites...

. From about 2500 BC onwards, the culture of Vasiliki resembled art elements as other Cretan sites such as Knossos

Knossos

Knossos , also known as Labyrinth, or Knossos Palace, is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and probably the ceremonial and political centre of the Minoan civilization and culture. The palace appears as a maze of workrooms, living spaces, and store rooms close to a central square...

 and Trapezea based upon pottery finds. A nearby tomb

Tomb

A tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes...

 from LMIII

Minoan pottery

Minoan pottery is more than a useful tool for dating the mute Minoan civilization. Its restless sequence of rapidly maturing artistic styles reveal something of Minoan patrons' pleasure in novelty while they assist archaeologists to assign relative dates to the strata of their sites...

 was once discovered, but the location has not been rediscovered.

The site includes houses, many Vasiliki-ware pottery

Minoan pottery

Minoan pottery is more than a useful tool for dating the mute Minoan civilization. Its restless sequence of rapidly maturing artistic styles reveal something of Minoan patrons' pleasure in novelty while they assist archaeologists to assign relative dates to the strata of their sites...

finds and a paved courtyard.