Lasaia, Crete
“and with difficulty coasting along it we came unto a certain place called Fair Havens; nigh whereunto was the city of Lasea.” Acts 27:8
A couple of miles east along the coast from Fair Havens Crete ( Kaloi Limens) are remains of the ancient city of Lasaia mentioned in the book of Act. Lasaia was a small ancient Minoan settlement. In the Hellenistic era it was the port city of Gortyn and continued that role in the Roman era.
Today on the beach there are plentiful remains of the Roman sea walls. Between the shore and the tiny island of Trafos are remains of a mole that dates back to the Minoan period. Up the hill from the beach to the west is what looks to be a necropolis. If we had had more time to explore, we should have been able to find even more remains of structures up the hill on the little acropolis such as a cistern and aqueduct and remains of some buildings. It was an amazing place to explore!
We stumbled onto this place quite by accident. It looks as though there has been some limited excavation in the necropolis, but the sea walls are just crumbling into the sea. It’s a beautiful setting on a sunny day and we hope to go back someday and explore up the hill farther.
There are a number of possible reasons this port and Fare Havens were not considered a suitable place to winter in by the commander of the ship: it was small and may have had limited provisions for the crew, there may not have been sufficient warehouse structures and space to off load grain from the ship and it would have spoiled in the hold of the ship over the winter. Whatever the reason, we know the result. Paul was right and they eventually shipwrecked on Malta.
Remains of the roman port of Lasaia, Crete. Very near Kaloi Limens (Fair Havens)
