Cydonia (Grèce)

Kydonia or Cydonia (sɪˈdoʊniə; Κυδωνία; Cydonia) was an ancient city-state on the northwest coast of the island of Crete. It is at the site of the modern-day Greek city of Chania. In legend Cydonia was founded by King Cydon (Κύδων), a son of Hermes or Apollo and of Akakallis, the daughter of King Minos. According to Pausanias he was son of king Tegeates. Diodorus Siculus mentions that the city was founded by King Minos. The editors of the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World suggest that the city also bore the name Apollonia (Ἀπολλωνία). The name of the city is first mentioned in Linear B tablets from Knossos as It derives from the word kydos/κῦδος which means power, glory, fame. At Kastelli hill, which is the citadel of Chania's harbor, archaeological excavations have discovered ceramic sherds that date to the Neolithic. Scarce finds such as walls and ground floors confirm that the systematic habitation of the hill began during Early Minoan (EM) II period. A Minoan House (House I) with the characteristic hall was also unearthed. It was destroyed by fire during Late Minoan (LM) IB period. The houses from LMIIIA phase belonged to a palatial settlement, which ceased to exist in LMIII. The city extended beyond Kastelli hill as the excavations in Daskalogiannis Street revealed, where a LMI sanctuary or "lustral basin" came to light. The discovery of a corpus of Linear A and Linear B tablets points out the presence of an archive. Moreover, the archaeologists have identified the existence of a local pottery workshop, which was active in LMIII. It is peculiar that Homer in the Odyssey mentions Kydones (tribe) not Kydonians. They dwell on the two sides of Iardanos river. Herodotus considers that the city was founded by Samians in ca. 520 BC, who later on were defeated and enslaved by a coalition of Aeginetans and Cretans. Aegina also sent colonists to the Cretan city. Due to this relationship, the city at an early phase minted coins which resemble those of the aforementioned island. Archaeological evidence from these periods is limited.