Ste Irene - Bronze Age Settlement Attractions Ayía Iríni

On the little peninsula of Ayía Iríni, opposite Vourkári, is a Bronze Age settlement of about 2500 B.C. which was excavated by American archeologists from 1960 onwards. The town, which was surrounded by walls around 1900-1800 B.C., traded with the Minoan and Mycenaean worlds, and enjoyed a heyday between 1600 and 1450 B.C. Thereafter there was only sporadic settlement on the site. The site is entered on a modern flight of steps beside an ancient fountain. The remains are preserved to a considerable height, and the various settlement levels identified by the archeologists can be distinguished, together with the remains of water and drainage channels. Particularly notable features are a large cellared building (House A), which probably served religious and administrative purposes, the remains of a tumulus tomb and, above all, the walls of the oldest temple so far found in Greece (15th century B.C.). Passing an altar, we go through the remains of the doorway into the narrow naos, beyond which is a second adyton.