​Kasteli
Kissamos, later named Kasteli after its Venetian Castle, preserved in full the pre-Hellenistic name of a very ancient settlement, which was situated on the same site. Plinios (4, 12, 20) refers to it as Cisamon and Ptolemeus (3, 8, 17) as Kissamos Polis (Kissamos City). Kissamos used to be a large, organized town, haven of Polyrthenia, but autonomous and independent, with its own currency. On the one side of its coins is Hermes’ head with a broad-brimmed cap was depicted while on the other side there was a dolphin and the following letters Κ Σ Ι Ω (Svoronos, Numismatique, etc. p. 55). The Italian traveler Buond-elmonti (beginning of 15th century) and the Englishman Pococke (1745) refer to Kissamos as an important palace with numerous pillars and foundations of large buildings along the beach to the west of Mavros Molos where the old harbor once existed. The town flourished during the Roman period which most of the remaining ruins are dated. One can see Roman baths, mansions with mosaic floors and the Roman cemetery. There are also ruins of the Roman aqueduct on the Krya Vryssi site, as well as a number of buildings that were used in the construction of the fortress walls. In the museum, there are items such as pots, statues and glass vases, which date back to Archaic, Hellenistic and historic times. There are eye-witness accounts by Onorio Belli of the ruins of an excellent theatre and an amphitheatre in Roman Kissamos at the end of the 16th century. The Kissamos acropolis survives on the Seli site half an hour to the west of Kissamos, where pre-war excavations by V. Theophanides revealed a Mycenaean sanctuary, which according to tradition was built by the Mycenae King Agamemnon. Kissamos sustained great prosperity during the first Byzantine period and it was then that the Kissamos Diocese was established. During the second Byazantine period it was transferred to the village of Episkopi to avoid pirate raids. During the Venetaion occupant, the Kissamos Diocese came under the power of the Catholic Church. A Latin Bishop is mentioned in 1307. During the same period a fortress was built (1579-1582) in a pentagonal shape with a church, a prison, barracks and a well. This fortress was later occupied by the Turks who had to reconstruct it. It is still in good condition today and one can see it on top of the step rock. During the Turkish occupation, Kastelli played an active role in the rebellions against enslavement by the Turks, the efforts made for the unification of Crete with Greece and during the Second World War. The efforts mad by both the town and the entire district against the Nazi occupation were outstanding. Today Kasteli is the west entrance to Crete from mainland Greece. It is a beautiful township with excellent beaches and all the facilities that make any traveller’s stay both pleasant and unforgettable.