The island of Pseira in Crete with the minoan settlement and the turquoise blue waters

Pseira is a small uninhabited island, a couple of kilometres off the coast of Crete and a stone's throw away from another Minoan centre at Mochlos. 

The small Minoan town, on the island of Pseira, was first excavated by the American archaeologist Richard Seager, in the first decade of the 20th century and more recently by Philip P. Betancourt and Costis Davaras. 

The town began life as a small settlement as early as the Final Neolithic period and continued to grow throughout the Minoan period, reaching its highpoint during the Late Minoan IB period, when the Minoan palaces were also at their height.

A small peninsula on the south side of the island provided the Minoans with a harbour,basically little more than a small beach, protected from the north winds. The town grew up on both sides of the harbour, but the peninsula is the area where most buildings are to be found,indeed they extend along its whole length.

A very impressive tall, steep flight of steps, known as the Grand Staircase, leads up from the beach to the town. Archaeologists have divided the town into four sections of which the two most impressive are Area A ,which extends from the top of the Grand Staircase southwards, down to the tip of the peninsula, and Area B, which extends uphill to the left of the Grand Staircase. Areas C and D are on the other side of the beach. Beyond Area D is the town cemetery.

This Minoan community supported itself by fishing and subsistence agriculture. Also they exported laver. The archaeologists found on the island the oldest dams, ever built in the world

Like many contemporary Late Minoan IB sites, it was violently destroyed,  1550–1450 BC.

You can visit the island by boat from Tholos and Mochlos. The   turquoise blue, crystal waters, around the island, are ideal for diving, fishing and of course, swimming.

(Information: minoancrete)