Messara Plain
Alluvial plain in Southern Crete From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Messara Plain or simply Messara (Greek: Μεσσαρά) is an alluvial plain in southern Crete, stretching about 50 km west-to-east and 7 km north-to-south, making it the largest plain in Crete.
On a hill at its west end are the ruins of Phaistos and Hagia Triada,[1] near the middle are the ruins of the ancient city of Gortys.
Since 1500 BC the plain has extended by up to 6 km due to a buildup of alluvial sediment. Clays from Messara have been found to be the source of significant amounts of Minoan pottery; soil and rock types from the fringes of Messara, particularly the foothills of the Asterousia Mountains at the south and the foothills to the north within the Psiloritis Mountains.[2]
In the Messara, olive trees, vineyards and horticultural crops are grown. Part of the products grown here are placed on the domestic market. Α substantial part of the produced olive oil is then exported to European markets. The Messara Plain is also home to the indigenous Messara horse.[3][4][5]
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
