The turmoil caused by the collapse of the palatial centres and the subsequent movements of populations at the end of the second millennium BC (1210-1150 BC) led initially to the abandonment of many Minoan sites and later (1150-1000 BC) to the settlement in more advantageous locations. The administrative and social changes, as well as the emergence of new religious and artistic mores, marked the beginning of the so-called Historic Era. It was during this period that the first fortified citadels (acropoleis) were created, and the foundations were laid for the formation of the ancient Greek city-state.
Protogeometric-Geometric period (970-700 BC).
After the decline of the palace of Knossos and the reduction of trade, the role of Amnisos was probably downgraded, which is why the underqualified port, according to Homer, was finally abandoned. The Minoan settlement at Poros-Katasabas was abandoned as well. The city of Knossos, however, continued to prosper in the following centuries. The impressive findings in the Northern Cemetery document the continuation of commercial and artistic exchanges between Knossos and centres outside the island, through its seaport, which by now must have been only the harbour of Herakleion. The Early Geometric pottery unearthed during the excavations of George Miles and Manolis Borboudakis in the courtyard of the church of St Peter of the Dominicans, on the coastal front, seems to confirm the continuation of activity around the port of Herakleion at the dawn of the Iron Age.
Proto-Archaic period (700-630 B.C.)
At the end of 2015, during the restoration works of the Venetian Fortress of Rocca a Mare (Kules), two parts of a door frame (lintel and jamb) made of limestone, with relief decoration, partially covered with lime mortar, were found. The relief frieze depicting a procession of oxen between a grid of spirals, visible on the lintel, indicated from the outset that this was a work of exceptional craftsmanship from an early period. After cleaning the jamb, it was revealed that it was decorated with a representation of a female figure wearing a tall cap and with clenched fists, in the type of the Mistress of the Animals (potnia theron). The reliefs were dated to the Early Archaic period (7th century BC). The high quality of the work and the general similarities with the reliefs from the temple A of Prinias point to a connection with the Knossan workshops.
The research revealed that the two parts of the doorframe came from an excavation in a plot in Ariadnis street, north of the Archaeological Museum. The depiction of the potnia and the animals in a sacrificial procession indicate that the doorframe originated from a shrine, the location probably located at the top of the hill, where the remains of the Minoan building were also found. This location, where the church and monastery of St. Francis were later erected, was literally and figuratively the most prominent of the city, especially for those who approached it from the sea, and therefore in the Proto-Archaic and Archaic period it could have hosted an acropolis with a temple dedicated to the patron deity of the settlement.
At the other end of the modern port, in the area of “Thalassina”, a rescue excavation carried out by the Ephorate of Antiquities of Herakleion in 2022 brought to light a small clay oenochoe containing four Proto-Archaic electrum coins, without depictions, originating from the area of Ionia, and two pieces of gold jewellery (ring and earrings). This is undoubtedly a treasure, the concealment of which dates from around the middle of the 7th century BC.