46 km from Heraklion are the ruins of Gortys – the city reached its Golden age in the Roman period. Plato referred to It as one of the richest cities of Crete. But this city was not only the rich and civilized. Widely known city law of the Gortyn: here was found carved in stone set of laws V century BC

The ruins of the city sprawls over a large area: Basilica of St. Titus (V century), baths, Praetorium (II century BC), the temple of Pythian Apollo, Odeon, the sanctuary of the Egyptian gods (ISIS and Serapis).