Archanes; Nirou Chani

Not all sites can be archaeological marvels, but as we are assiduously attempting to see every site which has been classified as having at least "abundant remains of buildings", we are often in small villages, driving around streets that have never seen a tourist.

In Archanes, on a residential street, nestled between all the houses is this delightful site.  Unfortunately, there is a high wall and a gate above that, and no way to (rationally) get past the gate, what with all the neighbors and their dogs watching.  But I was able to scale to the wall and crawl along its length to the highest point relative to the angle of the site and get a few pictures.  I probably could have easily scooted over the adjacent roof around the gate and gotten in, but then getting out would have been a problem, so I thought better of my escapade.

Afterward, we drove to the downtown area and found the archaeological museum for the site.  As this was our first such local archaeological museum, we had no idea that everything had been raided by the Heraklion Archaeological Museum...  Still, there was a good aerial photograph of the site from its glory days before it had been allowed to be reclaimed by nature.  I am also excellent at map reading, and immediately noticed that there was an alley on the west side, which might afford a different angle, if not possible access to the site.  So, back we went to the site.

There was an even more impenetrable gate at the alley entrance, but I was still able to get some perspective.

Nirou Chani, however, posed a different problem.  It's in a beautiful seaside community, has a website for the site, and posts its hours.  Therefore, when we arrived around 12;45pm and understood that the site would be open until 3:30pm, we were quite confounded by the desolate and locked site, but which still boasted its operating hours etched in stone!  

Seriously, why both going to the expense or bother of posting a sign or creating a website?  We were told by the proprietor of the taverna across the street that this attendant leaves at noon to go to another site.  I think she just leaves at noon.  Our interactions with site and museum attendants at closing time is the source of much discord.  But I digress...

Unfortunately, this site abutted to some communal farmland, which apparently did not have good relations with the site as they planted rose bushes and other thorny plants along two of the sides, not to mention a stone wall and metal fencing above that.  And since most of the site is covered, it was really hard to take any decent photos.  I know I said it is hard to take a bad picture in Greece.  I stand corrected.  

Ultimately, the best thing I saw here was a stone carving of the floor plan of the site.  It would never give me information about anything vertical, or the details of construction that I can discern from marks in the stone, but it was better than the satellite view from Google maps since most of the site is covered to protect it.  Combined with what we learned at other sites where we could interact with the ruins, I can make some educated comparisons.