Gournia

Gournia is a Minoan archaeological site on Crete, Greece. It is located on the northeastern part of the island, in the Lasithi regional unit, near the modern village of Kavousi. The site comprises a well-preserved Minoan town dating to the Middle to Late Bronze Age.

The site was excavated by archaeologist Harriet Boyd Hawes in 1901–1904, under the auspices of the American School of Classical Studies. The excavations revealed a densely built town around a central roadway, with multi-room domestic buildings, courtyards, and a monumental building that may have served administrative or ceremonial functions. The layout shows planning and infrastructure such as drainage.

Architecture in the town ranges from small, single-room structures to larger multi-room complexes, often with plaster floors, stone walls, and wooden details. A central street connected houses and led to the larger public building, illustrating a level of organization and urban planning characteristic of Minoan towns. The site provides evidence of domestic production and social structure within a Bronze Age community.

Finds from the excavations include pottery, figurines, seals, and architectural fragments that illuminate Minoan material culture. Gournia is regarded as one of the more complete peri-urban Minoan towns, offering important insight into settlement patterns, economy, and daily life on Crete during the Bronze Age.

Today, Gournia is a protected archaeological site administered by the Greek Ministry of Culture and is part of the broader network of Minoan sites around Kavousi. It is accessible to visitors and complements studies of Minoan Crete alongside nearby sites such as Vronda and Kavousi.