Hersonissos

This guide to Hersonissos, on Heraklion's coast, traces the Roman-era port town of Chersonesos, which grew rich enough off trade to mint its own coin and outgrow the inland city it once served. It follows an 1897 scramble by villagers pulling stone from an ancient theater for their houses, and turns to a pyramid-shaped Roman fountain nearby, restored in 1954 and covered in mosaic scenes of local fishermen at work. The fountain's mosaic figures are a little clumsy in perspective but confidently drawn, gulls circling above the fishing boats.