A mere 19 km south and east of the clamour of modern Agios Nikolaos is a magical place- one of the best preserved of all the Minoan towns on Crete. Gournia is also site that reminds us of what can happen to even the busiest of communities over long periods of time. It now stands deserted on a small hill overlooking the beautiful Gulf of Mirabello.

Gournia centres around the remains of a palace that, at only one tenth its size, was significantly less important than Knossos. Yet it is that small scale, and the preservation of the ruins, that brings the town to life in the imagination. Here you see a maze of streets, lined with the foundations of simple one roomed houses. The paving of the main street survives, so you are stepping on the same place that the ancient Cretans walked around 1550 BC.

It is known that Gournia was a busy commercial centre, with evidence of pottery, carpentry, and metalworking as well as other activities such s fishing and weaving.