Kaloi Limenes
Καλοί Λιμένες | |
---|---|
Settlement | |
![]() Panorama of Kaloi Limenes, painted by
Thomas Abel Brimage Spratt, from Travels and researches in Crete (1865) | |
Coordinates: 34°55′46.9″N 24°48′01.1″E / 34.929694°N 24.800306°E | |
Country | Greece |
Administrative region | Crete |
Regional unit | Heraklion |
Municipality | Faistos |
Municipal unit | Moires |
Community | Pigaidakia |
Population (2021)
[1] | |
• Total | 17 |
Time zone | UTC+2 ( EET) |
• Summer ( DST) | UTC+3 ( EEST) |
Postal code | 700 09 |
Area code(s) | 28920 |
Kaloi Limenes or Kali Limenes ( Greek: Καλοί Λιμένες [kaliˈ liménes]) is a village and port in the Heraklion regional unit, southern Crete, in Greece, located 70km (43.5 miles) south-west of the city of Heraklion. It has 17 inhabitants (2021). [1] It is known as a major bunkering spot for ships in the southern Mediterranean. [2]
Kaloi Limenes (meaning 'good harbors' or 'fair havens') is a natural port near the southernmost point of Crete. It is close to the village of Lentas (ancient Levin), and the unexcavated remains of Lassea, a port for the ancient settlement of Gortys. [3]
According to the Acts of the Apostles, Apostle Paul, landed at Kaloi Limenes on his way from Caesarea to Rome as a prisoner of the Romans, [4] [5] then attempted to proceed further west along the coast to Phoinikas ("Phoenix"), identified to the homonym small village in the bay west of Loutro or Loutro itself. [6] [7] [8] [9] A small church was built there (first in Byzantine times, then restored in the 1960s). [6]
The port is the home of a major oil storage and terminal facility, located on the small island of Aghios Pavlos ("Saint Paul") at the port's entrance. The facility has four shore-based storage tanks containing fuel oil and gasoil, pumps of 1,000 cubic metres per hour capacity and three loading docks. [10] The terminal's maximum draft of 40 feet (13.45 metres) [10] enables the facility to handle oil tankers of up to approximately two hundred thousand metric tons of deadweight. [2]