Skopi, Siteia

Skopi is a village and seat of the community of Skopi in the Municipality of Sitia, Lasithi, in eastern Crete. It is 7 kilometers from Sitia.

Archaeological find

In 1967, during a survey on behalf of the Archaeological Society, the then Curator of Byzantine Antiquities, Emmanouil Borboudakis, conducted an autopsy at the site of “Proskefala” in Skopi to verify the existence of a grave, but without results. However, the presence of an olive press plate and some building remains were noted in the area. Unfortunately, it is not entirely clear whether these were found in Proskefala or in another location in Skopi.

The large, irregularly shaped, square, stone base of the olive press has a carved circular groove surrounding the pressing surface and a circular tank near it for collecting olive oil. It was clearly the base of an olive press, which was used during the process of pressing the olive pulp, although its use for straining olive pulp should not be ruled out. The holes around the groove appear to have supported beams for the pressing mechanism, unless they are later. Stylianos Alexiou, reports in the Proceedings of 1967 that the slab is “of Greek times”, although in the corresponding entry in the Archaeological Bulletin of 1968 he does not rule out a dating in the Roman period.

Administrative details

See: Community of Skopi

Skopi is officially mentioned in 1925 in Government Gazette 27A – 31/01/1925 as the seat of the newly founded community of the same name. According to the Kallikratis plan and the amendment of Kleisthenes I, together with the settlements of Xerocampos, Panagia Faneromeni, Papadiokampos and Sarantapechos, they constitute the community of Skopi, which belongs to the municipal unit of Sitia of the municipality of Sitia, while according to the 2011 census it has 553 residents.

Settlement: Key Points

• Historical References: First official mention in 1925.

• Location: Eastern Crete, in the Municipality of Sitia.

• Historical Significance: Discovery of an olive press base from the Greek or Roman period.

• Population Data: See table below.

• Current Status: An active village and the seat of the community of Skopi.

Population