Located three kilometers from Kastelli and 39 from the city of Heraklion, there lies the fairly large settlement of Lyttos or Xidas on the east side of the Plain.
Since the 19th century the settlement has been related to the ancient city of Lyttos, due to the extensive residential facilities that have been discovered in the northeast side of the village, which date back from the Hellenistic and Roman times.
There are two churches you can visit on the ruins of the ancient settlement: the big single-aisledchurch of the Holy Cross of the 17th century at the lowest level of the site and the basilica of St. George of the 14th century at the highest point of the citadel.
Factories, wine presses and windmills used to exist in the town, serving the needs of a society based on vineyard cultivation and olive production. Today mostly ruins of some of these facilities survive.
