Phalasarna or Phalassarna is an ancient Greek harbor town on the northwest coast of Crete. Because ancient writers rarely mentioned the site, its history is known virtually entirely from archaeology. A learned observer (Captain T. A. B. Spratt, of the Royal Navy), noted in 1859 that the former harbor of the deserted site was now 200 yards from the sea and that the ancient sea coast must have risen at least twenty four feet. Modern excavation has confirmed this judgment. Radiocarbon dating of fossil algae along the ancient sea level mark on the cliffs around Phalasarna estimates the sudden sea level change at some time more than sixteen centuries ago. A very probable event was the great earthquake and tsunami of 21 July A.D. 365, which wreaked catastrophic damage on all the coasts of the eastern Mediterranean and was recorded by dozens of ancient Greek and Roman writers.

References

• F. Frost, "Tectonics and History at Phalasarna," Res Maritimae, American Schools of Oriental Research, Atlanta (1998) 107-115;
  
• F. Frost, E. Hadjidaki, "Excavations at the Harbor of Phalasarna in Crete," Hesperia 59 (1990) 513-27.