According to Greek legend, Crete was ruled by three mythical brothers, Minos, Sarpedon and Rhadamanthus. Sarpedon is said to have had dominion over the eastern part of the island until he was exiled by his brother Minos. We have adopted him as a symbol for our interdisciplinary archaeological project focused on the Kefali hill and its environs,  located near the modern village of Sissi in east Crete (Fig.1). The new Sissi Archaeological Project (S.Ar.P.edon) is an initiative of the Université Catholique de Louvain and operates in Greece under the auspices of the Belgian School of Athens(EBSA).

Fig.1: Map of main Minoan Sites

Funds for the excavations are generously provided by the Institute for Aegean Prehistory, the UCL, the FNRS, the EBSA and the Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur, des Médias et de la Recherche scientifique de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, as well as a series of private donors (see sponsors) and the local community of Vrachasi and Sissi. Two five-year programmes (2007-2011; 2015-2019) have already taken place, followed by study seasons and site consolidation campaigns. A new five-year program (2022-2026) concentrates on minor tests and further site consolidation, at the same time preparing final publications.

We sincerely thank Mrs. Chryssa Sofianou, previous director of the Archaeological Service of East Crete (Efalas Lasithi), the epimelitria and acting director Mrs. Vasso Zografaki, the previous head of the KD Ephoreia Mrs. Villy Apostolakou, and Mrs. Klio Zervaki, conservator of the Archaeological service, for graciously allowing us to do this work and a fine collaboration. Ms. S. Michou represented EFALAS during the 2007 campaign, Ms. L. Manoussogiannaki during the 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 campaigns, Mr. Nikos Thanos during the 2015-2019 campaigns, Mrs Konstantina Kokolaki in 2022 and 2023, Mrs Heidi Senn-Kassotaki in 2024 and Dr. Sotiria Kiorpe in 2025. The team thanks the Ecole française d’Athènes and its previous director Prof. Alexandre Farnoux, for the services of Mrs. Eleni Kivernitaki. INSTAPEC and its director, Dr. Thomas Brogan, are thanked for putting their photographer at our disposal (C. Papanikolopoulos, J. Vandepool), and general assistance. Dr. Panos Iossif and Dr. Tina Kalantzopoulou, successive deputy directors of the Belgian School at Athens, are thanked for continuous help and support, as are the EBSA accountant Mr. Andreas Papadakis and lawyer Mr. Nikos Natzoulis.

We are especially grateful to the inhabitants of Sissi and Vrachasi for their help and Cretan hospitality. Check out https://www.nostimonimar-online.com/ for Vrachasi news. We also thank our local workers from Vrachasi and Sissi and those who came from Iraklion, Knossos and Palaikastro. Their names are given elsewhere in this site.

Photographs in this website are the work by Sissi team members, with aerials mainly made by Nicolas Kress and team shots by Gavin McGuire.