"The identification of [Aphendrika] with the Hellenistic Urania, mentioned by Diodoros Siculus and Nonnos, goes back to D. G. Hogarth. The only proper excavation in the area was conducted by E. Dray and J. du Plat Taylor who focused on several coastal and mainly Classical-Hellenistic chamber tombs south of the western plateau next to the natural bay that features the harbour remains...Urania is assumed close to that harbour, for example by E. Öztepe, although no hard evidence exists so far. About 700 m off the coast three dilapidated Early- to Middle-Byzantine churches sit at the foot of a ridge, which features the few rock-cut remains of an “acropolis.” The Panagia Chrysiotissa and Asomatos churches have been fairly studied. They go back to the 6th century and were rebuilt with barrel vaults probably in the early 8th century, not long after the Arab raids of the mid-7th century. Another localisation of Urania, about one and a half kilometers to the east, close to Exarkhos Bay, is suggested by the mapping of A. Ulbrich, in an area where the remains of Archaic to Hellenistic tombs occur. Exarkhos Bay is mentioned by G. Hill, who suggests the existence of an ancient harbour, probably meaning an anchorage as traces of built harbour structures do not exist...The harbour site of Aphendrika in the plot Limionas is geomorphologically attractive. It is a natural bay of about 170 m width, protected by a protruding rock formation on both sides of the approximately 60 m wide opening of the bay, featuring a thin [fresh] water spring on the southern shore, and being easily accessible from the land." (Kiessel, Saymanlier, and Talug 2024: 145-146).
