FUNERARY MONUMENT Ι
Outside the west fortifications of Aptera lay the main city cemetery. Wealthy families built mausolea near the main gate. One of these is Funerary Monument I, founded in the 1st century AD. It contained 10 burial shafts and had been looted before its destruction in the 7th century AD. The funerary relief of the early 2nd century AD found next to the entrance is one of the best examples of its kind from Crete, depicting a young couple who were probably buried in the mausoleum.