Agia Pelagia is 20km west of Heraklion on the Heraklion - Rethymnon highway. Agia Pelagia was the site of an ancient Greek city. It is not clear which one it was, but some assume that it was Apolonia, the city that was destroyed by the Kydonians at 171 B.C. The name Agia Pelagia originates from the monastery of Agia Pelagia, approximately 1km west of the bay. In the wall of the old monastery there are two shields in relief and between them a coat of arms.