[1] The village is located at the northern entrance of the Malian Gulf, some 2 km south of the acropolis of the ancient city of Larissa Kremaste.

[5] In 1275 it was ceded by the ruler of Thessaly, John I Doukas, along with Zetounion, Gravia, and Siderokastron, to the Duchy of Athens as part of the dowry of his daughter Helena Angelina Komnene.

1294 the town was granted by the Duke of Athens Guy II de la Roche to Boniface of Verona, who held its lordship at least until the Battle of Halmyros in 1311.

[5] Along with other towns in southern Thessaly such as Domokos and Pharsalus, in the mid-1320s Gardiki came briefly under the rule of the Catalan Company, which had taken over the Duchy of Athens in the aftermath of Halmyros.

[12] The substantial boundary walls of the ancient acropolis are still visible, and mosaics from an early Christian basilica have been uncovered a short distance away near the shore.