The Palace of Knossos

Knossos, also known by its romantic name of the Palace of Minos, was discovered in 1878 by Minos Kalokairinos, a Cretan merchant and antiquarian. Kolokairinos himself conducted the first excavations which brought to light part of the magazines in the west wing of the palace and a section of the west facade.

After Kalokairinos, several people attempted to continue the excavations, but it was not until March 16, 1900 that Arthur Evans was able to purchase the entire site and conduct massive excavations. Assisted by Dr. Duncan Mackenzie, who had already distinguished himself by his excavations on the island of Melos, and Mr. Fyfe, the British School of Athens architect, Evans employed a large staff of excavators and by June of 1900 had uncovered a large portion of the palace.

The Palace of Phaestos

The second major Minoan Palace in Crete after Knossos in the fertile plain of Messara.

Like Knossos, Phaestos was the centre of religious and economic activities. The palace has been excavated by Italian Archaeologists. Its importance lies not only in its size but also in the fact that we have there a clear stratigraphical sequence of two successive palaces. This is of great consequence for our understanding of Minoan history and for our reconstruction of the major phases of Minoan civilization.

We know that there were two palace periods. The period of the old palaces (c.1900-1700 BC) and the period of the new palaces (c 1650-1400 BC). Earthquakes destroyed the old palaces and that made the Cretans to rebuild them on an even grander scale.

Although such early palaces existed also at Knossos, Malia and Zakros, it is mostly at Phaestos that we have their visible remains. One can easily observe the existence of the two different Palaces built one on top of the ruins of the previous.

A destructive earthquake around 1700 BC brought the old palace to an end. Much of the palace has been destroyed, particularly on its south side where it has been eroded away. It was a complex structure with five different, independent but still coordinated units that had separate functions. Included were magazines and workshops indicating its role as industrial and trade centre.