Phaestos

Introducing Phaestos

The Minoan site of Phaestos (28920 42315; admission €4/2, incl Agia Triada €6; 8am-7.30pm Jun-Oct, 8am-5pm Nov-Apr), 63km from Iraklio, was the second-most-important palace-city in all of Minoan Crete. Of all the Minoan sites, Phaestos (fes-tos) has the most awe-inspiring location, with all-embracing views of the Mesara Plain and Mt Ida. The layout of the palace is identical to Knossos, with rooms arranged around a central court, though there has been no reconstruction.

In contrast to Knossos, the palace at Phaestos has very few frescoes. It seems the palace walls were mostly covered with a layer of white gypsum. Like the other palatial-period complexes, there was an old palace here that was destroyed at the end of the Middle Minoan period. Unlike the other sites, parts of this old palace have been excavated and its ruins are partially superimposed upon the new palace.

The entrance to the new palace is by the 15m-wide Grand Staircase. The stairs lead to the west side of the Central Court. The best-preserved parts of the palace complex are the reception rooms and private apartments to the north of the Central Court; excavations continue here. This section was entered by an imposing portal with half columns at either side, the lower parts of which are still in situ. Unlike the Minoan freestanding columns, these do not taper at the base. The celebrated Phaestos disc was found in a building to the north of the palace. The disc is now in Iraklio’s archaeological museum.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009