Palace sights in Phaestos
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Phaestos
Pottery deposits indicate that the site was inhabited in the Neolithic era around 4000 BC, when the first settlers established themselves on the slopes of Kastri Hill. The first palace was built around 2000 BC and then destroyed by the earthquake that levelled many Minoan palaces. The ruins were covered with a layer of lime and debris, which formed the base of a new palace that was begun around 1700 BC. It, too, was destroyed in the catastrophe that befell the island in 1450 BC.
In the intervening centuries Phaestos was the political and administrative centre of the Mesara Plain. Ancient texts refer to the palace's importance and note that it minted its own coins. Althou…
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