CRETE TRAVEL GUIDE

Crete Travel Guide
Phaestos
Top 10 Sights
1
West Courtyard and Theatre Area
Tiers of stone seats occupy the north side of the
West Courtyard, a paved space that was used for rituals
and theatrical ceremonies, including, perhaps, the
bull-vaulting depicted in some Minoan frescoes. South
of the courtyard are two well-like stonelined pits used
for storing grain, and in the northeast corner are the
remains of a shrine which was part of the earlier palace.
palace.
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2
Grand Stairway
This broad, monumental
stairway leads from the
West Courtyard up to the
remains of a propylon, or
portico, and into a
colonnaded lightwell. This
was the main entrance to the
Central Court
This vast courtyard, formerly flanked on two sides
by covered walkways, may have been a parade ground.
Niches, perhaps for sentries, are recessed into walls by
the main entrance.
4
Peristyle Hall
The stumps of columns lining this square space
indicate that it was once a colonnaded courtyard. Beneath
it are traces of an even more archaic building, dating from
what is known as the Prepalatial period (3500–1900 BC).
5 Archive
This row of mud-brick coffers may have been the
filing department. The Phaestos Disc, with its
undeciphered hieroglyphics, was discovered here. It can
be seen in the Irakleio Archaeological Museum.
6
Storerooms and Pithoi
The storerooms were where essentials such as
grain, oil, wine and olives were kept in huge ceramic jars
called pithoi . Several pithoi remain in the storerooms.
7
First Palace Remains
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While Arthur Evans was reconstructing Knosos, the more
meticulously scientific Italian scholar Federico Halbherr
was unearthing the sites of two Minoan palaces at
Phaestos, on a hilltop above the fertile farmlands of the
Messara Plane. Most of the ruins visible today are
remnants of the later palace (known as the Second
Palace), built around 1600 BC and destroyed, possibly
by a tidal wave, in around 1450 BC.
To the southeast of the site,the smaller ruins of the First
Palace are fenced off for their protection. The palace was
built c.1900 BC and destroyed about 200 years later.
8
Palace Workshops
The remains of a sophisticated kiln or bronze-smith’s
furnace stand in a large courtyard. Off the courtyard are
small chambers which may have been workshops for
the palace artisans.
9
Classical Temple
The remnants of a small temple built during the
Classical era provide evidence that Phaestos was still
lived in some 1000 years after the mysterious collapse
of the Minoan civilization.
10
Royal Apartments
Now fenced off, these rooms were the grandest in
the complex, consisting of the Queen’s Chamber, the
King’s Chamber, a lustral basin (covered pool), and even
a bathroom and lavatory with running water .
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Top 10