Crete-Discover the Unknown Crete

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C H A P T E R 2 Malia Golden bee pendant from the Chryssolakos cemetery at Malia Right on the border between the Prefectures of Lasithi and Heraklion the vast archaeological area of Malia stretches out, with its grand Minoan palace, second only to Knossos and Phaestos. Tradition has it that Malia was the residence of Sarpedon, the younger brother of Minos and Rhadamanthus, all born of the union of Zeus and Europa. Stone kernos for ritual offerings at the Palace of Malia The most ancient part of the palace dates back to the Middle Minoan period (circa 2000 B.C.) but of that era there remain few traces because the site was destroyed by a violent earthquake and completely rebuilt in around 1650 B.C.. Smaller than Knossos and Phaestos, but for this no less interesting in its structure and functions - religious, political and economic - the palace complex ceased to "live" in 1450 B.C. after a devastating fire. The site was discovered in 1915 by the Greek archaeologist Joseph Hadjidakis, while from the 1950s onwards the excavations have continued with the French Archaeological School of Athens under the direction of Henri van Effenterre. Opening off the great Central Court, with an altar set into the paving, there are a series of rooms essential to court life 50
of the Minoans: the Throne Room with stairs that lead to the upper floor, the banqueting chamber and the crypt, a monumental stairway with beside it a kernos (a circular table with a central hollow and with 34 smaller bowls along the edge for the ritual offering of the first fruits), the archive and a vast portico held up by columns alternated with pilasters which gave access to the great palace storerooms. Other courtyards and numerous corridors lead to the wing reserved for habitation, to the guest apartments and to the artisans' workshops. Almost all of the spaces are paved with the typical local stone, a bluish limestone, and a sandstone known as ammouda. The necropolis, also known as Chryssolakos ("the gold mine") for the great quantity of gold objects discovered in the tombs, is to be found down by the sea and is laid out like the palace of the living with rooms and porticos. The excavations at Malia have rendered up a vast quantity of splendid objects, jewels and ceramics dating from the First Palace period to the Second Palace period, among which are a sceptre in the form of a leopard, some very fine jewellery such as the pendant with two bees and a gold pommel from a sword-hilt embossed with the figure of a vaulting acrobat, preserved in the museums of Heraklion and Ayios Nikolaos. Directly beyond the entrance one can make out the huge circular storerooms, called kouloures, which held the reserves of grain for the population that inhabited the various quarters around the Palace 51
Page 2: The G. & A. Mamidakis Foundation, h
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Page 8 and 9: MINOS BEACH art hotel Escape in sty
Page 10 and 11: CANDIA PARK VILLAGE Experience a wo
Page 12 and 13: CHAPTER 1 SACRED AND PROFANE IN THE
Page 14 and 15: C H A P T E R 1 Ayios Nikolaos An e
Page 16 and 17: C H A P T E R 1 A medieval archer f
Page 18 and 19: C H A P T E R 1 Kritsa and Panayia
Page 20 and 21: C H A P T E R 1 Lato Lato, once an
Page 22 and 23: C H A P T E R 1 The Katharo Plateau
Page 24 and 25: C H A P T E R 1 Every season has it
Page 28 and 29: C H A P T E R 1 The Lasithi Plateau
Page 30 and 31: C H A P T E R 1 The grotto of Trape
Page 32 and 33: C H A P T E R 1 The Diktaion Antron
Page 36 and 37: CHAPTER 2 THE AUSTERITY OF STONE AN
Page 38 and 39: C H A P T E R 2 The austerity of st
Page 40 and 41: C H A P T E R 2 Spinalonga Linked t
Page 42 and 43: C H A P T E R 2 Stone as art Far fr
Page 44 and 45: C H A P T E R 2 Statues from the Ro
Page 46 and 47: C H A P T E R 2 Not far from the ma
Page 48 and 49: 46 C H A P T E R 2
Page 50 and 51: C H A P T E R 2 The Cave of Milatos
Page 54 and 55: C H A P T E R 2 Tales of Neapoli an
Page 58 and 59: CHAPTER 3 FROM COAST TO COAST THROU
Page 60 and 61: C H A P T E R 3 Where nature is kin
Page 62 and 63: C H A P T E R 3 From Gournia to Ier
Page 64 and 65: C H A P T E R 3 The inner walls of
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Page 68 and 69: C H A P T E R 3 From ancient Kavous
Page 70 and 71: C H A P T E R 3 The stones of histo
Page 72 and 73: C H A P T E R 3 Nowadays the tradit
Page 74 and 75: C H A P T E R 3 The bold, dark prof
Page 78 and 79: CHAPTER 4 ETEOCRETANS AND RELICS OF
Page 80 and 81: C H A P T E R 4 The Venetian castle
Page 82 and 83: C H A P T E R 4 Sitia from Minoan t
Page 84 and 85: C H A P T E R 4 Archaeological Muse
Page 87 and 88: A white-rock gorge leads to a stony
Page 89 and 90: Hellenistic-Roman period. Continuin
Page 91 and 92: Even very small settlements were bu
Page 93 and 94: with whom they had commercial deali
Page 95 and 96: eautiful panoramas, as far as the r
Page 97 and 98: Continuing on towards Armeni and Ha
Page 99 and 100: Returning towards Armeni, where on
Page 101 and 102: in wonder at the rare visitors who
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The Roman villa dates back to the f
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Zeus, an aqueduct and the remains o
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CHAPTER 5 PLACES OF WORSHIP UNDER A
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C H A P T E R 5 Mountain-top sanctu
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C H A P T E R 5 The peak sanctuary
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At the Museum of Ayios Nikolaos all
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C H A P T E R 5 Travelling towards
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118 C H A P T E R 5
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C H A P T E R 5 The Christian basil
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C H A P T E R 5 Palaekastro and the
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124 C H A P T E R 5
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C H A P T E R 5 A deep, dark hole m
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C H A P T E R 5 Zakros and the Vall
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C H A P T E R 5 The gorge known as
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C H A P T E R 5 The coast of the wi
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C H A P T E R 5 sculpted by nature,
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Chronology 7000 B.C. Stone Age, arr
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TEXT JUDITH LANGE PHOTOGRAPHS JUDIT
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Crete-Discover the Unknown Crete

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