The fourth largest palace of Minoan Crete. It is located in a strategic point of Eastern Crete and was the center of commercial transactions with Eastern countries. The oldest palace was built in 1900 BC. and the newest around 1600 BC. It was destroyed in 1450 BC, like all Minoan centers.
The central courtyard was the core of the palace. Second central courtyard to the NE, where the cobbled harbor road ended. To the north, the staircase to the first floor, "cleaning tank", "kitchen" and storerooms. In the eastern wing were the administrative center and royal apartments, a circular tank and further south a fountain and well. In the western wing, a large hypostyle ritual hall, banquet hall, "purification tank", sanctuary and repositories. In this area was found the unique undiscovered treasury of the Minoan world with ritual utensils and a record of Linear 1 writing tablets. In the south wing, laboratories. The city around the palace was laid out in neat blocks of high-rise buildings and had a complex road network of cobbled streets.
Neighboring small caves were used as cemeteries, mainly in the "Canyon of the Dead". On the neighboring Traostalo hill, the quarry and the top sanctuary of the settlement. The findings are exhibited in the Museums of Heraklion, Agios Nikolaos and Sitia.
Editor: Fotini Anastasopoulou