Phaistos Minoan palace
Phaistos (GR: Φαιστός - also spelled : Phaestos, Phaestus, Faistos,
Festus and Festos) was one of the most important centres of Minoan
civilization, and the most wealthy and powerful city in southern Crete.
It was inhabited from the Neolithic period until the foundation and
development of the Minoan palaces in the 15th century B.C.
The Minoan city covered a considerable area around the palatial centre.
After the destruction of the palace in the 15th century, the city
continued to be inhabited in the Mycenaean and Geometric periods, that
is, until the 8th century B.C.The exact location of the Palace of Phaistos was first determined in the
middle of the 19th century by the British admiral Spratt, while the
archaeological investigation of the palace started in 1884 by the
Italians F. Halbherr and A. Taramelli. After the declaration of the
independent Cretan State in 1898, excavations were carried out by F.
Halbherr and L. Pernier in 1900-1904 and later, in 1950-1971, by Doro
Levi, under the auspices of the Italian Archaeological School at Athens.
You can access Phaistos from Akoumia taking the road to Moires- Timbaki, an asphalt road of fairly good condition. It is about half an hour to get there.
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