The
"Palace" at Galatas is a
MinoanMinoan may refer to the following:*The Minoan civilization**The Eteocretan language**The script known as Linear A**Minoan eruption**Minoan pottery**Minoan chronology**Minoan Modi...
archaeological siteAn archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological recordBeyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...
discovered discovered and excavated in the early 1990s. The site is located on the island of
CreteCrete is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km²...
30 kilometres (18 miles) south of
HeraklionHeraklion or Iraklion , is the largest city and capital of Crete. It is also the fourth largest city in Greece. Its name is also spelled Herakleion, a transliteration of the ancient Greek and Katharevousa name, , or Iraklio, among other variants...
, near the villages of Galatás and
ArkalochoriArkalochori is a modern city on the edge of the Lasithi plain in central Crete and the archaeological site of a Minoan sacred cave...
. From the site there are fine views towards southern Crete. Excavations began in 1992 and in 1997 the archaeologist responsible for the excavations, George Rethemiotakis, announced that a new
MinoanThe Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization which arose on the island of Crete. The Minoan culture flourished from approximately 2700 to 1450 BC; afterwards, Mycenaean Greek culture became dominant at Minoan sites in Crete...
Palace had been found in the middle of a Minoan town.
The
"Palace" at Galatas is a
MinoanMinoan may refer to the following:*The Minoan civilization**The Eteocretan language**The script known as Linear A**Minoan eruption**Minoan pottery**Minoan chronology**Minoan Modi...
archaeological siteAn archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological recordBeyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...
discovered discovered and excavated in the early 1990s. The site is located on the island of
CreteCrete is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km²...
30 kilometres (18 miles) south of
HeraklionHeraklion or Iraklion , is the largest city and capital of Crete. It is also the fourth largest city in Greece. Its name is also spelled Herakleion, a transliteration of the ancient Greek and Katharevousa name, , or Iraklio, among other variants...
, near the villages of Galatás and
ArkalochoriArkalochori is a modern city on the edge of the Lasithi plain in central Crete and the archaeological site of a Minoan sacred cave...
. From the site there are fine views towards southern Crete. Excavations began in 1992 and in 1997 the archaeologist responsible for the excavations, George Rethemiotakis, announced that a new
MinoanThe Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization which arose on the island of Crete. The Minoan culture flourished from approximately 2700 to 1450 BC; afterwards, Mycenaean Greek culture became dominant at Minoan sites in Crete...
Palace had been found in the middle of a Minoan town. Due to the recency of the excavation, the findings have not been fully written up yet.
The large, paved central courtyard of the palace runs north-south and measures 16 metres by 32 metres. It was originally surrounded by a four-wing building. Of the four wings, the east wing is the best preserved, while the west and south wings are very poorly preserved. The north wing is still waiting to be excavated apart from a small
stoaStoa in Ancient Greek architecture; covered walkways or porticos, commonly for public usage. Early stoae were open at the entrance with columns lining the side of the building, creating a safe, enveloping, protective atmosphere and were usually of Doric order...
bordering onto the court. The north end of the central court has a face of
ashlarAshlar is dressed stone work of any type of stone. Ashlar blocks are large rectangular blocks of masonry sculpted to have square edges and even faces. The blocks are generally 13 to 15 inches in height. When smaller than 11 inches, they are usually called “small ashlar”.Ashlar blocks are used in...
s and some 50 blocks have
masonMasonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone such as marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, and...
s' marks on them. All the original
frescoFresco is any of several related painting types, done on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Italian word affresco which derives from the adjective fresco , which has Latin origins...
es have unfortunately been lost.
However, the site is important as it contains a palace built during a single period; other palace sites contain remains from several palaces built at different times. The site was originally occupied in EM I/EM II and later in MM IB/MM II. No palace existed here during MM II and the East Wing was constructed in MM IIIA. The West Wing dates from MM IIIB/LM IA and overlays remains from the MM II period. The main phase of the complex dates from MM IIIB-LM IA but it was already in decline before the LM IA destruction. There are no traces of LM IB or LM III material at all.
The east wing measures 70 metres by 60 metres and was built between 1700 BCE and 1650 BCE. It was destroyed by fire and rebuilt during the second half of the century. It was finally destroyed around 1500 BCE, probably by
earthquakeAn earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes are recorded with a seismometer, also known as a seismograph...
s.
A
hearthIn common historic and modern usage, a hearth is a brick- or stone-lined fireplace or oven used for cooking and/or heating. Because of its nature, in historic times the hearth was considered an integral part of a home, often its central or most important feature: its Latin name is focus...
was also discovered together with a layer of ash. The hearth measures 3 metres by 1.5 metres (10' x 5') and was found in a room with four pillars. This is the first discovered Minoan Cretan hearth.
Rethemiotakis claims that
"the use of a monumental hearth in one of the rooms, the preparation of meals in the kitchen and the banquets offered in the room with the hearth and the room with the pillar and the benches or even upstairs, the storing of goods in the store rooms along with the personal appearances of the participants on the balconies toward the town and the central court of the palace, represent a symbolic meeting of the Town and the Palace which is ratified by the banquets".
Unfortunately, the site is not yet open to the public, although there are plans to turn it into a major tourist attraction in the future.