Points of interest

Archaeological sites
Minoan Palace of Zakros

The palace is in Kato Zakros, at the exit of the gorge of the Dead and near the coast.

It is the fourth largest Minoan palace complex of the island. From 1900 BC until 1450 BC, Zakros was the administrative, economic, and religious centre of eastern Crete, with an extensive trade network to the Near and Middle East.

The complex covered an area of 8.000m2 and had 300 rooms that developed around a monumental central courtyard. There were gates connecting the palace with the nearby port. The courtyard included balconies, impressive columns, and an altar for religious ceremonies.

The west wing of the complex had religious functions and consisted of 11 rooms with vestibules, pillared halls, wine storage areas, lustral basins (sunken rectangular rooms for a religious purpose), workshops, warehouses, an archive with linear A clay tablets and an unplundered repository with a multitude of unique ritual vessels.

The east wing consisted of the royal residence, the largest hall of the palace and a hall with a cistern. On the south part of the palace were the workshops for the manufacture of luxury items, while to the north a staircase led to the first floor that had auxiliary rooms, warehouses, bath facilities and banquet rooms.

The nearby gorge of the dead with its characteristic caves, was used as the necropolis of Zakros. In the cave of Pelekites, 20km away from the palace, there is an ancient quarry that was probably used to construct the complex in Zakros.

You can admire findings from the excavation of Zakros in the Archaeological Museums of Heraklion, Sitia and Agios Nikolaos.

Useful Links

http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/3/gh351.jsp?obj_id=2376

The project is implemented through the Regional Development Fund of Crete
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