Phaistos is a Bronze Age Minoan palace site on the Messara Plain of south-central Crete, about 62 kilometers south of Heraklion. Settlement on the hill dates back to around 3600 BC, and the first monumental palace was raised in the Middle Minoan IB period, roughly 2000 BC. Rebuilt after earlier damage, the palace ranked among the three largest on Crete alongside Knossos and Malia, roughly two-thirds the size of Knossos, its four levels linked by staircases and organized around rooms finished in alabaster and gypsum, including what may be the largest theatral area of any Minoan palace. The palace was destroyed, probably by an earthquake, around 1400 BC and was never rebuilt. Phaistos is also where the inscribed Phaistos Disc was unearthed in 1908, and the site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2025.
Facts
Building Type LocationFaistos, south central Crete, Greece 1 Classification
Standing Status Building Type
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Source Wikipedia: Phaistos
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Source Wikipedia: Phaistos
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1. Wikipedia: Phaistos
Lead, second sentence
It is notable for the remains of a Minoan palace and the surrounding town.
Lead, first sentence
is a Bronze Age archaeological site at modern Faistos, a municipality in south central Crete
Bronze Age
The palace was destroyed around 1400 BCE and not rebuilt. This destruction may have been caused by a large earthquake.
- Uses Element: Timber, infobox material field: Trimmed blocks of limestone and alabaster, mudbrick, rubble, wood
In Style: Minoan Architecture, Lead
It is notable for the remains of a Minoan palace and the surrounding town.
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