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ARCHAEOLOGICAL
SITES
IN PALEKASTRO
AREA
Kato Zakros
The
Palace of Zakros is located 26 km south of
Palekastro. Its position shelters it
from the dangerously strong north winds that pass Cape Sidero on the northeast
tip of Crete. It was the last of the major palaces to be discovered and is
smaller than the other three at Knossos, Malia and Phaistos. The original
excavations were begun by D.G. Howarth of the British School of Archaeology at
Athens, and 12 houses in the town surrounding the Palace, whose existence
remained unknown, were unearthed before the excavation was abandoned. Nikolaos
Platon resumed the excavation in 1961 and was able to unearth a palace which had
not been looted at the time of its destruction. The excavations have continued
until the present day. The excavation represents one of the most important for
Minoan archaeology since the Second World War, and the lateness of its discovery
allowed it to be excavated using more modern and more scientific methods than
those adopted in the excavation of the other Palaces some 60 years earlier.
The
Palace of Zakros probably acted as the Minoan gateway to the east and this view
is supported by various movable finds on the site which had come from the Middle
East. Like the other palaces, Zakros was rebuilt after the earthquake
destruction of the old palaces. The second palace was built around 1600 BCE and
finally destroyed around 1450 BCE, along with other centres of Minoan
civilisation in Crete. Fortunately many artefacts were left in situ,
probably due to the suddenness of the destruction. The palace covered 8,000
square metres, contained 150 rooms and had a Central Court measuring about 30
metres by 12 metres, smal ler than that of Knossos..
The harbour was connected to the Palace
by a road and the complex was entered by the north-east entrance which led to
the central court, where the base of an altar can still be seen. To the north
west of the central court were the magazines (store rooms) and to the south the
Hall of Ceremonies. Fresco remains were found here, together with cult objects
which had presumably fallen from the floor above, as has been noticed so often
at Minoan palaces. Among the finds were two rhytons. The first was the famous
bull's head rhyton and the second showed a tripartite peak sanctuary.
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