Phaistos

Bronze Age Phaistos was first inhabited around 3600 BCE, slightly later than other early sites such as Knossos. During the Early Minoan period, the site's hills were terraced and monumental buildings were constructed on them. Like other large Minoan cities, there was a palace that was built in an area that had been used earlier for communal feasting. The palace was built on a hill in the East and an acropolis was built on a hill in the West. The first palace was built in the Middle Minoan IB period, around 2000 BCE. The initial palace was destroyed and rebuilt three times in a period of about three centuries. The palace was destroyed around 1400 BCE and not rebuilt. This destruction may have been caused by a large earthquake. Phaistos was interconnected to various other residences, most notably Hagia Triada and Gortyn. Grape pips have been found in storage vessels at Phaistos, indicating the production of wine. Phaistos had its own currency, the stater. The city also created an alliance with other autonomous Cretan cities, and with the king of Pergamon Eumenes II. Around the end of the 3rd century BCE, Phaistos was destroyed by the Gortynians and since then has not been present in the history of Crete. Contemporary period In 2025, the site was designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. == Palace ==

The levels of the theater area, in conjunction with two staircases, gave access to the main hall of the propylaea through large doors. A twin gate led directly to the central courtyard through a wide street. The floors and walls of the interior rooms were decorated with plates of sand and white gypsum stone. The upper floors of the west sector had spacious ceremonial rooms. The entrance from the central courtyard led to the royal apartments in the northern section of the palace, with a view of the tops of Psiloritis (Mount Ida). The rooms were constructed from alabaster and other materials. The rooms for princes were smaller and less luxurious than the rooms of the royal departments. A temple to Rhea was found in the palace. The temple is located in the Southern section of the palace. This temple was connected with the ekdysia, which is a ritual practiced in Phaistos. The temple was built after the Geometric age. == Excavation ==

Phaistos was located in 1853 by Thomas Abel Brimage Spratt, a ship captain who surveyed sites around the Mediterranean. Spratt triangulated the location of Phaistos to a hill then known as Kastri ("fort", "small castle") using the locations or Gortyn, Matala, and the coast. A village of 16 houses remained on the ridge, but the vestiges of fortification walls indicated that a city had existed there. In 1894, Antonio Taramelli excavated pottery at Phaistos at the behest of Federico Halbherr. Seal stones and cylinder seals were also found. From 1900 to 1904 Federico Halbherr and his student Luigi Pernier excavated at Phaistos. Occasional work continued at Phaistos until 1908 while Halbherr and Pernier excavated at the Minoan site of Hagia Triada, located about 3 kilometers away. Between 1909 and 1922 Antonio Minto excavated on the hill of Christos Effendi, especially the fortification walls there. Between 1950 and 1966 an Italian School of Archaeology at Athens team led by Doro Levi worked at Phaistos. From 2000 to 2004 the effort was led by Vincenzo La Rosa. Beginning in 2007 the Phaistos Project (also Progetto festos), led by Fausto Longo, under the aegis of the Italian Archaeological School of Athens has worked at the site, mainly conducting surveys, restorations, and targeted excavations. To date 61 Linear A inscribed items have been found at Phaistos (26 tablets, 35 sealed documents). Also found were 12 sealed roundels (9 inscribed with Linear A characters) and thousands of sealings (including nodules). In 1908, the Phaistos Disc was found in a basement room (Room 101), along with a Linear A tablet, on the northern side of the palace in a Middle Minoan IIIb level. The disc was found with assorted pottery that dates to approximately 1800 BCE, which was around when the palace could have been reconstructed. Finding artifacts in Phaistos is difficult because the Minoans thoroughly cleaned the original palace ruins before beginning the later iterations. This left few archaeological remains to be found in the palace. The tombs of the rulers of Phaistos were found in a cemetery near the palace remains. To the southwest of Phaistos, tholos tombs have been found and cemeteries were found to the northwest. Some items found in tombs at Phaistos have been declared as bronze armor scraps. Originally, tombs were built for communal use but after the 400 BCE, the use of small group and family tombs became common practice. A clay model found at one of the larger tombs depicts couples at altars with offerings. The details of this model have been likened to the Hagia Triada sarcophagus. Pottery including polychrome items and embossing in imitation of metal work has been found at Phaistos. This imitation came in the form of making pottery extremely thin, being likened to eggshell. This pottery also mimicked the shapes that metal items were made in. Many of the pottery items had fluting or embossments. This metallurgy replication was mostly found in small vases and cups. Minoan pottery quality changed around 1800 BCE, and shiny vibrant colors were replaced by multiple dull colors. File:AMI - Vogel mit Fisch.jpg|Bird clasping a fish. Decoration of a clay alabastron from Kalyvia, Phaistos, Crete. Early postpalatial period(1350–1300 BCE) File:Minoan inscriptions, Linear A script, Phaistos, 1850-1450 BC, AMH, 144886.jpg|Fragments from Phaistos showing Linear A script (1850-1450 BCE) File:Small pithos, fish in a net, Phaistos, 1800-1700 BC, AMH, 144973.jpg|Pithos from Phaistos depicting fish (1800-1700 BCE) File:PhaistosDiskLarge.jpg|Both sides of the Phaistos disc == In literature and myth ==

References to Phaistos in ancient Greek literature are quite infrequent. Phaistos is referenced by Homer, in the Iliad, as "well populated", and the Homeric epics indicate its participation in the Trojan War. The historian Diodorus Siculus indicates that Phaistos, as well as Knossos and Kydonia, are the three towns founded by King Minos on Crete. However, Pausanias and Stephanus of Byzantium indicate that the founder of the city was Phaestos, son of Hercules or Ropalus. The city of Phaistos is associated with the mythical king of Crete Rhadamanthys. ==See also==