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Listed 8 sub titles with search on: Archaeological sites  for wider area of: "ITANOS Municipality LASSITHI" .


Archaeological sites (8)

Ancient towns

Ancient city of Itanos

ITANOS (Ancient city) ITANOS

Excavations

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Minoan palaces

Archaeological Site of Zakros

ZAKROS (Port) LASSITHI
Tel: +30 28430 26897
  The palace of Zakros, the fourth largest of the Minoan palaces, was located at a protected bay of the Eastern Crete, an area of strategic importance to the trade and communication with Egypt and Near East. It is also possible that Zakros was one of the major bases of the Minoan fleet in Crete. From the site of Zakros came some of the masterpieces of Minoan art. The wealth of artifacts unearthed and the fact that many of them were made by rare, as well as imported raw materials, such as ivory, faience and copper, indicate the economical growth and vigour of the palace and its significance as the administrative and cult centre of the area.
  The first reference to the ancient ruins of Zakros is found in the book Travels in Crete by Th. Spratt, an English admiral and renowned traveler of the mid-19th century. During the first half of the 20th century, excavations at a larger or smaller scale were conducted in the area by Italian and English archaeologists, among them the excavator of Knossos, Sir Arthur Evans. Although their investigations came too close, the discovery of the palace and the revealing of its surrounding city were to be made by Prof. Nikolaos Platon, who began his systematic excavations on the site in 1961.
  As is the case with the rest of the Minoan palatial complexes, the palace at the end of the small valley of Kato Zakros was initially built in 1900 BC, while the remains visible today belong to its second phase of construction, the so-called Neopalatial (New Palace period), dated to 1600 BC. The palace was destroyed by fire and abandoned around 1450 BC, sharing the same fate with the other Minoan centers.
  Expanding over 8000 m2, the palace of Zakros is five times smaller than that of Knossos, however its plan follows the typical layout of the other Minoan palaces. The main entrance to the palace of Zakros is located at the northeastern side and here ends the long paved road that connected the port with the palace. From the central gate of the palace a stepped corridor leads to the central court. The whole complex is organized as four wings of once multi-storey and frescoed buildings, pinwheeling around the central courtyard, which is actually the nucleus of the palace. The dense and complex arrangement of the in total 300 apartments eloquently brings to mind the Labyrinth myth and explains why Crete was its birthplace.
   The west wing was the primary place for worship and rituals. Through a reception hall one enters the grand Hall of Ceremonies, in which were found the two famous libation vessels (rhyta), namely the bull’s head rhyton and the rhyton depicting a peak sanctuary. Among the findings were also large bronze saws 1.70 m long, which only two people together could handle. The ceremonial hall leads to the so-called banquet hall, while in the center of the western part of the wing lies the main sanctuary of the palace. It encompassed the typical Lustral Basin, used for some kind of purification ritual (katharmos), and the treasury, the only one of Minoan Crete that had escaped looting and was found intact during the excavations. Thus, the treasury yielded a spectacular collection of Minoan artifacts, such as magnificent stone ritual vases. On the other hand, the repository of the palatial records, the Archives Room, reserved a momentous discovery for the excavators, as, thanks to the fire that destroyed the palace, 13 Linear A tablets were baked and preserved inside clay caskets mounted on shelves. A later addition to the west wing seem to be the workshops which comprised the handcraft sector of the palace. One of them is in fact interpreted as a dyeing installation.
  The east wing gathered the administrative functions of the palace and here are also placed the royal quarters, the so-called Queen’s Chamber and King’s Chamber, the latter being the largest hall of the palace. On this side is also found a structure that has no parallel in the Minoan architecture. This is the Basin Hall, namely a large square space with a circular open-air basin at its center, which collected the waters of a spring. At least five columns surrounded the basin, which reached a diameter of 7 m. and where one descends through eight steps, still preserved today. To the south is a subterranean fountain and to the west a built well, therefore the area must have been related to the water supply of the palace. Inside the well, water preserved wooden pieces of the mangle and a cup full of olives, a truly unique find.
  To the south of the central courtyard was a small group of workshops making, among others, perfumes from local herbs. Next to it there was once a garden or an alsos (little forest). The north wing, which faced the courtyard forming a paved stoa with two wooden columns, provided access to the upper floors through a grand staircase. The rooms of the north wing are interpreted as auxiliary to the royal quarters. The cluster included storerooms, a bath and a large room, possibly the kitchen which served the banquet hall of the upper floor.
  The palace was surrounded by the Minoan town, in fact the buildings of the settlement that are nearest to the palace are considered its appendices. It is noteworthy that Minoan Zakros had a sophisticated town planning and a complex network of stone paved roads. Each block included 2-4 houses, which, as indicated by their ruins, had two or three floors with many rooms. A particular characteristic found in many houses is the lack of entrance in the ground floor, in which cases the building is entered through a hatch opened on the first floor.
  Ancient Zakros’ most well-kept secret, though, was hidden away from both the palace and the town, in the wild beauty of the gorge that leads from Ano to Kato Zakros. The numerous caves opened in its slopes became the burial ground for the prehistoric inhabitants of the area, surprising the archaeological research with a wealth of findings and attributing to the place the awesome name Gorge of he Dead.

Prehistoric settlements

Archaeological Site of Palaikastro

PALEKASTRO (Small town) ITANOS
Tel: +30 28430 23917
  At the northernmost edge of the eastern coast of Crete lie the ruins of a settlement which flourished during the Late Minoan period (1550-1220 BC). At the same site, however, are preserved remains of the Early and Middle Minoan periods (3000-1550 BC), mostly cemeteries with well-built ossuaries, and ruins of spacious houses. The site ceased to be inhabited at the same time when Zakros was abandoned (1450 BC) but was reoccupied during the Late Minoan III period (1300-1200 BC). The city covered a total area of more than 50,000 sq.m., was densely inhabited but not fortified.
  To the NE of one of the city's sectors lies the sanctuary of Diktaian Zeus, which belonged administratively to the city of Itanos. Cult practice was continuous from the Geometric period (8th century BC) until the Roman conquest. It seems that the sanctuary was plundered and destroyed by fanatic Christians at the end of the 4th century AD.
  The site of the Minoan settlement, called Roussolakkos, was excavated by R.C. Bosanquet and in 1906 by R.M. Dawkins, both members of the British School of Archaeology at Athens. The excavated sectors of the settlement suffered destruction during the Second World War and much later, by a digging machine. In 1965-66 excavations were conducted in part of the settlement and on the neighbouring hill of Kastri. In 1986 excavations were resumed by the British School of Archaeology and are still in progress.

THE MINOAN TOWN
The settlement is divided in nine sectors by a network of streets, namely a central street running through the habitation area crossed by larger and smaller paved streets (some of them stepped). The town had an elaborate drainage system in all sectors. All the houses along the central street have imposing facades.
  Sector B. It includes five houses with external walls built of large blocks, while the internal walls were build of mudbricks. The thresholds, the pavements of the floors and the column bases were made of a special kind of limestone, brought in by Kavo Sidero. The most important of these houses (rooms 1-22) had an entrance from the main street, while from the same room started a staircase leading to the second floor. Behind this room was an open courtyard with wooden columns, of which only the stone bases are preserved, alternating with square piers. Antechambers lead to the "megaron", the main room of the house which had four column bases at the corners of a square. This structure has been interpreted as a light-well. The house also includes kitchens, a lustral basin, a well, a domestic shrine, an oil magazine, a bath and a reception hall which was later divided into smaller quarters and converted into storerooms. Interesting in the same sector is the installation of an olive-press, and the pithoi employed for the storage of oil.
  Sector D. It is the largest (1,800 sq.m.) and consists of many houses, the most important of which (rooms 18-40) has a "megaron" with a light-well, like the one in the main house of sector B. Also preserved is a channel which carries the rainwater from the open inner court to the street.
  Sector C. The largest house of this sector has a luxurious facade made of large ashlar blocks, a second entrance, a "megaron" with light-well, a bath, and a workshop. Many of the vases found show egyptian influence in their decoration. The houses, as in other sectors, seem to have been destroyed by fire.
  Sector E. It consists of at least four houses, some of which are built on earlier foundations; it is remarkable that one of these houses was occupied in historic times, as well. In the same sector a wine-press was also uncovered.
  The sanctuary of Diktaian Zeus lies to the NE of sector X, inside the house foundations. An inscription broken in many pieces, preserving a hymn to Diktaian Zeus was discovered in the surrounding area. Of the temple are preserved only the precinct and the altar inside it. Antefixes in the shape of lion-heads were found in the same area.

Palaikastro

  Palaikastro was one of the largest Minoan cities, about half the size of Knossos, but much larger than the cities around the other important palaces. Extensive excavations are being carried out in the area. In Kastri, on the hilltop near the sea, extensive fortifications from the Early and Late Minoan eras have been found. Below the hill of Kastri there is an area which is protected from the strong winds of this region and which forms a natural anchorage point. It was the harbour of Palaikastro in Minoan times. In front of Palaikastro, the Grand Islands can be seen and, on a clear day, the islands of Kasos and Karpathos are visible. This chain of islands was a natural route from Crete towards Rhodes and Asia Minor in Minoan times.
  The large site of Minoan excavations of Palaikastro is located in Rousolacos, not far from the beach. A group of public buildings, whose function is still unknown, have been excavated. A number of important finds including Linear A writing have been found in the area. The Archaeological Museum of Sitia displays the most impressive find--a chryselephantine kouros (Palaikastro Kouros) of exceptional quality which is not to be found after this period for almost another thousand years.
  In the Greek era, Palaikastro was known for the dispute between the major Greek cities of eastern Crete, Ierapytna and Itanos, over control of the Temple of Zeus Dicteos of Palaikastro. The location of the temple has been identified but the temple has been destroyed. In the Archaeological Museum of Iraklion there are fragments of the temple which record the Hymn to Zeus Dicteos and a clay tablet with a relief of a chariot scene.

This text is cited Nov 2003 from the Crete TOURnet URL below, which contains images.


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