Phaistos Palace

Phaistos Palace stands on a hill above the Messara Plain in southern Crete, Greece, about 62 km southwest of Heraklion near the village of Agios Ioannis. It was the second great palace of Minoan Crete after Knossos, and the site is famous as the place where the Phaistos Disc, a clay disc stamped with an undeciphered script, was found in 1908. The disc itself is displayed in the Heraklion Archaeological Museum, not at the site. Unlike Knossos, Phaistos was left largely unreconstructed, so visitors see the excavated stone foundations, the paved West Court with its theatral steps, the Grand Staircase, storerooms, the central court and parts of the royal apartments as they emerged from the ground. The setting is the main attraction: the terrace looks across the Messara Plain to the Psiloritis range, with Mount Ida in the background, and the view is best in the morning and again near sunset. A visit takes about 1.5 to 2 hours. The site is much quieter than Knossos, and crowds are light outside July and August, though coach groups arrive around mid-morning. Most visitors combine Phaistos with Gortyn, the Roman capital of Crete, and the beach village of Matala as a full-day trip from Heraklion. The reported adult ticket is EUR 12 and the reduced ticket EUR 6, with tickets also sold through hhticket.gr. KTEL buses from Heraklion toward Phaistos and Matala take about 1 hour 15 minutes, and a car takes roughly an hour. There is a small cafe near the entrance, and a hat, water and sturdy shoes are advisable because paths are rocky and shade is limited. Information is available from the Heraklion Ephorate of Antiquities.