Festos was the second most important Minoan palace in Crete, dominating the fruitful valley of Mesara with a view to the Libyan Sea. It was ruled by the legendary king Rodamanthis, son of Zeus.
     The area was first populated during the Neolithic Age. At the beginning of the mid-Minoan Period (around 1900 B.C.) certain socio-economic circumstances gave added strength to the city leaders and as a result the first Minoan palace was built. Its position was not chosen randomly. The palace could control the trading of goods in the plains of Mesara and thanks to its two nearby ports, the port of Komos and the port of Matala, it could maintain overseas contact with Cyprus, Palestine and Egypt. 
     This first palace was destroyed by an earthquake around 1700 B.C. It is quite possible that it was the same massive earthquake that struck the palace of Knossos. The reconstruction began almost at once and very soon another palace was built in that same place, looking very much like the first one. The surviving ruins of today’s archaeological site belong to both of those construction periods.
     The excavations of Festos and Knossos began the same year, namely in 1900, right after the liberation of Crete. The initiative belonged to the Italian School of Archaeology.
    A stone-paved courtyard with a slightly elevated processional hallway leads visitors into the northwestern wing of the palace. A vast staircase leads on, to another stone-paved courtyard in the western side of the palace which lies much lower, and it is quite possibly the place where celebrations and other public activities used to take place. It’s easy to imagine the Minoans sitting on their amphitheatrical seats, watching the different events.
     In the south side of the courtyard, just to the right of the processional hallway, you can see what is referred to as kouloures, deep dug-out pits that possibly served for depositing holy articles. The façade of the palace is located right across the courtyard, to the east. The first line of walls that meets the eye belongs to the old palace, built in 1900 B.C. The walls of the second palace can be traced about seven meters back. A very wide stairwell leads us to the entrance of the palace, which is split down the middle by a column. Right behind it there used to be a skylight, supported by three columns, and to the east there was a narrow staircase leading to the entrance of the warehouses.
    The warehouses consisted of a central hallway with five rooms on each side. In the last one on the right (which is now covered by a roof) one can see characteristic samples of Minoan earthenware jars.
     Moving eastwards you will find yourselves in the central courtyard of the palace, stone-paved as well, with peripheral porches on each side. We are positive that the palace was built around this courtyard, just like the one in Knossos. Unfortunately its southeast wings did not survive the test of time. The tour of the west wing comes to an end with a visit to the central sanctuary, which lies west of the warehouses, after we pass a small hallway. The rooms contain low tables or stone benches for the statuettes of the gods and the different offerings. Further down, to the south, one can trace remains of the sanctuary of Rea, dating back to the archaic years.
     From the east wing of the palace only a small number of rooms remain, a basin for purification purposes and a lavatory, all from the second phase of the construction. After careful comparison with the layout of the palace of Knossos, we have concluded that this must be where the king and queen’s quarters were situated.
     From the north side of the stone-paved courtyard, a hallway lead right to the north courtyard of the palace and then further up, to the king’s quarters. The queen’s room was built on a lower level and one could access it from a hallway that lead to the northern courtyard. It was surrounded by a skylight and it was covered with plaques of alabaster. Right across it (to the north) there used to be the king’s room, which was equally luxurious and decorated with murals. The space between the king and queen’s quarters was taken up by various workshops.

Text: Yiorgos Koutsouflakis - Archaeologist.