Archeological Site of Malia

The lovers of history will be impressed by the beauty of this ancient find.

The Palace of Malia lies 3 km from Malia, it is not known if the ancient town had borrowed its name from the small town of Malia.  King Sarpidon the third son of Zeus, ruled this town, he was chased away by his brother, Minos and took refuge in Lydia in Asia Minor.

The palace was built about 1900 BC which was during the same time when Knossos, Faestos and Zakros palaces were erected too, the same style of architecture was used for all the palaces.

The excavation of the palace was started in 1915 by Josef Chatzidakis and was continued by the French School of Archaeology.

There are great similarities with the other palaces: there is a central yard with the same orientation, around which the various sections of the palace were arranged.

It was built on two floors covering an area of 800 sqm, the main entrance to the palace was located on the western side and was linked with a paved alley, about 1 meter wide.

There were ceremonial halls, many store rooms and warehouses as well as little workshops in every wing, however the theatre and the frescoes which were present in the other palaces were not present in this one.

In the western wing of the central yard, there is a splendid gradational building, next to which there is a big stone  called a "kernos" with 34 circular cavities used for offering to deities. 

Around the palace a town had developed and a great number of houses have been excavated, consisting of magnificent samples of what a Minoan house was like.

To the north of the palace approx 500 m from the sea is the royal cemetery, during the excavations an alter as well as another stone kernos was found.

The superb golden "Jewel of the Bees" was among the finds of the excavation, which is an amazing sample of the art of jewellery making.

It was made for part of a death ceremony and is now exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion.

Also found during the excavation was a large marble sarcophagus decorated with relief festoons, puttos and bucranes.

The archeological site is open from 8.30am until 3pm.