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Modern Description: The fourth largest palace in Minoan Crete. Located in a strategic position in E Crete, it was the centre of trading transactions with the lands in the East. The earliest palace was built in 1900 BC and the latest c. 1600 BC. It was destroyed in 1450 BC, along with the other Minoan centres.
The central court was the nucleus of the palace. There was a second court in the NE, the terminus of the paved road from the harbour. In the N wing, the staircase to the upper storey, a lustral basin, a 'kitchen' and magazines. In the E wing, the adminstrative centre and the royal apartments, a circular cistern and further S a fountain and a well. In the W wing, a large hypostyle ceremonial hall, a banqueting hall, a lustral basin, a shrine and repositories. It was here that the only intact treasury in the Minoan world was discovered, with ritual vessel and an archive of Linear A tablets. In the S wing, workshops.
The city around the palace was arranged in building blocks of multi-storey houses and had a complex system of paved streets.
The small caves nearby were used as cemeteries, mainly in the 'Gorge of the Dead'. On the neighbouring Traostalos hill, the quarry and the peak sanctuary of the settlement. The finds are exhibited in the archaeological museums of Herakleion, Aghios Nikolaos and Siteia.
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zakros
Wikidata ID: Q60218

Info: Archaeological Atlas of the Aegean

(Archaeological Atlas of the Aegean, Ministry of the Aegean)

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