The second most important town in
Minoan
Crete with the luxurious palace of the mythical Radamanthys,
the brother of Minos. The palace was built twice. The first time around
1900 B.C. during the so-called Old Palace Period. This was destroyed
by an earthquake and in 1700 B.C. a new and more luxurious one was built
at its place during the New Palace Period. The second one was also
destroyed, around 1500 B.C., probably by the eruption of the volcano on
Santorini.
The ruins of the second palace are
what the visitor mainly sees today. Unlike the Palace
of Knossos there have been no reconstructions or additions here.
The ruins were uncovered and left
untouched in the places they were found. The architecture here is like
that of Knossos with the palace being built around a rectangular,
oblong and flagged Central Court which is oriented from north to south.
Around the palace was the large Minoan town of Phaistos.
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