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Phaistos

Phaistos
Φαιστός
Bronze Age Phaestos viewed from south of the ridge
View of Phaistos
Map Minoan Crete-en.svg
Map of Minoan Crete
Alternate name Phaestus
Location Municipality of Faistos, Regional Unit of Heraklion, region of Crete in Greece
Region The eastern point of a ridge overlooking Messara Plain to the east
Coordinates 35°03′05″N 24°48′49″E / 35.05139°N 24.81361°E / 35.05139; 24.81361Coordinates: 35°03′05″N 24°48′49″E / 35.05139°N 24.81361°E / 35.05139; 24.81361
Type Palace complex and surrounding city
Part of The state ruled from Knosses under a monarchy symbolized by "King Minos"
Area 8,400 m2 (90,000 sq ft) for the palace. The city covered the hill and a few km into the valley below.
History
Builder Unknown
Material Trimmed blocks of limestone and alabaster, mud-brick, rubble, wood
Founded The first settlement dates to the Late Neolithic starting about 3000 BC. The first palace dates to about 1850 BC
Periods Late Neolithic to Late Bronze Age. The first palace was built at the start of Middle Minoan
Cultures Minoan
Satellite of The kingdom centered at Knossos
Associated with In the Bronze Age, people of unknown ethnicity now called Minoans
Site notes
Excavation dates 1874, Federico Halbherr alone
1900–1904, 1950–1971, Italian School of Archaeology at Athens
Since 2007 the Phaistos Project has been conducting a survey and exchange of information about the Phaistos region
Archaeologists 1900–1904, Federico Halbherr and Luigi Pernier
1950–1972, Doro Levi
Condition Current interventions are tamped soil, stone walkways, hand rails, lightly roofed areas. More are planned in the interests of preservation and access.
Management 23rd Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquitites; Italian School of Archaeology at Athens; University of Salerno, Department of Cultural Heritage Sciences
Public access Yes
Website "Phaistos". Odysseus. Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism. 2007. 
Phaistos Project: Italo-Greek archaeological surveys in the city and territory of Phaistos

Phaistos (Greek: Φαιστός, pronounced [feˈstos]; Ancient Greek: Φαιστός, pronounced [pʰai̯stós]), also transliterated as Phaestos, Festos and Latin Phaestus, currently refers to a Bronze Age archaeological site at modern Phaistos, a municipality in south central Crete. Ancient Phaistos was located about 5.6 km (3.5 mi) east of the Mediterranean Sea and 62 km south of Heraklio, the second largest city of Minoan Crete. The name, Phaistos, survives from ancient Greek references to a city in Crete of that name, shown to be, in fact, at or near the current ruins.

The name is substantiated by the coins of the classical city. They display motifs such as Europa sitting on a bull, Talos with wings, Heracles without beard and being crowned, or Zeus in a form of a naked youth sitting on a tree. On either the obverse or the reverse the name of the city, or its abbreviation, is inscribed, such as ΦΑΙΣ or ΦΑΙΣΤΙ, for Phaistos or Phaistios ("Phaistian" adjective) written either right-to-left or left-to-right. These few dozen coins were acquired by collectors from uncontrolled contexts. They give no information on the location of Phaistos.

Phaistos was located by Thomas Abel Brimage Spratt, commander of the Spitfire, a paddle steamer, in the Mediterranean Survey of 1853, which surveyed the topography, settlements and monuments of Crete. Spratt followed the directions of Strabo, who said:


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