Palace of Malia
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The Palace of Malia ( Greek Μάλια , also Mallia ) is a palace complex from the Minoan period on Crete on the north coast, about 30 kilometers east of Heraklion . Along with Knossos , Phaistos and Kato Zakros, it is the largest palace complex on Crete. The ancient name of the palace is unknown. It is located about three kilometers east of today's city of Malia near the sea in the coastal plain. The palace area has a diameter of about 600 meters. The total area of the city is estimated to be around 80 hectares. There is no stream nearby. Like Knossos, Malia also had two ports. From the west harbor one can still see an access canal carved into the rock.
Archaeological site
The first palace in Malia is believed to have been around 1900 BC. Have been erected. The remains of the first palace are on the northwest side of the entire complex. Signs of an even older building were found. Malia was founded between 1750 and 1700 BC. Destroyed by a severe earthquake . The palace complex was rebuilt a few decades later in the same place. Most of the ruins visible today date from this second period.
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Malia is not fortified. The interior of the palace is less expensive than in Knossos. Unlike in Knossos, in Malia, as in Phaistos, there are no figural murals or frescoes. Orange-ocher-brown tones dominate the mostly knee-high walls.
Like the other Minoan palace complexes, the palace is built around a large central courtyard of 48 × 23 meters, to which, in addition to a processional path in the west, past eight gigantic grain silos, winding, comparatively narrow corridors from 4 directions, elaborately paved stairs and rooms to lead. In the middle of the courtyard is an altar of burnt offerings: four brick pillars surround a pit in which ashes have been found that occupy burnt offerings . The pillars should once have held grates on which the burnt offering was placed. On the west side there are a number of small rooms as well as two monumental staircases, which prove that the palace complex had at least two floors. There were also extensive storage rooms and shrines here.
The rooms in the northwest are interpreted as royal apartments. There was also a bathroom here. In this northwest section there is another square that resembles a Greco-Roman marketplace, which is why it is called Agora by archaeologists . From the Mycenaean post-palace period, there is a remains of a building in the north that is inclined to the rest of the buildings. There is also a staircase on the south side.
On the southwest side there is an unusually worked stone with a diameter of about 90 cm, the kernos , not unlike a millstone, with a mortise in the center and 34 cup-like depressions distributed in a wreath as well as a depression protruding to the side. It is believed that it was a sacrificial stone . On the east side of the central courtyard are storage rooms with earthen pithoi up to 2 m high. They were probably used to store olive oil and other liquids. The floor of these rooms has a complex drainage system to remove spilled liquids.
Destruction
After the earthquake between 1750 and 1700 BC Malia became about 1650 BC. . Chr rebuilt. Malia was founded around 1450 BC. Destroyed again around the same time as the palaces of Phaistos and Kato Zarkos . Burn marks on the walls of the palace indicate an enemy conquest. After this destruction, Malia was only used for a short time.
necropolis
500 m north of the palace complex towards the coast is the Minoan necropolis Chrysolakkos (Greek gold mine ) from the earlier palace period. The structure has an area of about 30 m × 38 m. Here are royal tombs from the 19th and 18th centuries BC. BC, which without doors were only closed by a stone slab from above. Although the tombs had already been looted when they were uncovered, rich finds have been made in the burial chambers, including the bees of Malia on display in the Archaeological Museum in Heraklion. Other finds are shown in Agios Nikolaos .
Discovery story
The palace complex of Malia was discovered in 1915 by Iosif Chatzidakis , a Greek archaeologist. After a second excavation campaign in 1919, the size of the site became clear and he got in touch with Louis Renaudin . In 1922, the École française d'Athènes took over the extensive excavation work. Excavations have been ongoing ever since, except during World War II . Unlike Arthur Evans , the French refrained from reconstructions. Most of the more recent excavations are vaulted by huge, transparent, steel-supported roofs that protect them from the rain.
Sightseeing opportunities
The excavation sites can be visited for a fee. During the tourist season there are regular guided tours in English, French and German. Finds are exhibited in an outbuilding. In some places the visitor can enter the ruins, in others wooden paths only allow an approach. There are rooms that have been identified as metal workshops, ceramic workshops, and meeting rooms.
literature
- Henri van Effenterre : Le palais de Mallia et la cité minoenne. Etude de synthesis . 2 volumes. Edizioni dell'Ateneo, Rome 1980, ( Incunabula Graeca 76, ISSN 0073-5752 ).
- Jean-Claude Poursat: Guide de Malia au temps des premiers palais. Le quartier Mu . École Française d'Athènes u. a., Athens 1992, ISBN 2-86958-054-1 , ( Sites et monuments 8).
- J. Wilson Myers et al. a. (Ed.): The Areial Atlas of Ancient Crete . Thames and Hudson, London 1992, ISBN 0-500-05066-X .
- Claire Tiré / Henri van Effenterre: Guide des fouilles françaises en Crète . 2nd edition revue et complétée. Boccard, Paris 1983, ( Sites et monuments 2).
Remarks
- ^ Veit Stürmer 90 years of research at the École française d'Athènes in the Palace of Malia / Crete in Peleus 20 , Mannheim 2013 p. 21
Web links
- Monika Zacher: Malia. minoer.net, February 3, 2012, accessed April 13, 2017 .
Coordinates: 35 ° 17 ′ 33 ″ N , 25 ° 29 ′ 31 ″ E