The Ministry of Culture is modernizing the visitor service infrastructure at the Phaistos archaeological site, with a new publishing house and store, the addition of routes for disabled and disabled visitors, and new signage and information.
The project, with a budget of 2,500,000 euros, is financed by the “Crete” Regional Operational Program under the QREN 2021-2027.
The location of the former hotel “Xenia”, which today belongs to the Municipality of Phaistos, and the subsequent projects were those that determined, to this day, access, the organization of infrastructure and the tour of the Phaistos area. With the preparation of the Unified Management Plan, the necessary differences in level for the disabled are guaranteed, depending on the level of the new building infrastructure, in relation to the level of the parking area and the existing observation platform for disabled people, above the Patio Superior West of the Palace. The new complex brings together all infrastructures, forming a single central space for serving visitors and improving the functioning of infrastructures, such as the publishing house, the store, the sanitary areas, but also the atrium between them.
Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni stated: “Our priority is the modernization of services provided at archaeological sites, with emphasis on accessibility for people with disabilities and visitors with disabilities. The Minoan palace of Phaistos is, together with the archaeological site of Knossos, one of the most important cultural sites in Crete, with a large number of visitors. Today, it is in the phase of serial inscription, with the six Minoan palaces, on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Our objective is, through the proposed interventions, to form a modern, functionally and aesthetically, unified, central and better controlled space. I note that in addition to the projects for the protection and promotion of Phaistos, in the context of the National Strategic Plan to address the effects of Climate Change on Cultural Heritage, the management plan for the archaeological site, in terms of its protection against the climate crisis, is in progress, prepared by the Ministry of Culture with the scientific collaboration of the National and Kapodistrian University and the National Research Foundation. All projects that have been launched at the Phaistos archaeological site are funded by the QREN Crete Region Operational Program 2021-2027, to which I am grateful.”
The project includes: 1. New positioning of the reception and entrance/exit, and new public service infrastructures (edition, store, WC – all on the ground floor), right next to the existing entrance. 2. Creation of a new outdoor living area next to the entrance, with stairs and views of the palace. 3. Improvement of the visitor route through two routes, one south for the public and the other north for disabled people to Pátio Alto Oeste, with a common return for all audiences. 4. Creating new information and viewing points. These areas are integrated into the landscape and contribute to the monument’s relevance to the public, for their recreation and information.
The palace hill was continuously inhabited from the 4th millennium until the 2nd century. BC The Old Palace was built between 1900-1700 BC. at the top of the hill. At the end of the Old Palace period, it covered an area of around 9,000 m2. It was destroyed twice by earthquakes and rebuilt. The architectural remains of the three successive phases of construction are preserved in good condition in the southwestern part, where the 6 m high walls are preserved. where the covered part of the Old Palace is located). After its final destruction (~1700 BC), the New Palace was built further east and on a higher level, which was inhabited until the mid-15th century BC. then it was destroyed.
The New Palace was smaller but more monumental than the Old and had all the characteristics of a Minoan palace, such as a rectangular central courtyard, with wings on 4 sides, a large area (~8,000 m2), a courtyard with a processional road, of palace-city connection, monumental entrance with staircase, luxurious halls, purification tanks, royal apartments, warehouses and workshops, majestic staircases. The city that surrounds it continued to be inhabited, experiencing a particular flourishing in the Geometric (810-700 BC) and Hellenistic (323-67 BC) years. Around 150 BC, the city of Phaistos was permanently destroyed.
Excavation of the palace began in 1900 by Italian archaeologists Federico Halbherr and Luigi Pernier, who discovered the Phaistos disc in 1908. In 1909 the excavation of the New Palace was completed, some work followed until 1914 and from 1928 to 1932. After the Second World War, excavations continued from 1950 to 1971, during which the Old Palace was excavated, but parts of the prehistoric city and historical times.
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Diligence:George Koulouvaris
(email protected)
