Phaistos Palace

Knossos is connected with another major Minoan archaeological site on Crete, namely Phaistos. It was excavated by the Italian archaeologist, Federico Halbherr, in 1884. It is situated in the south of Crete on the side of a mountain which is oriented to the Messara Plain. The excavated area we see today represents one of two palaces and this one is the so-called "second palace". It was built approximately in the year 1,600 BC and is believed to have been destroyed by a tsunami in the year 1400 BC. Unique are the eight steps of the theater, each 22 meters long. The public came here to watch bullfights (men or women jumping over the bull's horns and not the kind we find in Spain today) or gathered for religious ceremonies.