Zakros (Greek: Ζάκρος) is a site on the eastern coast of the island of Crete (in modern-day Greece) containing ruins from the Minoan civilization. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly An island (ˈaɪlənd or isle (/ˈaɪl/ is any piece of land that is completely surrounded by water in two dimensions above high tide and isolated from other significant Crete ( Greek: Κρήτη transliteration: Krētē, modern transliteration Kriti) is the largest of the Greek islands and the Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization which arose on the island of Crete. The site is often known to archaeologists as Zakro or Kato Zakro. It is believed to have been one of the four main administrative centers of the Minoans, and its protected harbor and strategic location made it an important commercial hub for trade to the east. A harbor or harbour (see spelling differences) or haven, is a place where ships may shelter from the Weather or are stored

Palace of Zakros ruins

The town was dominated by the Palace of Zakro, originally built around 1900 BC, rebuilt around 1600 BC, and destroyed around 1450 BC along with the other major centers of Minoan civilization. A town is a type of settlement ranging from a few to several thousand (occasionally hundreds of thousands inhabitants although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan The 19th century BC was the century which lasted from 1900 BC to 1801 BC Extensive ruins of the palace remain, and are a popular tourist destination. This article is about ruins in Architecture; for other meanings see Ruins (disambiguation. A palace is a grand residence especially the home of a Head of state or some other high-ranking Public figure. Tourism is Travel for Recreational or Leisure purposes The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel

Geography

Zakros is sometimes divided into Epano Zakros (Upper Zakros), the portion higher up on the hillside, and Kato Zakros (Lower Zakros), the part near the sea. This article is about the body of water For other uses see SEA and Seas. A ravine known as the "Ravine of the Dead" runs through both the upper and lower parts of the ancient site, named after the numerous burials that have been found in the caves along its walls. Burial, also called interment and inhumation, is the act of placing a person or object into the ground A cave is a natural underground void large enough for a human to enter

Epano Zakros is 38 km (24 mi) from Sitia. Sitia ( Greek: Σητεία refers both to a port town with 8900 inhabitants ( 2001) and a municipality with 14338 inhabitants ( 2001) in the far The road passes through Palekastro where it doubles back towards the south. Palékastro (also transliterated as Palaikastro; Godart and Olivier abbreviation PK is a small village at the east end of the mediterranean island A comparatively large village, Zakros includes in its community the following smaller villages: Kato Zakros, Adravasti, Azokeramos, Kellaria, Klisidi and the small hamlets of Ayios Georgios, Sfaka, Kanava and Skalia. The asphalt road ends at Kato Zakros.

Archaeology

Zakro was first excavated by D. G. Howarth of the British School of Archaeology at Athens and 12 houses were unearthed before the site was abandoned. The British School at Athens (BSA (Βρετανική Σχολή Αθηνών is one of the 17 Foreign Archaeological Institutes in Athens, Greece In 1961, Nikolaos Platon resumed the excavation and discovered the Palace of Zakro. Nikolaos Platon ( Greek el Νικόλαος Πλάτων Anglicised Nicolas Platon; –) was a renowned Greek archaeologist This site has yieled several clay tablets with Linear A inscriptions. Small tablets made out of clay were used from 5500 BC Tărtăria tablets and later from 4th millennium BC onwards as a writing medium in Sumerian Linear A is one of two linear scripts used in ancient Crete before Greek Mycenaean Linear B. ^[1] An ancient labyrinth has been discovered at this site similar to the Minoan sites of Knossos and Phaistos. In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth ( Greek λαβύρινθος labyrinthos) was an elaborate structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Knossos (alternative spellings Knossus, Cnossus, Greek Κνωσός kno̞ˈso̞s also known as the Knossos Palace is the largest Phaistos (Φαιστός also transliterated as Phaestos, Festos and Phaestus is an ancient city on the Island of Crete ^[2][3]

Footnotes

External links

• Hellenic Ministry of Culture page for Zakros

Coordinates: 35°05′53″N 26°15′41″E / 35.09806, 26.26139