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Malia Palace - A Visitors Guide
Malia Palace is situated just outside of Malia and draws tourists from all over the world to come and visit this once grand Minoan palace. Its not been fully excavated and rebuilt like Knossos Palace but its well worth the trip if your are interested in the Minoan civilization.
Here at Holidays to Crete we have provided a small guide to the palace with a layout
in map form taken from the palace itself. Where possible we have included pictures
and videos taken by other visitors and Holidays2Crete.
If you think you can add to
this guide then please feel free to send feedback and other articles regarding the
wonderful Malia Palace in Crete.
A walk around Malia Palace
The larger part of the ruins that can be seen today belongs to the Neo-
The palace is approached today by way of the paved west court, which is crossed by
slightly raised passages, known as “processional ways”. There were entrances on
each side of the complex, the main ones being those in the north and south wings.
The
palace is laid out around a main court, which has porticoes on the north and east
sides and an altar in the middle. The largest and most important section of the
palace is the two-
The most important areas of it are the “Loggia”, a grand,
elevated room looking on to the court which, together with the rooms o the west of
it, had a ritual function; the pillar crypt with its vestibule, which also had a
religious character; and between them the grand staircase leading to the upper storey.
There was another large, that may also have been used as a theatrical area, at the
south-
Malia Palace in detail
The south wing, which also had two storey's , was occupied
by residence and reception rooms, a small shrine, and a monumental stone paved entrance
to the palace, that lead directly into the main court. The south-west corner of
the palace was occupied by eight circular structures that were used to house grain
over the winter.
The east wing was taken over almost entirely by the storage of liquids,
with benches on which were placed large storage jars or “Pythos” or “Pithoi” as pictured
above, and a system of channels used for collecting spilt liquid.
Behind the north
portico in the main court is the hypostyle hall and its vestibule. To the west of
these, a paved corridor connects the main court with the north court, which is surrounded
by workshops and storage rooms, and the north-west court, or the “Court of the Dungeon”.
To
the west of this are the official rooms “Royal Apartments”. In the middle is the
“Reception hall” with the typical Minoan polythyra (pier and door partitions) and
a lustral basin behind it.
The east wing was taken over almost entirely by the storage of liquids, with benches on which were placed large storage jars or “Pythos” or “Pithoi” as pictured above, and a system of channels used for collecting spilt liquid.
Behind the north portico in the main court is the hypostyle hall and its vestibule. To the west of these, a paved corridor connects the main court with the north court, which is surrounded by workshops and storage rooms, and the north-
To the west of this are the official rooms “Royal Apartments”. In the middle is the “Reception hall” with the typical Minoan polythyra (pier and door partitions) and a lustral basin behind it.
The palace was surrounded by the Minoan city, one of the most important in Crete.
The early palace cemetery has been excavated to the north-
You can now find all the finds
on display at Heraklion Museum as well as in Agios Nikolaos. There is of course
an original Malia bee Pendant on show at the national Museum of Archaeology in Heraklion,
but you can also buy modern interpretations around some of the jewellery shops in
Malia. Also within these shops you can buy other amazing pieces of jewellery and
statues, one notable thing to look for is the Greek helmet the Spartan warriors wore.
These can be purchased in small sizes up to life size models.
Recommended books
Malia Palace Videos
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