Palace of Malia
Ανάκτορο Μαλίων
The third-largest Minoan palace site, on the north coast by the sea. Its preserved features include large grain jars, a central courtyard and the mysterious kernos stone, and it attracts fewer visitors.
The Palace of Malia was built around 1900 BC and covers about 7,500 square metres. The site has not undergone large-scale reconstruction, so visitors can see many storage jars, each as tall as a person, that once held oil and grain, along with storerooms, a central courtyard and a circular ritual stone carved with 34 small hollows (its purpose is still debated). Admission is about 6 euros, and the exhibition hall explains the excavation results. The site is about 35 km east of Heraklion, next to the Malia beach resort, and can be combined with the Lasithi Plateau or Agios Nikolaos on the same day.
Opening hours
Summer about 08:00–20:00; winter about 08:30–15:30
Nearby sights
- Lychnostatis Open Air Museum
- Lasithi Plateau & Dikteon Cave
- Cretaquarium (Thalassocosmos)
- Nikos Kazantzakis Museum
- Knossos Palace
- Archanes & Peza Wine Region
- Heraklion Archaeological Museum
- Koules Fortress (Rocca a Mare)