The arcaeological site of Malia is located 3 km East of the village of Malia. The excavations at Malia were begun in 1915 by J. Chatzidakis and were continued by the French Archaeological School. The Palace, houses in the town and the cemetry at Chryssolakos have already been excavated.
The site was inhabited in the Neolithic and early Minoan period (6000- 2000 BC), but very little trace remains.
The Palace of Malia, which covered an area of 7,500 sq.m., is the third- largest of the Minoan Palaces and is considered the most "provincial" from the architectural point of view.
According to tradition the third son of Zeus and Europa, Sarpedon, ruled here.
Ancient, Palaces
By: DonMartini
