the museum in Heraklion. It is thought that by 2000 b.c. the settlement had become a palatial city which was destroyed about 1700 b.c. It was rebuilt again but unfortunately along came another disaster in 1450 b.c. which not only destroyed Malia Palace but all the other seaside cities of the Minoan people and the great Minoan Civilization came to an end. (The most recent theory fThe plain of Malia provides a natural exit to the sea from the Lassithi plateau. It was here that the Great Civilization of the Minoan people constructed a palace and settled round about 2500 years before Christ. It is assumed that a man named Sarpedon ruled at Malia and that his brothers were Rhadamanthys, who ruled at Phaestos on the south coast, and Minos of Knossos fame.

Malia is a more recent name coming from the Venetian period of 1204-1669, and originates from the adjectives omalos-omalion meaning level, smooth. The exact name of the area where Malia Palace and surrounding inhabitants lived is not exactly known. There is no mention of ‘Malia’ in ancient history (unlike ‘Milatos’ which is mentioned by Homer as being one of the hundred Cretan cities to send ships to fight in the Trojan War, and whose namesake was the founder of the city of Miletos in Karia, Asia Minor). In fact some researchers believe the ancient name of the city was ‘Tarmaros’ a name found in an area nearby. A little further inland from the Palace site there is a small hill on which is built the tiny church known as Profit Elias. It is interesting to note that many sun worshipping sites were replaced by churches with this name (Elias being very close to the Greek word for the sun, Helios). There is every likelihood that the Minoan people did worship the sun from the top of this hill.

Excavations of the Palace began in 1915 and have continued off and on until the present day with most of the finds being exhibited at the museum in Heraklion. It is thought that by 2000 b.c. the settlement had become a palatial city which was destroyed about 1700 b.c. It was rebuilt again but unfortunately along came another disaster in 1450 b.c. which not only destroyed Malia Palace but all the other seaside cities of the Minoan people and the great Minoan Civilization came to an end. (The most recent theory fo

p>Malia is a more recent name coming from the Venetian period of 1204-1669, and originates from the adjectives omalos-omalion meaning level, smooth. The exact name of the area where Malia Palace and surrounding inhabitants lived is not exactly known. There is no mention of ‘Malia’ in ancient history (unlike ‘Milatos’ which is mentioned by Homer as being one of the hundred Cretan cities to send ships to fight in the Trojan War, and whose namesake was the founder of the city of Miletos in Karia, Asia Minor). In fact some researchers believe the ancient name of the city was ‘Tarmaros’ a name found in an area nearby. A little further inland from the Palace site there is a small hill on which is built the tiny church known as Profit Elias. It is interesting to note that many sun worshipping sites were replaced by churches with this name (Elias being very close to the Greek word for the sun, Helios). There is every likelihood that the Minoan people did worship the sun from the top of this hill.

Excavations of the Palace began in 1915 and have continued off and on until the present day with most of the finds being exhibited at the museum in Heraklion. It is thought that by 2000 b.c. the settlement had become a palatial city which was destroyed about 1700 b.c. It was rebuilt again but unfortunately along came another disaster in 1450 b.c. which not only destroyed Malia Palace but all the other seaside cities of the Minoan people and the great Minoan Civilization came to an end. (The most recent theory f

cities to send ships to fight in the Trojan War, and whose namesake was the founder of the city of Miletos in Karia, Asia Minor). In fact some researchers believe the ancient name of the city was ‘Tarmaros’ a name found in an area nearby. A little further inland from the Palace site there is a small hill on which is built the tiny church known as Profit Elias. It is interesting to note that many sun worshipping sites were replaced by churches with this name (Elias being very close to the Greek word for the sun, Helios). There is every likelihood that the Minoan people did worship the sun from the top of this hill.

Excavations of the Palace began in 1915 and have continued off and on until the present day with most of the finds being exhibited at the museum in Heraklion. It is thought that by 2000 b.c. the settlement had become a palatial city which was destroyed about 1700 b.c. It was rebuilt again but unfortunately along came another disaster in 1450 b.c. which not only destroyed Malia Palace but all the other seaside cities of the Minoan people and the great Minoan Civilization came to an end. (The most recent theory f

to note that many sun worshipping sites were replaced by churches with this name (Elias being very close to the Greek word for the sun, Helios). There is every likelihood that the Minoan people did worship the sun from the top of this hill.

Excavations of the Palace began in 1915 and have continued off and on until the present day with most of the finds being exhibited at the museum in Heraklion. It is thought that by 2000 b.c. the settlement had become a palatial city which was destroyed about 1700 b.c. It was rebuilt again but unfortunately along came another disaster in 1450 b.c. which not only destroyed Malia Palace but all the other seaside cities of the Minoan people and the great Minoan Civilization came to an end. (The most recent theory f

the museum in Heraklion. It is thought that by 2000 b.c. the settlement had become a palatial city which was destroyed about 1700 b.c. It was rebuilt again but unfortunately along came another disaster in 1450 b.c. which not only destroyed Malia Palace but all the other seaside cities of the Minoan people and the great Minoan Civilization came to an end. (The most recent theory for this being due to a tidal wave with swept the coast following the eruption of a volcano in the Santorini area).

Whatever happened to the Minoans was devastatingly final and Malia does not seem to have been inhabited again until the 14th and 13th centuries b.c. during the Mycenaean Period. Extensive ruins of a Roman settlement of the 2nd-3rd century a.d. have been found near a 6th century Christian Basilica about 500 m northwest of the palace in an area known as Marmara, and a splendid sarcophagus can be seen in the museum at Heraklion.

Malia of today is a far cry from that early Minoan way of life though I am sure those people who are lucky enough to live there would agree that a better location would be hard to find.