GREECE CRETE LASITHI MAKRIGIALOS

On the south coast of Crete, 25 km east of Ierapetra, in Makrigialos, a Minoan country house or "villa" was excavated. It is signposted and lies just 200 m north of the main road leading through the village. The site is fenced, but the main features can adequately be seen from outside.

When Costas Davaras excavated the site in 1973 and 1977, it was already seriously damaged by agricultural activity. Nevertheless, the building, probably only used in the Late Minoan period (LM Ib) before its destruction by fire, showed many interesting features. The most puzzling is its groundplan, which corresponds to that of the Minoan palaces in several ways: a rectangular Central Court (6 x 12.5 m) oriented North-South, porticoes on its sides, an altar with associated bench for ceremonies, an additional West Court with corresponding West facade. Also the labyrinthic access to the Central Court from the main entrance in the North, after which the direction changes several times ("bent-axis approach"), has been interpreted as a sign of religious architecture.

This view of the building as a "cult villa", of which a few more are known in Crete, was supported by the find of steatite seal-stone with the engraved representation of a Sacred Ship: next to a mast-like palm tree it carries an altar, faced by a priestess with clenched fist raised to the brow in the Minoan attitude of worship.