GREECE CRETE LASITHI PRESSOS AGIOS GEORGIOS

The Minoan villa of Agios Georgios is located on a hill known as Prophitis Elias. The picture above left shows a view to the hill (looking SW) from the road to Pressos. - The villa consists of 30 rooms, arranged on four successive terraces, covering an area of 700 square metres. The building is not very well preserved. Especially the lower terraces are badly damaged, and on the steep north and west sides of the hill part of the building complex has disappeared through landslides. - Above right and below: The original entrance on the west side of the building.

It has been recently discovered that there also was a Minoan settlement nearby. The villa was, however, set up at a commanding location, overlooking the settlement in the surrounding valley. Built in the Middle Minoan period, the villa was destroyed by earthquake not long after Late Minoan IA, as indicated by the pottery found at the site. - Besides the pottery, a number of interesting objects were found, among them a wine press, a potter's wheel, millstones, and a large number of loom weights. Valuable objects and objects with ceremonial significance were missing, perhaps because the site was plundered.

Above and below: The upper terraces where the higher quality of construction indicates an independent unit.