Greece · 18th century BC
The Galatas Palace is a Minoan archaeological site in Heraklion, Crete, Greece about 30 kilometers southeast of the city of Heraklion discovered in the early 1990s. Built on an older Protopalatial settlement dating to the MM IB (c. 1925–1875 BC) period, a Minoan palace was constructed in the early Neopalatial Period, during the Early MM IIIA period (c. 1750 BC). The palatial center was destroyed by a conflagration at the end of the MM IIIA period.
The east wing is the best-preserved part of the structure, while the West and South wings were found to be extensively damaged. Excavations have not been completed in the area of the North wing of the building. The archaeological site is considered to be unique because it is the only such Minoan center to have been built and inhabited during one period.
Text adapted from “Galatas Palace” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Galatas Palace ranks #4,332 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #60 of the 134 mapped in Greece. Founded 1750 BC, it is older than 99% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 6 atlas entries founded in the 18th century BC. 4 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Greece compares in the castle statistics.
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