The Palace of Phaistos (or Festos) lies on the east end of Kastri hill at the end of the Mesara plain in central southern Crete.

The Palace was excavated by the Italian archaeologist Halbherr at the beginning of the 20th century. The earliest settlements on the site, which lie close to the Yeropotamos, one of the few rivers in Crete to flow all year round, date from the Neolothic Period ( app. 4000 BC). It is likely that in the Early Minoan period small settlements were scattered over the hill on which the Palace stood later.

The Old Palace was built on the site at the beginning of the Second Millenium, known as the Protopalatial Period (c.1900-1700 b.C). Twice it was severely damaged by earthquakes and rebuilt so three distinct phases are visible to archaeologists.

In Phaistos, the famous Phaistos Disk was found, inscribed in a language that has not been deciphered yet, despite arduous attempts.

When the Old Palace was finally destroyed, almost certainly by an earthquake, a new palace was built on the site. Fortunately for us, the builders of the new palace did not destroy all traces of the old. In fact much of the old palace was covered over at the time of the building of the new palace in order to level the ground. Some of the old palace can still be seen by visitors, especially in the north-east corner, but much of the Old Palace remains are accessible only to the experts.

The New Palace covers a smaller area than the old, thus enabling the visitor to see some of the remains of the Old Palace, including the area where the Phaistos Disc was discovered. However, excavators have been surprised by the lack of finds that one would expect at a Minoan Palace. No frescoes have been found in the New Palace and there is a complete absence of sealings and tablets. One view suggests that in the New Palace period the importance of Phaistos decreased while that of Agia Triada nearby continued to grow and that the two settlements complemented each other in some way.

The site is entered at the level of the Upper West Court, which was used by both the old and the new palace. The Upper West Court is joined to the Lower West Court by a staircase which was built at the time of the upper court and was in use at the time of the Old Palace. To the north of the court is a very high wall and in front of this wall is the theatral area, with two raised walkways. There are eight rows where spectators either sat or stood to watch religious rites, ceremonies or whatever else took place there.

At Phaistos, the magazine consisted of ten rooms, five on each side, opening onto an east-west corridor, which at its east end opened out into a two-columned hall with a portico facing the Central Court. One storage room remains in tact with a number of pithoi inside. Pithos (plural pithoi) is the ancient Greek word (πίθος, πίθοι) for a large storage jar of a characteristic shape.

The Central Court lies to the east of the magazines. It measured 55 metres by 25 metres. The South East part of the Central Court is now missing. Given the large number of corridors which lead to the Central Court, it must have been central to the life of the Palace itself. It was lined on two sides by porticos with alternating columns and pillars.

The north-east wing of the palace is considered to have consisted of artisans' workshops and the remains of a furnace for smelting metal can still be seen in the courtyard. The south-east wing collapsed some time in the past and the hill has eroded to beyond the point where it would have stood.

Much of the West wing of the central court, south of the magazines, was used for religious purposes. It contained a number of rooms which opened directly onto the Central Court. Just south of the corridor of the magazines, in the West Wing, there are two rooms with benches lining the walls. These benches were covered with gypsum, a material used extensively at Phaistos. Further south there is a pillar crypt similar to those found at other Palaces and also in the remains of the old palace at Phaistos, but this one is on a rather more modest scale than, for example, the one at Malia.

Trees and pillars seem to have been worshipped by the Minoans and more than 25 pillar crypts have been located at Minoan sites. Questions have been raised as to whether the pillars really were objects of devotion for the Minoans, but it is certain that in many of the small pillar crypts the pillars would not have been necessary to support the roof. An alternative explanation therefore has to be sought and there is evidence of pillar worship from other sources.

The area also contained two lustral basins. Cult vases and figurines were found in this part of the West Wing, and the shapes of double axes were incised on the stone, all adding to evidence of a religious use for the building. The conventional view is that whereas the West Wing of the palaces was used for religious and administrative purposes, the East Wing contained the domestic apartments of the royal family. However, a lustral basin was originally situated in the East Wing and if the purpose of the lustral basin was religious rather than hygenic, that would tell against the theory that the East Wing comprised domestic quarters.

The so-called Royal Apartments are in the north part of the Palace, to the East of the Monumental Propylaia. The smaller "Queen's Megaron" lies to the south of the larger "King's Megaraon". These rooms would have had light wells, porticos and pier-and-door partitions which would have enabled sections of the room to be closed off. The lower walls and floors were lined with slabs of alabaster. To the west of the King's room is possibly the best-preserved Lustral Basin in Crete.

There are many reasons why a visitor to Crete should make the effort to visit Phaistos. With the Messara plain to the east and the Ida mountain to the north, Phaistos has the most beautiful setting of any of the Minoan Palaces.

Another major advantage is the fact that it does not get quite so crowded as Knossos and even in the summer it is possible to have the site almost to oneself provided one arrives at opening time or alternatively an hour or two before closing time. Finally, it is a much more intimate site than Knossos where walkways of scaffolding scar the Palace and so much of Knossos has been roped off, preventing access to visitors, who must look from a distance. At Phaistos, everything can be seen easily and in close up.