The Theatral Area at Phaestos to some extent resembles that
of Knossos, but is simpler, lacking the tier of steps at right
angles to the main tier, and lacking also the Bastion, or Royal
Box, which at Knossos occupies the angle of the junction of the
two tiers. It consists of a paved court, ending, on the west side,
in a flight of ten steps, more than 60 feet in length, behind which
stands a wall of large limestone blocks. As at Knossos, a flagged
pathway ran across the area, obliquely, however, in this case.
Beneath the structure of the second palace were discovered some
of the chambers of the earlier building, with a number of very
fine Kamares vases (Plate XXVI.).
But the chief glory of the palace at Phaestos is the great flight
of steps, 45 feet in width, which formed its state entrance, the
broadest and most splendid staircase that ever a royal palace had
(Plate XXVI.). 'No architect,' says Mosso, 'has ever made such a
flight of steps out of Crete.' At the head of the entrance staircase
stood a columned portico, behind which was the great reception-hall
of the palace. The halls and courts of Phaestos are comparable for
spaciousness even with the finest of those at Knossos, and, indeed,
the Megaron, so called (wrongly), of Phaestos is a more spacious
apartment than the Hall of the Double Axes at the sister palace,
the area of the Phaestos chamber being over 3,000 square feet, as
against the 2,000 odd square feet of the Hall of the Double Axes.
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