April 9: Laura and Jackie Reporting

Date: Saturday April 9, 2005
Partners for the day: Laura (text) Jackie (images)
Site(s):Phaistos, Ayia Triada, Kommos
Museum(s):
Principal Buildings/Monuments: Kamilari Tholos Tomb; Minoan Palace Structures at Phaistos, Ayia Triadha; Architectural remains (including Ship Sheds) at Kommos
Time Spent on Each Site: Phaistos- from ca. 9:10 AM to ca.11:10 PM [ __2__ hours], Ayia Triadha- from ca. 11:20 AM to ca.12:15 PM [ __1__ hours], K- from ca. 12:30 PM to ca.12:45 PM [ __.25__ hours], Kommos- from ca. 3:30 to ca.4:45 [ __1.25__ hours]
Weather: Hot and sunny with clear blue skies

Our day began at the Palace of Phaistos, one of the major Minoan palaces. Prof. Rutter led us around the site, showing us the West Court, the Central Court, the Magazines, the Residential Apartments, and a multi-level Theatral Area. After a short break to check out the Phaistos gift shop, we headed to Ayia Triada, the home of two important Minoan villas and other Minoan buildings. We explored the ruins, including a very well-preserved kiln, and then headed to the Kamilari Tholos Tomb. After playing dead there (as Jackie’s pictures for today show), we had a wonderful afternoon break. We ate lunch in the charming town of Pitsidia and then relaxed on the beach at Kommos. After an hour of swimming in the amazingly beautiful water and lying in the sun, we visited the site of Kommos, a Minoan harbor and palace, and later, a Classical temple. The site was of special interest to everyone as Prof. Rutter has worked there since 1991 (and will be working there again this summer) and has special knowledge and affection for the site. We walked around Kommos, then drove back to Heraklion and boarded the Knossos Palace for our overnight journey back to Athens.

Throughout this week and today especially at Phaistos, one aspect of Minoan palaces that has really surprised me is the use of polychromatic stones. When learning about the palace, building material was usually glossed over in favor of focusing on the form and function of the building. Consequently, I had always imagined Minoan building stone to be bland and monochromatic, embellished only with wall paintings. And to be honest, most of the ruins were made of all the same limestone, creating the very uniform appearance I expected. However, there were also many polychromatic details I was not expecting. For aesthetic reasons, the Minoans would use different colored stone for things like columns, staircases, and floors to create a beautiful contrast to the common limestone. The Athenians used darker, gray limestone against white marble to create contrast in the Classical Period, but the Minoans were already experimenting with a wider palette of stone a thousand years earlier.

In Phaistos, for example, many of the columns are made of chlorite schist, which is a beautiful green stone. The color would have been especially striking when polished. Breccia, a deep black stone veined with red, was also used in Phaistos in various places such as cult rooms. Alabaster panels and wooden beams were also used to line walls at Ayia Triada, creating gleaming white surfaces contrasted with matte timbers. One stone that appears quite commonly at Phaistos, Ayia Triada, and Knossos is gypsum. Gypsum is a local white stone that weathers easily, but is made of crystals that reflect light very well. It was used in all three sites for walls, floors, staircases, and benches, creating gleaming surfaces that would have looked beautifully different next to other, duller stones like limestone. One of the most effective uses of gypsum is in the entrance to Phaistos. The entrance hall, paved in gypsum slabs, is fronted by the outdoors and backed by a light well. Consequently, the entrance would have been flooded with light and would have been quite impressive with the reflecting gypsum floors.

The room that most impressively made use of polychromatic stone was also at Phaistos. To the north of the Palace is a paved room with a peristyle. The floor is made of gypsum slabs with red-painted plaster in the spaces between the slabs. The columns of the peristyle are of the black and red breccia. The effect, then, would have been a glistening white floor, matte black columns, and red accents throughout. The room must have been quite a dramatic, impressive space, very different from the dull, all-limestone rooms I had imagined. The Minoans were very creative with their construction materials and were able to utilize a variety of colored stones to create beautifully unexpected polychromatic architecture.