The site was first inhabited in Neolithic times (6000 BC). The first palace was erected in 1900 BC. Destroyed in 1700 by an earthquake it was rebuilt for the last time until 1450 BC, when it was devastated like all the other palaces on Crete.
The ruling dynasty of the area was that of Sarpedon, Minoa';s young brother.
Joseph Chatzidakis excavated the area for the first time in 1915. Later the site passed to the French School of Athens.
The site has many similarities with the other Minoan palaces. The Central Court for example is only slightly smaller than the main courts at Knossos and Festos. The palace is rather provincial, built of local stone and without frescoes.
The palace consists of: a West Court with pathways leading to several storage rooms, a North Court and a Central Court with stairways and its central sacrificial altar, Royal Apartments, the Royal Throne Room, Kitchen, water pools, sanctuaries and a Pillar Crypt.
Near the palace archeologists unearthed several parts of a Minoan city and about 500 m to the north, the Golden Pit or Chrysolakkos. It was a Minoan cemetery, from which came, among other funerary objects, the famous gold pendant of two bees (17th century BC) displayed in the Archeological Museum of Heraklion.
