Malia (archaeological site)

Malia

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Map of Minoan Crete
Location	Heraklion, Crete, Greece
Coordinates	35°17′38″N 25°29′27″E / 35.29389°N 25.49083°E / 35.29389; 25.49083
Type	Minoan town and "palace"
History
Cultures	Minoan, Mycenaean
Site notes
Excavation dates	1919-1936, 1964-2012, 2014-present
Archaeologists	Joseph Hazzidakis, Fernand Chapouthier, Oliver Pelon, Maud Devolder
Public access	Yes

Malia (also Mallia) is a Minoan and Mycenaean archaeological site on the northern coast of Crete in the Heraklion regional unit. It is about 35 kilometers east of the ancient site of Knossos and 40 kilometers east of the modern city of Heraklion. The site lies about 3 kilometers east and inland from the modern village of Malia. It was occupied from the middle 3rd millennium BC until about 1250 BC. During the Late Minoan I period (1700 - 1470 BC) it had the third largest Minoan palace, destroyed at the end of the Late Minoan IB period. The other palaces are at Hagia Triada, Knossos, Phaistos, Zakros, and Gournia. It has been excavated for over a century by the French School of Athens and inscriptions of the undeciphered scripts Cretan hieroglyphs, Linear A, and the deciphered script Linear B have been found there.