The Galatas Palace is a Minoan archaeological site on Crete discovered in the early 1990s. Built on a much older settlement, a Minoan palace was constructed in the early Neopalatial Period, sometime after 1700 B.C.E. (MM IIIB). The palatial center was destroyed by an earthquake and abandoned later in the Postpalatial period, or around 1500 B.C.E.(LM IB)[1]
The east wing is the best-preserved part of the structure, while the West and South wings were found to be extensively damaged. Excavations have not been completed in the area of the North wing of the building. The archaeological site is considered to be unique because it is the only such Minoan center to have been built and inhabited during one period. The excavator, Dr. Giorgos Rethemiotakis refers to the site as a Minoan palace, but the use of the term “palace” is still ambiguous since all of the monumental Minoan sites have clear religious implications suggesting the sites were "temples" instead.[2][3][4]