Crete: Prinias, Phaistos, Aghia Triada, Kommos, Kamilari

On the fifth day of the Crete trip, we visited the five archaeological sites listed in the title.

The Prinias settlement was established on the plateau of a mountain. The remains here include houses, two temples of the 7th-6th c BCE, and the wall of a small fortress.

Snow on the mountain tops.

You can see how we are up on the plateau. That is Bob in the distance.

There was a little church at the edge of the plateau.

Inside the church.

This site was our first stop the morning Pokemon Go released the second generation Pokemon, and there were 5 new types here.


Located at the Phaistos site are two Minoan palaces an old and a new. Phaistos was one of the most wealthy and powerful cities in Southern Crete and was inhabited beginning in the Neolithic period. 

View from the site.

The upper court.

Large staircase leading to a terrace.

Aghia Triada was a settlement inhabited beginning in 3000 BCE. Still visible at the site are a palace called the Royal Villa, the Agora, a cemetery with tombs, and a basilica.

This picture and the one below categorized the weather of Crete for me. Here it looks warm and sunny with no snow on the mountains.

Turn 180 degrees and it looks colder with snow on the mountains.

Kommos is a Minoan settlement located on a small hill next to the beach. There was a miscommunication regarding what time our group was to arrive at the site, so we had to wait for someone to come let us in. Thus we wandered down to the beach. I thought it was a beautiful beach. I was then informed that it is a nude beach. We were there during February, so no one was out sunbathing or swimming. Remaining at the site are some large buildings, some houses, workshops, and a ship shed.

Our last stop was the Kamilari tholos tomb. It was about a 1.5-kilometer walk to get to the tomb, but it is open and free to see. It was one of the largest in the area.