The Minoan site of Malia is located in a coastal plain in northern Crete, 30km east of Heraklion, at the foot of the Selena range.

A town, bordered to the northwest by coastal cliffs, to the east by limestone outcrops, and to the southwest by the current beach, developed around a Bronze Age palace on a small hill.

The town must therefore have included a port, but so far no port facilities have been found on the coast.

Malia is one of the four major Minoan palaces discovered on Crete (along with the buildings at Knossos, Phaistos and Zakros), but is also the palatial town of which we currently have the best knowledge: several areas of housing, some roads, and necropolises have been explored.

Sections of a thick wall, deemed to be a fortification wall, have been excavated in several locations around the town.

Conversely, ‘Malia’ is the name of the modern village, of which the ancient name is unknown.

© EfA / Maia Pomadère and Julien Zurbach