The palace of Zakros is the fourth largest Minoan palace. It was located on a remarkable strategic site, in a safe small bay, and was a centre of trade with the countries of the Orient, as revealed by the finds (ivory, faïence, copper etc).

The palace was a center of administration, religion and trade. It was surrounded by the city. No new buildings were built in the area and it was only used for farming. The “Gorge of the Dead”, the Gorge between Pano Zakros and Kato Zakros, revealed burials in caves on its sides. The finds of Zakros are exhibited in the Museum of Heraklion and some of them are in the Museums of Siteia and Agios Nikolaos.

The palace of Zakros has two main building stages: The old palace was built in c. 1900 B.C., and the new one in c. 1600 B.C., but was destroyed in 1450 B.C. along with the other centres of Minoan Crete.