city state · Greece and the Aegean

Phaistos

900 BCE – 150 BCE (approx.) · capital Phaistos

Greek city-state built on the ruins of the Minoan palace in southern Crete, rival of Gortyn until destroyed by it c. 150 BCE.

Origins

After the Bronze Age palace fell, Phaistos survived as a settlement on its ridge above the Mesara plain. In the early Iron Age Dorian-speaking Greeks dominated it, and by the Archaic period it was an independent polis, one of many on Crete, with Greek temples built over parts of the old palace.

Rule and society

Phaistos controlled the western Mesara and the harbour of Matala. It minted coins from the 4th century BCE showing Talos, the bronze giant of myth, and Heracles. Like other Cretan cities it had an aristocratic constitution with kosmoi magistrates and men's messes. Its great rival was Gortyn, a few kilometres east.

Decline and legacy

Phaistos was destroyed by Gortyn in the mid-2nd century BCE and its territory absorbed. The site was later known chiefly for its Minoan palace, described separately as the Palace State of Phaistos.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (1)

  • Phaistos was conquered by Gortyn150 BCE

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Phaistos. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/phaistos
MLA
“Phaistos.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/phaistos. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Phaistos.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/phaistos.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Phaistos’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/phaistos (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻