To date, three (3) building complexes have been excavated at Monastiraki.
The Southern complex was first excavated by a Greek-Italian expedition. It consists of several rooms. The First Archive of sealings was found in a room, accessible through a ramp, next to the southern entrance of the complex. A road system was also discovered. An important find in this complex is a clay model of a shrine.
The Eastern complex contained ninety (90) rooms. The ground floor housed storerooms, workshops and places of worship, while the first floor contained living quarters and administrative areas. To the north of the Eastern complex, open spaces and kitchens have been uncovered. The Second sealing Archive, consisting of more than nine hundred (900) sealings, was found in two rooms on the first floor. A ramp road leading to the top of the hill and intersecting with other roads in a north-south orientation has been traced in the Eastern complex.
The Western complex was first excavated by German archaeologists, officers in World War II and then by the Emeritus Director of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Heraklion, Dr. Athanasia Kanta. The excavations revealed a monumental building with megalithic facade with recesses, a ritual area with a pillar in the center and an entrance with stone pilasters. A Third Archive of sealings was found in the Western complex. Large terraces and two courtyards were discovered to the north and the south of this complex.
A Central Courtyard was located on the large rectangular plateau at the top of the hill. Courtyards are typical feature of the Minoan Palaces. It was accessed from the south-west and north-east. From the Central Courtyard, a corridor led to Kokkinos Charakas, the rock that roughly dominates the center of the site. There are traces of a stepped entrance at the root of the rock, while an important shrine complex has been excavated on its eastern side.
The final destruction of the settlement came from an earthquake and fire at the end of the Protopalatial period (MMIIB) ca.1700 BC.
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