Ancient Kommos
The archaeological site of Kommos is located on the beach of Kommos, 4km west of Phaestus, at the area of the villagePitsidia and close to Matala beach. Kommos (or Komos) was a small Minoan town founded in 2000 BC and served the port needs of Phaestus, with which it was linked by road. Kommos was probably destroyed by an earthquake in 1700 BC, but survived up to the Hellenistic period.
The excavations in the period 1976-1996 by the archaeologists Joseph Shaw and Maria Koutroubaki unearthed several Minoan houses, public buildings, warehouses, well maintained facilities of olive presses, a large courtyard and the first known shipyards in Crete.
Moreover, a Greek sanctuary (dating from 1100 BC-300 AD), altars and banquet room were found. According to a version of Homer, Kommos was the place where Menelaus shipwrecked on his return from Troy. Perhaps in favor of that event, the locals introduced the worship of Menelaus in that sanctuary.
