From Rhethymon, we traveled to the ancient city of Tylissos, which flourished during the Minoan periods. Even after our late travels, we were greeted with Cretan hospitality by the guard, George, and his two cats at the gate.
We jumped right into business and started looking at the site plan of Tylissos, a villa site, and finding our way through the maze. There are three residential complexes, labeled House A, B, and C. These buildings were two stories high as noted by the stairs that were found in certain hallways. The walls and the architectures shared elements of villas and palaces. However, Tylissos is considered a villa because it is separated into a few buildings, there is no cohesion around a single central court, there is storage but on a smaller scale than the palaces, and there are Linear A tablets found but not as much as that in palaces like Knossos.
Most noticeable at Tylissos are the Minoan halls, the lustral basin, the pillar crypts of the Late Minoan I period. The Minoan hall consists of an open space, fore-hall, and a room closed off by the pier-and-door partition. Here the halls have light-wells, which are rooms that are actually open without coverings to let light and air into enclosed areas nearby.
Right off the main hall stairs led down to the lustral basin at a lower level. The purpose of the basin is still unknown, although it was once thought to be a ritual space perhaps for cleansing. However, objects used for dedication were not found in this area nor was a drainage system. During the LM IB period, walls were built off the main halls just to close up the lustral basin area.
The later LM III house built at Tylissos had a large circular cistern that is very well preserved. Along with this was a drainage system that helped bring together rain water.
After weaving ourselves out of this maze, we found ourselves again eating Cretan food in the village right near the site, and all around favorite seems to be the fried zucchini balls (“kolokithokeftedes”). Then we ventured across the mountain to Zaros. Woken by the sound of “Oh Bryan, Bryan,” I know we have finally arrived in the wonderful village of Zaros and this time greeted by hospitable Vivi and Katerina.