Gournia,
Archanes and Ayia Triada: Palaces or Not?
by Ioannis Georganas
GOURNIA
a) Architecture and finds
The Gournia structure stands
on the summit of what Hawes (its excavator) described as the
Gournia Acropolis, the central peak of a ridge that projects
to the north from the hills surrounding the Gournia basin toward
the sea.
The main court is not located
in the centre of the structure but stands more or less isolated
to the south, with only a small part of the building projecting
along its north-west. Its dimensions are irregular, varying in
width from about 15.10m in front of the building to 16.80m toward
the centre, and varying in length from about 29.64m to 32.44m
(Soles 1991:19-21, Cadogan
1992:104).
The "palace" is located
at the north end of this court and is built on three terraces.
The ground floor (with the main entrance and central hall) lies
on the same level as the court. To the west on a lower level
is the basement, including a number of storerooms and the west
entrance. On a higher level to the east, there are some other
rooms (including a tower) and the north entrance (Soles 1991:21).
According to the excavators,
the palace was constructed in two phases. The original construction
took place early in the LM I period, and a remodelling followed
a short time before the destruction of the site in late LM I
(Seager 1909:296).
During the remodelling, the whole south wing of the building
was added, ashlar was introduced and some other additions were
made to the northern part of the complex (Soles 1991:30). Ashlar sandstone was however,
used in a limited manner in only a few key locations such as
the south and west facades and the Central Hall.
The west facade's ashlar wall
that borders the court was provided with a doorway leading into
the basement, and with a "window of appearances" that
opened from an important room (a shrine?) on the main floor level
above (Soles 1991:35).
To the south of the court there are two corridors which lead
to a small square court at the south-west corner of the palace.
An irregular stone slab of conglomerate (identified as a baetyl)
stands on end in the middle of this court (Soles 1991:35-7).
The basement consists of 18
rooms, which are located behind the west facade and are divided
into four distinct groups. Each group is provided with a staircase.
Nine of these rooms (4-12) can be identified as storerooms.
The south facade, facing the
Public Court and containing the main entrance to the palace,
must have been the most important facade of the palace. It was
therefore well provided with monumental features such as pillars,
horns of consecration, ashlar masonry and a grand L-shaped staircase.
Four very important areas are located along it, the West and
North Porticos and Rooms 18 and 20bis (Soles 1991:41-2). The West Portico has been
identified as a variety of tripartite shrine (Shaw 1978:429-48). Additionally, the North
Portico and the Room 18 (the Room with the kernos) also were
religious areas (Soles
1991:45-9).
The Central Hall is a large
rectangular room measuring 6.67 x 8.60m at its centre, with its
floor paved with a fine, reddish plaster. Most of its walls are
built of ashlar sandstone blocks; unfortunately we do not know
if it was roofed or open to the sky. The upper floor's eastern
part must have been the residential area, consisted of six rooms
(30-35), one of them (35) identified as a tower (Soles 1991:65, fig. 67).
