Hagia Triada (also Haghia Triada, Hagia Triadha, Ayia Triada, Agia Triada), () is a Minoan archaeological site in Crete. The site includes the remains of an extensive settlement noted for its monumental NeoPalatial and PostPalatial period buildings especially the large Royal Villa. It is located in the Mesara Plain about three kilometers from the larger Palace of Phaistos, with which it appears to have had close political and economic ties. It is also nearby the Minoan harbor site of Kommos.Betancourt, P., "A Great Minoan Triangle: The Changing Characters of Phaistos, Hagia Triadha, and Kommos during the Middle Minoan-Late Minoan III Periods", in J.W. Shaw and Maria C. Shaw (eds.), pp. 31-34, 1985 Excavations at Hagia Triada have provided crucial evidence concerning Minoan everyday life.
Notable finds include the Hagia Triada sarcophagus and the "Harvester Vase". About 150 Linear A tablets were found, the largest cache at any Minoan site. Salgarella, Ester, "Drawing lines: The palaeography of Linear A and Linear B", Kadmos, vol. 58, no. 1–2, pp. 61–92, 2019 Twenty three roundels (circular lumps of clay sealed on the edge) and a large number of nodules (clay lumps with 3 faces of which two had small inscriptions and one face a seal) were also found.Massimo Perna, "The Roundels of Haghia Triada", Kadmos, 33, pp. 93-141 1994 All of the Linear A finds date to the Late Minoan IB period, before the site was destroyed by fire and then rebuilt.Tomas, Helena, "The Administration of Haghia Triada", Opvscvla archaeologica 25.1, pp. 39-57, 2001
After being found on 54 Linear B tablets (dated LM IIIA1 to LM IIIB) at Knossos, the name "pa-i-to" has been proposed for the ancient name of the nearby site of Phaistos. It has also been proposed that this name encompassed Haghia Triada as well.Cucuzza N., "Haghia Triada IV, Gli edifici Tardo Minoico III del settore meridionale", Athens, 2021 The ancient name of Hagia Triada is not yet known though "da-wo" has been proposed. The toponym "da-wo" appears on 46 Linear B tablets (dated LM IIIA1 to LM IIIB) at Knossos. It has been proposed as the name of Haghia Triada based on the large amount of grain storage shown which matches that excavated at the site.Monti, Orazio, "Haghia Triada = da-wo or pa-i-to?", Kadmos, vol. 63, no. 1-2, pp. 1-18, 2024 Scheria from the writing of Homer has also been suggested.Privitera, Santo, "Looking for a Home in a Houseless Town: Exploring Domestic Architecture in Final Palatial Ayia Triada", Hesperia Supplements, vol. 44, pp. 263–72, 2011
History +Minoan chronologyTimespanPeriod 3100–2650BC EM I Prepalatial 2650–2200BC EM II 2200–2100BC EM III 2100–1925BC MM IA 1925–1875BC MM IB Protopalatial 1875–1750BC MM II 1750–1700BC MM III Neopalatial 1700–1625BC LM IA 1625–1470BC LM IB 1470–1420BC LM II Postpalatial 1420–1330BC LM IIIA 1330–1200BC LM IIIB 1200–1075BC LM IIIC
The site was founded in the Early Minoan I (EM I) period.Todaro, Simona, "A non-funerary context for communal feasting in EM I Ayia Triada (Crete)", Proceedings of the 10th International Cretological Congress (Chania, 1–8 October 2006), pp. 59-71, 2011 By the Middle Minoan IA (MM IA) period it is known to have had a cemetery with a large circular "tholos" tomb.Caloi, I., "The Mesara tholos tomb cemeteries in the Protopalatial period. Comparing the funerary complexes of Kamilari and Ayia Triada", Creta Antica 17, pp. 59-72, 2018 The site grew rapidly during the MM IB to MM IIB period.Girella, Luca, "Evidence for Middle Minoan III occupation at Ayia Triada", British School at Athens Studies, pp. 123-135, 2013Carinci F., "Haghia Triada nel periodo Medio Minoico", Creta Antica 4, pp. 97-143, 2003 With the Protopolatial period (c. 1925 BC) an extensive building program began which continued through the NeoPalatial period. Toward the end of the LM IB period (c. 1625–1470 BC) the site was destroyed by fire. It has been suggested that this destruction resulted from a series of large earthquakes.Monaco, Carmelo, and Luigi Tortorici, "Effects of Earthquakes on the Minoan 'Royal Villa' at Haghia Triada (Crete)", Creta antica 4, pp. 403-417, 2003 After that destruction monumental rebuilding occurred on a large scale.Halbherr F., Stefani E., Banti L., "Haghia Triada nel periodo tardo palaziale", ASAtene LV, 13-296, 1977 By sometime in the Late Minoan III (LM III) period the site came under Mycenae control.Privitera, Santo, "Haghia Triada III", The Late Minoan III Buildings in the Villaggio (Monografie della Scuola Archeologica di Atene e delle Missioni Italiane in Oriente 23), Athens: National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and Italian Archaeological School at Athens, 2015 In the 13th century BC the site of Haghia Triada was destroyed and abandoned.Rosa, Vincenzo La, "Preliminary considerations on the problem of the relationship between Phaistos and Hagia Triadha", in J. W. Shaw and M.C. Shaw (eds.), pp. 45-54, 1985
In the Mycenae Protogeometric period (c. 1050-900 BC) a sanctuary was established in the Regione dei Sacelli area, primarily at the Piazzale dei Sacelli. Numerous votive figurines were found there. After an occupation gap of three centuries the site came back into use in the Hellenistic period (323-30 BC) with several shrines being built. At that time the site was under the control of nearby Phaistos. The site was then abandoned in the 2nd century BC after Phaistos was destroyed by Gortyn. Later, after the island was conquered by Rome in 69 BC, a Roman villa was built at the site.D’Agata, Anna Lucia, "Changing Patterns in a Minoan and Post-Minoan Sanctuary: The Case of Agia Triada", British School at Athens Studies, vol. 2, pp. 19–26, 1998
Nearby are two chapels: Hagia Triada in the deserted village and Hagios Georgios, built during the Venetian period.
Archaeology
Hagia Triada is in south central Crete, 30–40 meters above sea level. It lies four kilometres west of Phaistos, which is situated at the western end of the Mesara Plain. The site was not a Minoan palace but an upscale town with some kind of local administration center. Though occupied earlier, most of the structural remains date to the Late Minoan period. The site is traditionally divided into a "Villa" (administrative center) and a "Village" area, at both of which Linear A inscriptions were found (all dated to the site's destruction by fire in Late Minoan IB). The site included three large storage magazines, which is taken to suggest trade. Linear A tablet find spots in the Villa were at northwest corner, southwest corner, and in two of the magazines (in one case found inside two pithoi and in the Village at the "Casa del Lebete". Although the site was partially rebuilt after the LM IB fire there was no evidence of administration from that point on.
The site was first identified in June 1900 by Luigi Pernier who was excavating at Phaistos at that time.Pernier, L., "Lavori eseguiti a Phaestos dalla Missione Archeologica Italiana nel 1900: relazione", RAL IX, pp. 631-636, 1900 While work proceeded at nearby Phaistos, Hagia Triada was excavated from 1902 to 1908 by a group from the Italian , directed by Federico Halbherr and Luigi Pernier.Federico Halbherr, "Lavori eseguiti dalla missione archeologica italiana ad Haghia Triada e nella necropoli di Phaestos dal 15 maggio al 12 giugno 1902", Roma : Tipografia della Reale Accademia dei Lincei, 1902Federico Halbherr, "Rapporto alla presidenza del R. Istituto lombardo di scienze e lettere sugli scavi eseguiti dalla missione archeologica ad Haghia Triada ed a Festo nell'anno 1904", Milano : Ulrico Hoepli edit, 1905Federico Halbherr & Luigi Savignoni, "Resti dell'eta micena scoperti ad Haghia Triada presso Phaestos : rapporto delle ricerche del 1902", Roma : Tipografia della Reale Accademia dei Lincei, 1903 The site includes a town and a miniature "palace", an ancient drainage system servicing both, and Early Minoan tholos tombs. The settlement was in use, in various forms, from Early Minoan I until the site's destruction by fire in Late Minoan IB.Banti, L., "La grande tomba a Tholos di Haghia Triada", ASAtene 13-14, pp. 155-251, 1933Borda, M., "Arte cretese-micenea nel Museo Pigorini di Roma", Roma: La libreria dello Stato, 1946
Excavation resumed between 1910 and 1914, with the addition of Gaetano De Sanctis though the work from this effort is largely unpublished.Levi Della Vida G., "Scavi della Missione Italiana in Creta", Ausonia 4, pp. 37-38, 1910 In 1938 and 1959 Luisa Banti carried out limited excavation at the site.Banti l., "I culti minoici e greci di Haghia Triada", ASAtene 19, pp. 9-74, 1941-43 From 1970 until 1976 the site was excavated by Doro Levi and Clelia Laviosa. All of these excavations remain thinly published.La Rosa V., "Haghia Triada: vicende e temi di uno scavo di lungo corso", Creta Antica 4, pp. 11-68, 2003
From 1977 to 2012 a team from the Italian Archaeological School at Athens led by Vincenzo La Rosa excavated at the site.La Rosa V., "La ripresa dei lavori ad Haghia Triada: relazione preliminare sui saggi del 1977", ASAtene LV, pp. 297-342, 1977La Rosa V., "Haghia Triada II: relazione preliminare sui saggi del 1978 e 1979", ASAtene LVII-LVIII, pp. 49-164, 1979-80La Rosa V., "Le nuove indagini ad Haghia Triada", in 5th Diethnes Kritologhiko Synedrio, Ag. Nikolaos, Heraklio, pp. 190-198, 1985La Rosa V., "Le campagne del 1986-91 e la conclusione del primo ciclo dei lavori ad Haghia Triada", in 7th Diethnes Kritologhiko Synedrio, Rethymno 1991, Rethymno, pp. 523-542, 1995La Rosa, Vincenzo, "La conclusione dei lavori ad Haghia Triada. Le campagne 2010-2012", Creta Antica 15, pp. 129-242, 2015 Finds included a Late Minoan I kiln.Belfiore, Cristina Maria, et al., "Petrographic and chemical characterization of pottery production of the Late Minoan I kiln at Haghia Triada, Crete", Archaeometry 49.4, pp. 621-653, 2007 Publication of this excavation, which focused on the ProtoPalatial levels, is in progress.Shelby White and Leon Levy Program for Archaeological Publications - "Hagia Triada IV. The Protopalatial Levels (Excavations 1977-2012)"
During the long course of excavation innumerable small finds have been collected. These include a large bronze cauldron, loom weights, obsidian tools, oil lamps, bronze bowls, 16 copper ingots and large quantities of jugs and drinking cups. For the early excavations the specific find spot is not always clear.
Hagia Triada sarcophagus