Zominthos: The Ancient Minoan Palace on Crete’s Highest Mountain
By Tasos Kokkinidis M arch 17, 2025 Zominthos is the only mountaintop Minoan settlement ever to have been excavated and is still yielding groundbreaking information. Credit: Archaeological Institute of America The ancient Minoan palace of Zominthos on Crete, located about 1,200 meters (nearly 4,000 feet) above sea level, shows that Minoans were not just seafarers but highlanders too. Discovered in 1984 and nestled in a plateau on Mt. Psiloritis (or Mt. Ida), Crete’s highest mountain, it lies on the ancient route between the palace at Knossos , the Minoans’ primary administrative center, and the sacred Ideon Cave, where many believe the legendary god Zeus was born and raised. Zominthos is the only mountaintop Minoan settlement ever to have been excavated and is still yielding groundbreaking information. A gold sheet showing an embossed likeness of a ship was one of the treasures unearthed at Crete’s Palace of Zominthos in 2021. Credit:...