Nestor’s Palace (Part 1)

We’d hatched a plan to visit Nestor’s Palace on the morning of 23 April. Our good intentions of setting off very early were somewhat spoiled when we both slept through our alarm call. However, despite that we were on the road heading north at 0900 for the short trip to the archaelogical site.

Fantastic view down towards Navarino Bay from the palace. Sandy Pílos is just to the right of the righthand smaller hill on the horizon 

The Palace of Nestor, built on the Englianos Ridge a few miles north of modern Pílos, was the administrative seat of the ancient kingdom of Pílos (also spelt Pylos) and it was from here that Messenia was governed during the 13^th century BC. It is claimed to be the best-preserved Mycenaean palace in mainland Greece and the second most important centre in the Mycenaean world after Mycenae itself [We visited Mycenae in July 2016: Here is a link to the blog entry for that site]. The palace was built in several phases but just the final phase, constructed 1300-1200BC, is visible today. It was destroyed by an intense fire around 1200BC and at this point the hill and the surrounding settlement were abandoned suggesting that the palace was destroyed by force rather than accident.

At the site, there was a good drawing showing how the 2-storey palace probably looked in its heyday, and from the information board it seemed that the palace was surrounded by a large town which extended down the slopes and terraces, and along the Englianos ridge.

Further reconstruction drawings and floorplans helped to orientate us as well as giving us an idea of how grand the palace would have looked inside. Despite the palace being destroyed in 1200BC, the memory of a once glorious kingdom based here was maintained by successive generations. Homer wrote about the powerful kingdom of Sandy Pylos and the palace of Nestor in the 8^th century BC, a good 500 hundred years or so after the palace had been destroyed.

The modern protective roof and suspended walkway over the archaelogical site   

The site had been closed when we last visited because a huge, modern protective roof was being constructed over the remains. Whilst that work was in progress, the archaeologists took the opportunity to study the site some more, which probably delayed the reopening.

The Propylon: principal entrance into the main building   

Fittingly, the path to the site brought you to the Propylon, or main entrance to the palace. Interestingly we found that at ground level we got a true idea of the size of the rooms but lost this when we looked down on them later from the aerial walkway, suspended under the new roof.

The Palace Archive   

To the left of the Propylon were 2 very significant room: the palace Archives. In these 2 rooms, more than 800 clay tablets were found, which had been baked (and thus accidentally preserved) by the fire which destroyed the palace in 1200BC. The tablets were inscribed with Linear B which was used to represent the early Greek language and is the oldest script on European soil that can be read and understood. Used exclusively for administrative purposes in the palaces of Mycenaean Greece (Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos, Thebes) and Crete, the texts have revealed a wealth of information about the economic, administrative, political and religious aspects of the management of the kingdom. Aside from confirming that Nestor’s Palace existed, which is significant because in some academic circles Homer’s Odyssey was believed to be completely fictional, the find of the Linear B tablets is primarily why this is such a significant archaeological site.

The canteen with misshapen cups (L) and waiting bench (R)   

Having entered the palace, you came into a spacious court room before moving into the main throne room. To the left of this court area was a canteen where visitors could obtain a refreshing drink before being presented to the king. On the floor of this canteen were hundreds of stemmed cups which had been misshapen and vitrified by the fire which destroyed the palace. There was also a decorated bench in the waiting room on which visitors probably sat whilst waiting for their audience with the king.

Nestor’s Palace, Pílos, Greece