The antiquities of the old Minoan port Komos lie a few meters away from the beach. The site was excavated twenty years ago by a team of archaeologists from the University of Toronto, Canada. The most important finds date from 1500BC and are kept at the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion. The palace of Festos was the second most important cultural centre of Minoean Crete after the palace of Knossos.
According to the legend the palace was founded by king Minos and governed by his brother Rodamanthys. This palace also represented the core of a settlement, the beginnings go back many thousands of years.The inner decoration of Festos was rather poor in comparison with Knossos but did boast the lining of the floors and walls with slabs of snow-white alabaster. The palace of Festos extends over a surface of approx. 9000 square meters.