program #004

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 Students of Program #004 are expected to arrive at the Academic Center in Athens in the morning of Monday June 13 and certainly not later than 3pm. On arrivals day, students will meet their instructor and members of the DIKEMES administration and have a short orientation session. They will also receive their course literature and have refreshments and snacks before they leave by chartered but for the port of Piraeus for the overnight ferry to Herakleion, Crete.

The course begins with an on-board evening lecture on Crete and the Minoans. The following day starts off with a comprehensive visit to the Palace of Minos at Knossos followed by a short break. A visit to the Herakleion Museum, which houses the greatest treasures of the Minoan civilization begins at noon.

A sea-side lunch will follow before we make the 2,5 hour journey to Palaikastro on Crete’s far eastern shore.

Students will settle into their two or three bedded rooms in small hotels, five minutes walk from the dig-house, and join the study team for a welcome dinner at 8.30pm.

The weekly morning program begins at 8.30am with a 30 minute break at 10.30 and ends with lunch at 2.00 pm. The afternoon sessions run from 5.30 to 7.30 pm with an hour to clean up before dinner at 8.30pm. All meals during the week are provided by the dig cook at the dig house which is an eighteenth century stone building located at the edge of the modern town of Palaikastro. Vegetarian meals are provided whenever meat is on the menu.

The program also includes
  • A field trip will take students to the nearby Minoan palace of kato Zakros and Petras,
  • A visit to the Siteia Museum
  • A visit to the Toplou Monastery where students can hear evening vespers
  • An optional night on the nearby (half-hour steep walk) sacred mountain or “peak sanctuary” of Petsophas to observe the passage of time as measured by the rising stars. Here we will discuss the role the stars probably played in the origins of the Minoan calendar (light weight sleeping bag and sensible shoes are required)

Weekends are free for students to enjoy Palaikastro’s many beaches (five minute walk from accommodation) or mountain hikes, or to discover other parts of Crete.

Palaikastro belongs to the municipality of Itanos and is a small town about 20 min away (19 km) from Sitia at the eastern coast of Crete. The hotels Filoxenia and Elias where the students will be accommodated are located in the small village of Agathia, a place of exceptional beauty located next (5 min walk) to Palaikastro. In Agathia one can find a local market and places to eat.

In Palaikastro there are 2 internet cafes (charging 1,50 Euros for 20 min), a post- office, a pharmacy and doctor, many places to eat, a super market, a bakery, shops, a bookstore and an ATM machine at the National Bank of Greece which is located next to the Tourist Information Bureau. There is also an interesting Folklore Museum which is housed in a restored traditional Cretan house.

 For more info on Palaikastro visit www.palaikastro.com