Phaistos Φαιστός
Greece UNESCO World Heritage Site
Phaistos is an archaeological site and polis in Greece. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Minoan Palatial Centres. It is the 45th most looked-up sight in Greece on English Wikipedia.
Planning a visit
The site is 340 km from Athens and 46 km from Heraklion International Nikos Kazantzakis Airport. Visitors can combine a trip to Phaistos with nearby locations like Mount Ida, which is about 20 km away, or Knossos, approximately 42 km away. The Heraklion Archaeological Museum and Koules Fortress are also nearby, at about 43 km and 44 km respectively.
July and August are the warmest months, with daily highs of about 30 °C and very little rain. The months from April to June have lower rainfall, between 2 mm and 26 mm. The wettest period is from November to January, with December seeing about 136 mm of rain. Opening hours are 08:00 to 20:00 from April 1 to October 31, and 08:30 to 15:00 from November 1 to March 31.
Weather by month
The warmest month is August, with an average high of 30 °C. The wettest is December, with about 136 mm of rain.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average high, °C | 14 | 14 | 16 | 19 | 23 | 28 | 30 | 30 | 27 | 23 | 19 | 16 |
| Average low, °C | 10 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 17 | 21 | 23 | 23 | 21 | 18 | 14 | 12 |
| Rainfall, mm | 134 | 89 | 58 | 26 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 43 | 110 | 136 |
| Rainy days | 16 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 14 |
Temperatures and rainfall: 1981–2010 averages for this spot (4 km grid), from CHELSA. Rainy days: 2015–2024, NASA POWER.
