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Theatral
Area
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From
the North Lustral Area, the causeway continued
along the south side of what Evans called the
Theatral Area. Essentially there are two blocks
of broad stone steps on the eastern and southern
side of an open court with a rectangular stone
block in the angle between them. The latter measured
5.25 x 4.9 metres and had traces of paving at
the top. Evans found some pieces of painted plaster
and conjectured that some sort of pavilion may
have stood here.
The
eastern flight consists of 18 steps about 10 metres
broad and rising to a height of about 2.2 metres.
At the top was a paved platform approximately
9 metres deep, possibly the site of some sort
of hall or other structure. The southern steps
are interrupted by the |
causeway
and by another, wider pavement that runs towards the northwest
corner of the palace. Evans believes that these modifications
are late and that originally the steps were all a uniform
15.5 metres wide, bounded on the east by the bastion and
on the west by a wall of unknown height. The wall, along
with another running along the northern side of the Theatral
Area, enclosed a courtyard area measuring something like
13 x 10 metres—much smaller than the area suggested
in the Grandstand Fresco, for instance. Nevertheless,
the steps are clearly not designed as staircases but,
rather, as stands accommodating as many as 500 people.
Theatral
Area from the Southwest
Running
due west from the Theatral Area was the Royal Road,
which linked the palace to the rest of the city. It
began at the base of the steps and was joined almost
immediately by the causeway that ran from the gate by
the North Pillar Hall. The road was about 6.4 metres
across and rested on a bed half a metre deep of rough
stones set in clay cement. The central strip was about
1.4 metres in width—the same as the causeways—and
was made up of roughly rectangular stone slabs. The
road slopes away gradually for about 170 metres from
in front of the Theatral Area until it reaches the line
of the modern road. At that point, a branch line continues
north for about 60 metres and leads to a building known
as the Little Palace. Traces of similar paving were
discovered in a test trench along the main alignment,
about 60 metres west of the intersection, so presumably
the road continued at least that far. It was obviously
the main ceremonial entrance to the palace. As Evans
says,
The historic imagination calls up a vision of
solemn processions, of divine effigies and of Priest-Kings,
borne aloft on portable thrones, and followed by their
worshippers and acolytes, wending their way along
this Via Sacra….
Royal Road
from the Theatral Area
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