Palace of Nestor

Layout of the palace near Pylos

Near modern day Pylos a palace was excavated by Carl Blegen, which he assumed to be the palace of Nestor. In my opinion this palace can't be Nestor's, because I've determined modern day Pylos couldn't be the one Homer writes about, though it might've been the palace of his father Neleus.

Whose palace it is, is neither here nor there for the moment, because what's interesting about it is its lay-out, this palace is built around a hall (6), called a megaron, and encompasses a connecting room (5), called a vestibule, a courtyard (4) with a gate (1) and buildings on either side of it, the guardhouse (2) and the record room (3: the office). Store rooms and pantries are situated beside the courtyard and megaron.

One can't help but notice all the similarities between this ancient palace and the estate near Spartias, so I think it's fair to say the foundations of the estate match the building practices of ancient palaces rather nicely. Let's first take a closer look at just the palace at Pylos, then explore some other palaces with megarons we know about.