The famous Diktean Cave or Psihró Cave is supposed to have sheltered Rhea when she gave birth to Zeus (700-500 BC), the future master of the gods and of the universe. It was a shrine from the Minoan period to the Archaic period (2000-1450 BC) and it has yielded many cult objects: altars, bronze statuettes, miniature double axes, etc. The path descends (about 60m) past huge rocks to a little lake. The cave contains a variety of stalactites and stalagmites.

This roadside terrace near a café-bar offers wonderful views of the island of Psíra and Mirambélou Bay all the way to the Spinalónga Peninsula.

This Minoan palace, which was destroyed in c 1 500 BC, was smaller and less luxurious than Knossós, but similar in layout, built around an outer and a central courtyard. There is an enormous terracotta vase (pithos) 1.75m high, which could hold over 1 000 litres of wine or oil. The central courtyard was bordered on the north and east sides by porticoes; religious and official buildings occupied the western side.

Near the palace, a Minoan paved roadway is leading to a crypt. The steps at the end gave access to meeting rooms, still furnished with benches, which were probably part of the Prytaneion, where the magistrates met. It is flanked by storerooms. Other buildings used for religious purposes and houses (ground floor and basement often well preserved) have been discovered on the outskirts of town. The Krysolakos (''gold pit'') necropolis, which contained the famous bee pendant now in the Herakleion Museum, is thought to have been a royal graveyard.