117 km southeast of Agios Nicholaos is the site of a luxurious Minoan palace, the fourth in significance on the island, which produced a number of important finds, now in the Heraklion Archaeological Museum. This palace which covered 7.000 to 8.000 sq. m. and contained royal apartments, storerooms and various workshops, and nearby city were destroyed around 1450 B.C. by a violent earthquake, most probably the one that caused a whole section of the island of Santorini to sink into the sea. Zakros was a major Minoan naval base, which established trading connections with Egypt and other countries of West Asia. It was from here that Minoan farming estates, two sacred peaks, a cemetery and cave tombs have been discovered.