The settlement had been long occupied with most artifacts discovered dating from 1300 BC.
In June 2016 the site re-opened to the public after the roof was replaced by a modern structure with raised walkways for visitors.

The palace featured in the story of the Trojan War, as Homer tells us that Telemachus: “went to Pylos and to Nestor, the shepherd of the people, and he received me in his lofty house and gave me kindly welcome, as a father might his own son who after a long time had newly come from afar: even so kindly he tended me with his glorious sons.”
The palace is the primary structure within a larger Late Helladic era settlement, once probably surrounded by a fortified wall. The palace complex was destroyed by fire around 1200 BC.