
The celebrated palace of Knossos, the most magnificent Minoan monument, residence of the mythical king Minos, was for about three hundred years – from 1650 BC to 1350 BC – the main centre of power in Crete. Its history is even longer and its architecture as complex as its functions. The palace was built early in the second millennium and destroyed two hundred years later, at the end of the Palaeopalatial period. It was rebuilt in a more splendid form, suffered fresh disasters and repairs and was ultimately destroyed by fire in 1350 BC. For the last hundred years of its life, it was the seat of the Mycenaean dynasty that had succeeded the Minoan kings after the large scale disaster in Crete in 1450 BC and the collapse of the Minoan palace system.
Built with sumptuous materials, on the basis of an intricate and coherent architectural design, using highly advanced construction techniques, and boasting an impressive water supply and sewage system, the palace of Knossos, twice the size (ca. 22.000 sq. meters and 1.400 rooms) of the other two large palaces at Phaistos and Malia, is the monumental symbol of the Minoan civilisation. Labyrinthine corridors and the famous Grand Staircase linked the multiple areas of buildings from three to five storeys high that were situated around the Central Court. ![]() Many of the exceptional exhibits in the Herakleion Museum have come from the excavation of the palace and the large structures around it, including some of its most famous works, symbols of Minoan civilisation, such as the Snake Goddesses and other findings from the Sacred Treasuries, the rhyton in the shape of a bull`s head, the ivory bull – leaper, the relief wall painting of the “Prince with the Lilies’, the wall painting of the bull – leaping, and others. |
I was 10 years old when I for the first time I visited the archaeological site….
Still remember the throne, the dolphins…the magnificent prince……in less than a month I will be visitng the place again….I cannot hide my anxiety……
Sissy Karamerou