03/05/2019
Palace of Knossos
The Minoan palace is the main visiting area of Knossos (or Knossos), an important city in antiquity, with a continuous life from the Neolithic to the 5th century. It is built on the hill of Kefalas, with easy access to the sea but also to the interior of Crete. According to tradition, there was the seat of wise King Minos. Exciting myths, the Labyrinth with the Minotaur and the Daedalus with Icarus, are linked to the palace of Knossos.The first excavations were made in 1878 by Herakliotis Minos Kalokerinos. The excavations carried out by the English Sir Arthur Evans (1900-1913 and 1922-1930) followed and revealed the whole palace.The oldest traces of inhabitation in the palace area date back to the Neolithic period (7000-3000 BC). The habitation continues in the Pre-Roman period (3000-1900 BC), at the end of which space is leveled for the er****on of a large palace. This first palace is destroyed, probably by an earthquake, in 1700 BC. about. Second, a magnificent palace is erected on the ruins of the old one. After a partial disaster around 1450 BC, the Mycenaeans settled in Knossos. The palace is permanently destroyed around 1350 BC. from a big fire. The area covered is reborn from the late Mycenaean period to Roman times.In the palace of Knossos, extensive restorations have been made by archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans. It was multi-storey and covered an area of 20,000 sq.m. The variety of building materials, colored mortars, ornaments and frescoes decorating rooms and corridors are impressed. The high technical knowledge of the Minoans confirms original architectural and constructive concepts such as lumineschers and polygons, the use of masonry reinforcing beams as well as the composite drainage and water supply network.
