Palace of Knossos, Heraklio, Crete

We arrived Crete at 5:30am on the ferry Preveli.  Our car rental guy was there to meet us and confirmed that the ferry has been running irregularly….Just think if we had missed our ferry in Rhodes – we could have been stranded there. 

We got our car, bought some gas and since we could not check into our villa before 2 pm, we decided to go to see some historical sights and get them out of the way.  Our first port of call was the Minoan Palace of Knossos – “The home of the Minatour and The Labyrinth of Greek Mythology”.  We drove to Knossos - about 15 minutes from the port.  We found parking, stayed in the car for about an hour and then went to a taverna for breakfast.  After a quick breakfast, we went to get our tickets and asked about hiring a tour guide.  At a cost of 100 Euros, we opted to split a guide with another family and started off on the tour. 

The Palace of Knossos: 

The Minoan civilization is the oldest in Europe, while others were stuck in the stone age, the Minoans were living in complex multi-storied palaces with pipes for transporting water, drainage systems,  and indoor plumbing – bathtubs and toilets.

They left behind wall frescos which showed their art with vivid colors and objects – gold, metal and lots of pottery have been found.   Knossos seemed to have functioned as the capital and there have been other palaces and royal retreats found at other locations primarily in Eastern Crete.  The Minoans had a script which has still not been deciphered, and a lot is still unknown about their culture and traditions.  They seemed to have worshiped female deities and we do not know if they were ruled by men or women.

 

 

The Palace of Knossos which is about 4000 years old has been partially and controversially restored but as a result there is more to see for the tourist.  The first palace was destroyed by an earthquake, the second palace (the palace we saw) was built from remnants of the first but much larger and complex was also affected by an earthquake/tsunami related to the Volcanic eruption of Santorini (which is about 110 Km from Crete) and then destroyed by fire.

The palace was built near the sea and river with fresh water coming from the river and dirty water drained into the sea.  One enters the Palace on the Western side which contains the courtyards which seemed to be used for public/religious ceremonies.  This is where we saw the double helix and the bull horns – symbols of the Minoans that repeat around the palace.

Then off to the throne rooms of which there were two.  A copy of the throne found at this site sits at the Hague – a gift to the world of the oldest throne in Europe.

The entry to the throne room:

 The original, 4,000 year old throne.

 In the first throne room is a fresco of a Griffin – a mythical creature with the head of an eagle, body of a lion, and sometimes the tail of a snake.

 In front of a huge, 4,000 year old clay pot.

 There are other frescos – showing bull leaping and another with just a bull. 

The Eastern part of the palace contains the royal living quarters and had some great frescos – dolphins and rosettes, and a woman dancing .  These quarters were situated below ground.  On the way out we saw the exit ramp from the processional west side – a ramp with decorated bull frescos and a theater like structure that was shown in one of the frescos. 

The oldest road in Europe, 4,000 years old.

All in all, we saw a lot and learned a lot.  Then it was off to the Heraklio Archeological museum to see finds from the Minoan culture.  The main museum was closed but they had a temporary exhibit – that takes about 30 mins to 45 mins to walk through and yet they still charged 4 Euros! Should have set the temporary exhibition on the grounds of the palace, and for little or no cost. We saw the original frescos and some interesting pottery as well as some significant jewellery finds.

Photographs of original pieces:

Oh well, we got done with sight-seeing and got in the car to make the 3 hour drive to our villa on the western end of the Island.