VISIT TO KNOSSOS

The archaeological site of Knossos is at
a distance of 5 kms. southeast of
Herakleion, near the small village of the
same name, on a hill. A local bus (No 2)
runs very regulary between Herakleion
and Knossos and all the tourist agencies
organise visits and guided tours to the
site.

The name Knossos is mentioned in the
Minoan tablets in Linear B. It is by this
name that it is mentioned by Homer,
who speaks of Knossos as a big city.
Strabo also considers Knossos and Gor-
tyn the greatest and most powerful
cities in Crete. Its perimeter was said to
have measured 30 stadia (stadium: a
unit of length equal to 606.95 English
feet) and its population, at the time of
its peak, numbered 100,000 inhabit-
ants. The cemeteries which were found
in the surrounding area, east and west
of the palace, confirm this information.
In particular, on the hill of Saint Elijah
(Ai-Lias), east of the palace, a Minoan
grave was discovered, while in 1980, in
the Ai-Yiannis suburb (west of Knos-
sos), an Early Geometric hewn grave
was found, containing cups, ornamen-
tal pins etc. Also,

at a site west of the palace, another grave was discovered which, however, had been plundered. The first palace of Knossos was built around 1900 BC, on the remains of a pre-existing Neolithic settlement, which had been inhabited since 6000 BC. This palace was destroyed around 1700 BC and, in its place, another one was built. During the period between 1700-1450 BC, Minoan Crete, and
especially Knossos, was at the height of
its brilliance and power. In 1600, a de-
structive earthquake caused serious
damage. Soon, however, the necessary
repairs were made and, at the same
time, other sumptuous buildings were
erected on the same site. Around 1450,
a new catastrophe occurred - probably
due to the eruption of the volcano on
Thera - with destructive effects.

Then came the invasion of the
Achaeans and, a little later, during a
battle, the palace was totally destroyed.
After this, the palace area was no
longer used, but Knossos continued to
be an important city-state until the
first Byzantine period.

During the Roman period, Gortyn was
established as the most important town
of the island and was the seat of the
Praetorians, Knossos taking second
place.

During the Venetian period, Knossos
sank into oblivion, its glorious name
was forgotten, and it was only

mentioned thereafter, and until not so long ago, as "Makrytoichos" (Long Walls). It was now only a small settlement built
on the Roman ruins, which got its name
from a long wall, surviving from Roman
Knossos.
Almost all the ruins of the palace which
have survived today, belong to the
Neo—palatial period.

In 1878, Minos Kalokairinos, a citizen
of Herakleion fired with a great love for
antiquity began, on his own private in-
itiative, the first trial excavations on
the Knossos hill - a site which, at that time, was covered by arable land. He
uncovered a number of large jars and
other objects, but soon gave up his exca-
vations. Systematic excavations of the
site were begun in 1900 by the British
archaeologist, Sir Arthur Evans, and
his collaborators. The excavations were
carried on intermittently for 35 years.
Evans has left us an important collection of writings on his excavations of Knossos. They consist of four volumes (The Palace of Minos, ed. 1921-1935), and a great many reports. The reconstruction of the palace of Knossos, executed by Evans, was considered by many too ostentatious and overdone, and he was criticized for using too much reinforced concrete. Despite this, however, it was later seen that the multistorey buildings would not have been able to stand up to time if they had not been sustained in this way.

In the following pages, a brief description is given of the most important buildings of the archaeological site of Knossos. Visitors are only allowed access to the Great Palace, the Minoan houses around it and the house of the Archpriest.

I. The Great Palace

In order to grasp the grandeur of this
palace, we must imagine that it covered
the entire hill (an area of 20,000 sq.
metres), that some parts of the building
were five storeys high and that it had a
total number of 1400 rooms. The visitor
of today will admire the good use of
space — achieved by taking advantage
of the various levels of the hill - the perfect lighting, which was attained
through the use of colonnades and interior courtyards, the functional design
and especially the aesthetic value of
this grand restored edifice. Each part of
the palace had a special use: in the
western part were concentrated the
ceremonial apartments, the administrative area, as well as the public storerooms. This section also housed the famous Throne Room.

On the eastern side were the private
rooms of the palace (the royal apartments, the attendants' quarters, washrooms etc.). To the north of the royal
apartments were the workshops of the
various craftsmen employed in the king's service, and the royal storerooms.

The visitor today enters the palace
through the western courtyard. In the
southeastern corner of the court is the
western entrance, which leads to the
so-called Corridor of the Procession,
which owes its name to the fresco of the
Procession which decorated the walls
and which today is exhibited in the Ar-
chaeological Museum in Herakleion. To
the left of the corridor are the Propylaea (outer entrance) of the palace.
Here, on a special stand of the Propylaea, are set the huge double horns - the sacred symbol of the Minoan religion - which adorn the opening of the
corridor wall.

At the back of the west side, perpen-
dicularly to the corridor of the storerooms, were built the eighteen long and narrow storerooms containing the bulky jars where the year's harvest was kept.

Almost in the centre of the eastern side
of the central court is the great stairway. This leads to the eastern wing of the palace which houses the royal apartments. Further to the east is the
room of the double axes, which communicates with the main hall of the
royal palace. A hallway leads to the queen's apartments. Here, on the section of the wall above the entrance, we can see a copy of the Dolphin fresco (the
original of which is in the Archaeological Museum ofHerakleion).

To the west of the queen's apartments
towards the central court are small rooms which were the queen's bathroom and boudoir, which were fitted with a system of running water and drains.

To the northeast of the queen's apart-
ments are the royal storerooms and
next to these is the corridor of the
draughtboard, which got its name from
the inlaid gaming table which was found here (now in the Herakleion Museum). To the south of the storerooms are the various workshops.
Another corridor, parallel to the Corridor of the Draughtboard, bearing north, is the northern corridor leading out of the palace.

II. The Little Palace

To the northwest of the main palace, we
find the second largest building of the
archaeological site of Knossos. It is a
two-storey building with a paved interior court. In a room on the southwestern corner was found a depository
containing ritual vessels, among which
the cup with the wonderful bull's head
in steatite which is today exhibited in
the Herakleion Archaeological Museum.


III. The Royal Villa

This is to the northeast of the Great Pal-
ace and is considered to be one of the
Palace's dependencies. It is a two-sto-
rey building and belongs to the end of
the Neo-palatial period, as does the Little Palace.

At the far end of the villa, in a recess in
the wall, stood the throne. There was a
space for sacrifices and an imposing
staircase. In the royal villa was found a
gigantic jar decorated with a painting
in relief depicting clumps of papyrus.

IV. The House of the High Priest

This is a Minoan edifice with a stone altar flanked by stands for double axes. It is believed that the area was railed off by a metal grille.

V. The Caravanserai

Opposite the south side of the Great
Palace, beyond the ravine, lies this
building which, from the findings ex-
cavated - fragments of clay bath-tubs
- is believed to have been a public bath
with running water.

It communicated with the palace by a
bridge. Its walls are decorated with a
reproduction of a frieze depicting partridges and hoopoes. The original is
exhibited in the Herakleion Archaeological Museum.

This lies about one kilometre south of
the palace and was linked to the High
Priest's House by a paved road. It seems
to have been the tomb of one of the last
kings of Knossos.

It is a two-storey structure with a pillar
crypt carved out of the rock. The upper
floor was believed to have served as a
shrine for the worship of the dead.
In the area of "Ariadne's Villa" is located the Stratigraphic Museum containing a Stratigraphic collection from the excavations of the site


VII. House of Dionysus

To the right of the road leading to the
archaeological site of Knossos, and just
before we get to it, lies the Roman
House of Dionysus, which dates from
the time of the Roman emperor, Hadrian (76-138 AD). It owes its name to the wonderful mosaic floors with themes inspired by the myths related to the god Dionysus.