Visiting the Minotaur

Ah...Crete.  I knew nothing about the island except as a destination for Ex-Man #1 and his Nike Hercules Missile buddies during 2 week military excercises on the island.  I collect owls; and since a little owl, thought to represent the wisdom and foresight of the goddess Athena,  spawned thousands of Greek businesses, he always came home with additions to my collection.  It was hard not to think of my Ex during this visit, he's passed away 4 yrs ago last week.  Anyway, welcome to Crete. 

The Celestyal Journey pulled up to the dock at Heraklion, the capital, at 8am.  Every morning began the same for me:  awake earlier than the breakfast buffet, I was one of the first inside for early-bird coffee and to enjoy the view.  I'd often meet Maestro James, another early-bird, and he'd fill me in on inter-tour communications, since I didn't have a phone to receive texts.

Buses sorted us into our regular groups, drove about 5 km out of town, stopped along the street and spit us out at the entrance to the palace, on Leoforos Knosou. 

Here's another example of someone getting credit for someone else's work, but it's finally been put right.   Two bronze busts faced one another at the street entrance, welcoming visitors and the first point of interest from our guide:

"In 1878, Minos Kalokairinos, a local businessman and amateur archaeologist, was the first to unearth conclusive evidence of a large Bronze Age palace at Knossos."

 

"The Palace of Knossos is steeped in Greek mythology and mystery, and is thought to be the oldest city in Europe.  The palace is the second most visited archaeological site in Greece after the Acropolis."

"Sir Arthur Evans purchased a plot of land and between 1900-1905 excavated the basic site. He continued his work until 1931." 

"In Greek mythology, King Minos dwelt in a palace at Knossos. He had Daedalus construct a labyrinth, a very large maze in which to retain his son, the Minotaur. Daedalus also built a dancing floor for Queen Ariadne. The name "Knossos" was subsequently adopted by Arthur Evans."

We followed the tour guide up towards the main structures on another beautiful day, not too warm. 

As usual, I was playing with my camera while watching my footing, but it was easy to catch up because scattered throughout the grounds were numerous tour groups, whose guides deftly choreographed our movements.

Again I found it difficult to imagine what was and so I'm including this layout found online.

"Greece's largest and most important archaeological site, with a rich history dating back to the 7th millennium BC. The palace served as the ceremonial, political, religious, and economic center of the Minoan civilization, which flourished from around 2700 BC to 1450 BC, when it was destroyed by a fire."

I image it gets tiring, repeating the same story time and again.  Our guide was terrific - even carried someone's wheelchair up flights of stairs, I was amazed.

I suggested she pull it up rather than carrying it before her and she paused as she recognized the obvious, but she was already committed.  Perhaps the next time. 

We walked single-file past the Throne Room.

"The Throne Room was a chamber built for ceremonial purposes during the 15th century BC inside the palatial complex of Knossos. It is found at the heart of the Bronze Age palace and is considered the oldest throne room in Europe."

I knew none of this at the time.

"Sir Evans discovered a grandly paved and painted room with a large stone chair set in the wall.  He believed he had found the throne of Minos and the kings of Crete."

I was staring at the murals and honestly didn't recognize the modest 'throne' sunk in the wall on the right side; I blame that on GOT.

"The Throne Room dates to the latest phase of Knossos—the end of the 2nd millennium B.C.E. (Before the Common Era)." 

"One of the negative results of the reconstruction of the Palace of Knossos was the loss of authenticity. When Sir Arthur Evans excavated and reconstructed the palace in the early 1900s, he made many assumptions about the original structure and design based on his own ideas and interpretations."

Doesn't really matter, since most 'professionals' seem to agree that without these recreations, however flawed, the sight might have disappeared forever.  Here's something interesting from Smarthistory, the Center for Public Art History:

"When archaeological remains are revealed through excavation, they are often delicate and cannot survive long unprotected. Some archaeologists backfill their trenches (refill the excavated holes with the material that was removed) to help preserve remains.

"In other instances, architecture, graves, or the impressions left from ephemeral building materials (such as wood) are sometimes left exposed, and when this happens some sort of conservation should occur. 

"By definition, any sort of conservation is restoration when the modern materials are layered on the ancient and made to look harmonious in form, color and/or texture. As a result, restorations are sometimes nearly indistinguishable from authentic materials, and this is where things get tricky—such as the situation at Knossos."

Here are two of the "150 giant pithoi (storage jars) found in the West Magazines (storage rooms) of the Palace of Knossos. The jars once held oil and wine and dry materials such as grain. The capacity of the storerooms was about 80,000 litres and it is believed that they held about 400 pithoi."

(R)  The Queen's Megaron:  "Mainly known for the dolphin fresco. The fresco seen in the image is a recreation, and its meaning is still not entirely understood. Additionally, while Evans called this chamber the Queen’s Megaron, there is no evidence that it was for a queen. Evans, who had excavated the site in 1901, saw the room as a domestic space. From looking at the floor plan, the room seemed secluded from the rest of the palace. Because of the time period Evans lived in, he saw the room as a space for women to retire and withdraw from society. There is little to no evidence for either statement, but the name Queen’s Megaron stuck."

"Minoan columns are made of wood from the trunk of the cypress tree, and painted red. The complex ground plan of the palace suggested the labyrinth associated with the legendary King Minos, prompting Sir Evans to name the civilization Minoan. Red paint is not original."

But it's certainly striking, and probably contributes to its popularity as the '2nd most visited site.'  Most of whatever was uncovered (statues, original frescos, bronze ware) are in the Heraklion Museum, which wasn't part of the tour.

In hindsight, I'd have opted for the museum first, then the actual site, like at the Acropolis.

There are lots of cats in Greece, but the Knossos grounds were home to a number of peacocks.

And who doesn't love peacocks, although they can be nasty.  I was once chased through stately grounds in England by one of these, so I keep my distance.

Here's a parting shot of our wheelchair-toting guide, with a lone tree in the middle of the Knossos courtyard.  From Knossos we took a couple side trips before returning to the ship, but I'll leave that for a separate post.

Up next:  Aegean Side Trips

From the beginning:  Athens and the Acropolis