Knossos Crete The famous Minoan Palace of Knossos lies in the valley of the river Kairatos, about 5km southeast of Heraklion. The river source is at Archanes, the river Kairatos runs through Knossos, and reaches the sea at Katsabas. This was the Minoan harbour of Knossos. The river flowed all year round in the Minoan times, the hills around were covered in oak and cypress trees. Today they are covered in vines and olives. click here for Accommodaton On Crete There are pine trees at the archaeological site of Knossos; they were planted by Arthur Evans. For 9,000 years there has been Constant habitation of the island, and it has brought about great changes to the natural environment. It is difficult to imagine how the landscape looked in Minoan times. The first settlement at Knossos was established circa 7000 BC, during the Neolithic Period. The social, political and economic development of the settlement enabled the construction of the first Palace at Knossos, at the end of the second millennium BC.
Knossos was the main centre of power in Crete, ruled by legendary King Minos. The first palace of Knossos was destroyed around 1700 BC. The palace was rebuilt, subsequently destroyed again by fire in 1350 BC. Some areas of the palace became sacred groves, in honour of the goddess Rhea, and were never inhabited again. Knossos and its Palace has become the monumental symbol of Minoan civilization. Using advanced building techniques and luxury materials to make it a grand construction. The first major excavations of the site was in 1878 by the wealthy art-lover Minos Kalokairinos. Crete was under Turkish occupation during this time. The excavations of Kalokairinos concentrated on the western Magazines, where many of the large storage pots (pithoi) were found. Sir Arthur Evans undertook the excavations at Knossos. The whole complex was excavated in only five years. Evans restored the Palace with concrete, a technique condemned by modern archaeologists as arbitrary and damaging to the Minoan structure. But the restoration of some areas, give us a better visualization of how Knossos would have looked in its heyday. click here for Accommodaton On Crete
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