Heraklion Knossos Palace

Location: Town

Covering over 20,000 square meters, the Minoan Palace of Knossos is the oldest and largest of all Minoan palatial structures. It was built of ashlar blocks, had many floors and was decorated with exceptionally beautiful frescoes.

Knossos was first settled around 7000 BC and human activity in the area continued till the early Byzantine era. The old palace was built around 2000 BC but was destroyed by an earthquake in 1700 BC. The newer palace was built almost immediately after that on a grander scale, reflecting the height of Minoan prosperity. This growth was primarily due to the development of native resources, such as oil, wine and wool, and the expansion of trade. Pottery-based evidence suggests close commercial ties with many places around the Mediterranean, including Syria, Egypt, Anatolia, Cyprus, the Cyclades, Sicily and mainland Greece.

In the middle of the 15th Century BC, the Achaeans took over Crete and settled in the palace. The palace was once again destroyed by fire around 1350 BC and ceased to function as a palatial center. By 1000 BC, the town of Knossos had reemerged as one of the most important Cretan centers, and this continued till the Roman times when the Roman Senate chose Gortys as the capital of the newly created province of Crete and Cyrenaica.

The first excavations that brought to light parts of the palace were carried out by Minos Kalokairinos, a Cretan antiquarian, in 1878. Subsequently, it was extensively excavated by Arthur Evans, director of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

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More about Knossos

After 1700 BC, when the palace was rebuilt, straight corridors were avoided and the architectural structure became quite complex; thus, it is sometimes argued that this was the source of the Labyrinth myth. According to the legend, King Minos of Crete had Daedalus construct a maze to retain his son, the Minotaur, who was half bull and half man. Eventually, the creature was killed by Theseus, a prince from Athens.

Structure of Knossos Palace

The original layout of the palace cannot be discerned anymore because of the subsequent modifications. At its peak, it had about 1,300 rooms connected to each other with corridors of different sizes.

The entrance is located on the west court and leads to the processional aisle. Here visitors can see a copy of the procession fresco, as well as the imposing south propylaeum with the dual bull horns, a major symbol of Minoan religion. From there, two staircases lead to the central courtyard, probably used for rituals and festivals. The palace had four wings arranged around this court, each one with its own entrance. This design served the purpose of taking maximum advantage of natural lighting during the long days of summer. The east wing housed the residential quarters, the workshops and a shrine. In the west wing, there were storerooms, shrines, and repositories, while on the upper floors were the throne room and the banquet halls. The north wing consists of a stone-built theater and the Customs House, where there is a lustral basin.

Liquid management

The palace had three separate liquid management systems, one for supply, one for the drainage of rainwater and one for the drainage of wastewater. Aqueducts brought fresh water to Kephala Hill, branching to the palace and the town. Water was distributed at the palace by gravity feed through terra cotta pipes to fountains and spigots. Sanitation drainage was accomplished through a closed system leading to a sewer near the hill.

Red columns

The palace stands out for its red columns. While Greek columns are smaller at the top and wider at the bottom, Minoan columns are the opposite, with a smaller base and a wider top. This is because they were constructed out of the trunk of a cypress tree, which was inverted to prevent it from sprouting. Then, they were plastered, painted red and mounted on stone bases that had round pillow-like capitals.

Frescoes

The walls of the palace were decorated with many frescoes. Though only fragments had survived since antiquity, it was possible to restore them, as they were based on motifs. They generally depicted humans, legendary creatures, animals, rocks, vegetation and marine life. Typical examples are the magnificent fresco of dolphins in the queen's chamber, as well as the stunning mural of the Prince with the lilies, which is now exhibited at the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion.

Throne Room

The Throne Room has an alabaster seat that was used as a throne and is built into the north wall, flanked by a marvelous griffin fresco. There are gypsum benches on three sides of the room, and a lustral basin used for ceremonial purification can be seen opposite the throne.

Bonus info: As Minoan kings were associated with justice, there is now a white marble replica of this throne in the International Court of Justice in the Hague.

→ Don't miss our blog post: Crete: The Incredible Minoan Palace of Knossos