The Minoan Palace of Knossos - sometimes spelled Cnossos - lies a few miles from the modern city of Heraklion, on the road to Archane. The imposing Palace is built on the hill of "Kefala" next to the river "Kairatos", in a site which was admired for its natural advantages, the strong position, good water supplies, access to the sea and proximity to a large fertile forest. The forest that produced the "Cephalonian Pine" a tree that supplied the beams and the columns for the construction of the Palace which used great wooden beams in nearly every chamber. Unfortunately, in this mountainous land, the site of the palace subjected it to repeated earthquakes. Many legends exist as to why the great Palace - and the Minoan culture - suddenly was extinguished like a flame. Many think that the last in a series of earthquakes, and possibly a tidal wave following the explosion of the volcanic island Thera, finally destroyed the kings of Crete and their culture. But since the language of the Cretans is, to this day, a mystery to all, no one can be sure of anything except that the Palace at Knossos was destroyed sometime near 1450 BC and, after that, the Mycenaean kings repaired it. It was once more, and finally, destroyed in an earthquake in 1300 BC and not used again.

However, in its glory days, Knossos was a palace surrounded by a city of not less than 100,000 Cretans, of a wealth and vitality, a culture, that surpassed every other in the Mediterranean except Egypt.

The ruins lay undisturbed for many centuries until an Englishman, Arthur Evans, who was inspired by Heinrich Schliemann's excavations at Troy. An earlier excavation had revealed the site of the Palace; Evans began excavations at Knossos in 1900 and within three years, had uncovered not only most of the buildings but a whole civilization of art and culture that had passed out of memory, echoed only by remnants in Greek culture. However, Evans felt that the artifacts he unearthed needed to be restored to their original semblance, so he rebuilt much of the great palace, based on his own understanding of Minoan art and culture, which has been a controversy ever since.

The palace would, in its heyday, have been covered with art outside and in. No culture before the Minoans had rejoiced in painting, fresco, statues and decoration, to the extent that the Minoans did, if one looks at the beautiful decoration and painting in every room, and in the rooms of lesser buildings surrounding the palace. In an age when most people lived in a one-room one-story house, the Palace had multiple stories, and the surrounding houses at Knossos were also built in several stories and many rooms, with plumbing and lavish use of trees and gardens. The Minoans are known to have worshipped trees, stones, and springs.

The most heavily restored room is the King's Hall or Throne Room. Minoan architecture obviously depended for its effect on the use of color; every column was painted brilliantly, every wall heavily frescoed. You may take a 3-D tour. Everywhere, colors have been restored to their original brilliance, although now, sadly, pollution and tourism have deteriorated them to some extent. Everywhere are seen the Cretan artistic hallmarks - the bull, the double-headed Cretan axe, men and women in intricate costume (the women's breasts bare, which was a shock to the original discoverers). The palace complex covers over 20,000 square meters. It has a clear view of Mount Jouctas, home of the Mother Goddess of fertility and life. Built of stone and timber, many of the rooms have large windows that would have flooded the brightly painted interiors with light.

The King's Throne Room shows the patterns of multicolored marbles in the floor and a throne built of stone, painted and gilded to look like the richest of woods.

Many of the artistic treasures found in the palace when excavated may now be found in the Museum of Heraklion, and we should go there now to take a look . . .

You will find much more about the Palace in these places: Crete, The Archeological Museum and History Wiz: The Palace at Knossos. A good site is Knossos: The Palace of King Minos. There is also discussion of the palace at Exoticos.