Knossos Palace: facts and myths
The ancient palace of Knossos is located in Crete, near Heraklion. It is the work of the Minoans, creators of the oldest civilization in Europe.
The Minoan civilization flourished from about 3000 to 1100 BC. It left behind intriguing and monumental monuments. However, for all intents and purposes, we only began to discover it… only a little over 120 years ago!
Knossos Palace — a missed opportunity for the discoverer of Troy
The discoverer of the complex at Knossos in Crete, covering some 20,000 square meters, was British amateur archaeologist Arthur Evans (1851–1941). Heinrich Schliemann — famous for finding the ruins of Troy and Mycenae — narrowly missed out on this epoch-making work.
The circumstances were so astonishing that they captured the imagination of scientists, tourists and men of letters. This is what the famous Polish poet Zbigniew Herbert wrote about it decades ago in his collection “Labyrinth by the Sea”:
“The discovery of the Minoan civilization is the work of one man — Arthur Evans. He wasn’t the first one whose attention was drawn to this mysterious island in the sea as dark as wine. For many decades many amateur archaeologists have been wandering around it. A Spanish consul had rumored that near Knossos there was a buried…
