| Only few kilometres south of Heraklion city is located Knossos, the capital of King Minos and the centre of the magnificent minoan civilization. During our visit at the site we will explore the palace and you will hear the details about the way of life of the Minoans their history , the myths, religion, organization of their society and achievements |
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In the course of the Bronze Age a sophisticated civilization was born on Crete. Sir Arthur Evans, the first excavator of Knossos, named the civilization Minoan after king Minos, ruler of the seas and legislator, who, according to the legends of ancient Greece, was king of Knossos.
Minoan civilization covers chronologically the passage from Prehistory to Proto-history and our knowledge on this civilization derives mainly from archaeological data, at least until the time of archive organization of the palace written tablets.
Still these first piecemeal examples of writing are not yet adequate neither appropriate to shed light on all aspects of Minoan civilization. Evans divided the Minoan civilization into three eras on the basis of the stylistic changes of the pottery.
His comparative chronology included an Early (3000-2100 BC), a Middle (2100-1500 BC), and a Late Minoan period (1500-1100 BC).
Since this chronology posed several problems in studying the culture, professor N. Platon has developed a chronology based on the palaces' destruction and reconstruction.
He divided Minoan Crete into Prepalatial (2600-1900 BC), Protopalatial (1900-1700 BC), Neopalatial (1700-1400 BC), and Postpalatial (1400-1150 BC).
The visit of the palace of Knossos can be combined with a visit at village Peza ( to visit a local winery ) or Archanes. Then we can return to the city of Heraklion for a city tour or to visit the archaeological museum. |
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