Most visitors to Knossos base themselves in Heraklion, the Cretan capital that sits about five kilometres south of the archaeological site and serves as the island’s main port and airport. From a Heraklion base you reach the palace in fifteen to twenty minutes by bus, taxi or car, so the city and its nearby beach … Read more
Theseus and the Minotaur is one of the most famous legends of ancient Greece, the story of an Athenian prince who sailed to Crete, entered the winding Labyrinth beneath Knossos, and killed the bull-headed Minotaur to end his city’s grim tribute of human victims. The tale weaves together courage, cunning, and tragic forgetting, and it … Read more
Minoan jewellery is the body of gold, silver, faience and gemstone ornaments produced by the Bronze Age Minoan civilisation of Crete, ranging from delicate granulated pendants to engraved gold signet rings. These objects reveal a wealthy, artistic society that prized fine metalwork, trade and ritual display. To see the finest surviving pieces in person, you … Read more
Minoan architecture is the Bronze Age building tradition of Crete, defined by sprawling court-centred palaces, multi-storey wings, light wells, painted tapering columns and frescoed walls, all built without defensive fortification. It is the architectural signature of Europe’s first advanced civilisation, and you can still walk through its ruins on the island today. Plan tickets and … Read more
The Phaistos Disc is a fired-clay disc about sixteen centimetres in diameter, stamped on both faces with a spiral of pictographic signs that were impressed using pre-formed punches, an early and isolated experiment resembling movable type. It was found at the Minoan palace of Phaistos in southern Crete and remains one of archaeology’s most famous … Read more
Gournia is the best-preserved Minoan town on Crete, a complete Bronze Age settlement of paved lanes, small houses, workshops, a public square and a modest governor’s residence overlooking the Gulf of Mirabello in the island’s east. Unlike the great ceremonial centres, it preserves the texture of ordinary Minoan daily life rather than royal grandeur. Plan … Read more
The Palace of Zakros is the fourth-largest Minoan palace, set at the far eastern end of Crete beside a sheltered bay, and the most remote of the great palace centres. As a harbour town it faced east across the sea towards the trade routes of the eastern Mediterranean and the Near East, making it Minoan … Read more
The Palace of Malia is a Minoan palace on the north coast of Crete, the third-largest of the island’s great palatial centres, set on a flat coastal plain near the modern resort town of Malia. It survives as an open archaeological site of courts, storerooms and ceremonial spaces that reveal how a Bronze Age Cretan … Read more
The Palace of Phaistos is the second-largest Minoan palace on Crete, a sprawling Bronze Age complex set on a low ridge above the fertile Messara plain in south-central Crete. Its grand staircases, paved courts and sweeping views over the Geropotamos valley toward Mount Ida make it one of the island’s most atmospheric ancient sites. Plan … Read more
A pillar crypt at Knossos is a ground-floor room with a central pillar carved with the sacred double axe, used for Minoan religious ritual. Plan tickets and tours through My Greece Tours. The pillar crypts are among the most atmospheric sacred spaces of the Palace of Knossos. The sections below cover what they are, how … Read more