Crete is Greece’s largest island, stretching along the south Aegean and split into four regional units from west to east: Chania, Rethymno, Heraklion and Lasithi. That size gives you Minoan ruins, Venetian harbours, a mountain gorge, palm-fringed beaches and a food culture built on olive oil and raki. You can spend a week here and … Read more
Cretan hieroglyphics are the earliest known writing system of Minoan Crete, a script of pictorial signs engraved on seals and small clay documents during the Old Palace period at sites such as Knossos and Malia. The script remains undeciphered and its language is unknown. Plan tickets and tours through My Greece Tours. This script first … Read more
The collapse of Minoan civilisation was the gradual decline and end of Bronze Age Crete’s palace-based society, driven by natural disaster, internal weakening and eventual foreign takeover rather than any single event. Plan tickets and tours through My Greece Tours. This wider story centres on the great administrative seat at the Palace of Knossos, the … 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 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
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
The Temple Tomb at Knossos is a two-storey rock-cut tomb and shrine south of the palace, combining burial and worship in one monument. Plan tickets and tours through My Greece Tours. The Temple Tomb is one of the most unusual monuments connected with the Palace of Knossos. The sections below cover what it is and … Read more
A Minoan larnax is a painted clay coffin used for burial in Bronze Age Crete, often decorated with vivid scenes. Plan tickets and tours through My Greece Tours. Minoan larnakes shed light on the funerary world behind the Palace of Knossos. The sections below cover what a larnax is, how they were used, how they … Read more
The Tripartite Shrine at Knossos is a three-part sacred facade on the Central Court, a key image of Minoan religion known from remains and frescoes. Plan tickets and tours through My Greece Tours. The Tripartite Shrine is one of the most important religious features of the Palace of Knossos. The sections below cover what it … Read more
The Bull’s-Head Rhyton of Knossos is a carved stone ritual vessel shaped as a bull’s head, one of the masterpieces of Minoan art. Plan tickets and tours through My Greece Tours. The Bull’s-Head Rhyton is among the most celebrated treasures linked to the Palace of Knossos. The sections below cover what it is, how it … Read more