Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Architecture
Cast your eyes around most major Western cities and you'll find a reinter-
pretation of classical Greek architecture. The Renaissance was inspired by
the ancient style, as was the neoclassical movement and the British Greek
Revival. For those of you with an eye to the past, part of the allure of Greece
is the sheer volume of its well-preserved temples. Stand in the ruins of the
Parthenon and with a little imagination it's easy to transport yourself back
to classical 5th-century Greece.
Minoan Magnificence
Most of our knowledge of Greek architecture proper begins at around 2000 BC with the
Minoans, who were based in Crete but whose influence spread throughout the Aegean to
include the Cyclades. Minoan architects are famous for having constructed technologic-
ally advanced, labyrinthine palace complexes. The famous site at Knossos is one of the
largest. Usually characterised as 'palaces', these sites were in fact multifunctional settle-
ments that were the primary residences of royalty and priests, but housed some plebs, too.
Large Minoan villages, such as those of Gournia and Palekastro in Crete, also included in-
ternal networks of paved roads that extended throughout the countryside to link the settle-
ments with the palaces. More Minoan palace-era sophistication exists at Phaestos, Malia
and Ancient Zakros also in Crete, and at the Minoan outpost of Ancient Akrotiri on the
south of Santorini.
Several gigantic volcanic eruptions rocked the region in the mid-15th century BC, caus-
ing geological ripple-effects that at the very least caused big chunks of palace to fall to the
ground. The Minoans resolutely rebuilt their crumbling palaces on an even grander scale,
only to have more natural disasters wipe them out again. The latter effected an architectur-
al chasm that was filled by the emerging Mycenaean rivals on mainland Greece.
GRANDEUR OF KNOSSOS
According to myth, the man tasked with designing a maze to withhold the dreaded
Minotaur was famous Athenian inventor Daedalus, father of Icarus. He also de-
signed the Palace of Knossos (
Click here
)
for King Minos.
First discovered by a Cretan, Milos Kalokirinos, in 1878, it wasn't until 1900 that
the ruins of Knossos were unearthed by an Englishman, Sir Arthur Evans. The elab-
orate palace complex at Knossos was originally formed largely as an administrative
