Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Knossos
Daily: May-June 8am-5pm; July-Sept 8am-8pm; Oct-April 8.30am-3pm • €6 •
T
2810 231 940
KNOSSOS
, the largest and most important of the
Minoan palaces
, and the most visited,
lies some 5km southeast of Iráklion. The mythological home of King Minos and the
Minotaur, it dates from the second millennium BC, and its vast interconnected rooms
and corridors provide a fitting backdrop to the legend.
The discovery of the palace is among the most amazing tales of modern
archeology.
Heinrich Schliemann
, the German excavator of Troy, suspected that a
major Minoan palace lay under the various tumuli here, but was denied the
permission to dig by the local Ottoman authorities. It was left for
Sir Arthur Evans
who excavated and liberally “restored” the palace from 1900 onwards. His
restorations have been the source of furious controversy among archeologists ever
since. Even so, his guess as to what the palace might have looked like is certainly as
good as anyone's, and it makes Crete's other Minoan sites infinitely more
meaningful if you have seen Knossos first.
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ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION KNOSSOS
To avoid the hordes get to the site early morning, before the coach tours arrive, or late afternoon when they've left
By bus
Local buses #2 and #4. Set off (every 10min) from
Iráklion's city bus stands (adjacent to the eastbound Bus
Station A), then proceed to Platía Eleftherías and out of
town along Odhós-1821 and Evans).
From the centre of Iráklion a taxi will cost around €10.
By car
There's a free car park immediately before the site
entrance, which will enable you to avoid paying exorbitant
rates for the private car parks dotting the road immediately
before this (and whose touts will attempt to wave you in).
Guided tours
Official guides can be hired at the site
entrance; they are self-employed and expensive, but you
can usually negotiate the price a little if you wish to use
their services, and rope in other visitors to share the cost.
Websites
The British School at Athens has a useful
website dedicated to Knossos, with detail on its history and
excavations in addition to a virtual tour; check out
W
bsa.gla.ac.uk/knossos/vrtour.
The site
As soon as you enter the
Palace of Knossos
through the West Court, the ancient
ceremonial entrance, it is clear how the legends of the labyrinth grew up around it.
Even with a detailed plan, it's almost impossible to find your way around the complex
with any success, although a series of
timber walkways
channels visitors around the site,
severely restricting the scope for independent exploration. If you haven't hired a guide
and are worried about missing the highlights, you can always tag along with a group
THE LEGEND OF THE MINOTAUR
Knossos was the court of the legendary
King Minos
, whose wife Pasiphae, cursed by
Poseidon, bore the
Minotaur
, half-bull, half-man. The
labyrinth
was constructed by Daedalus
to contain the monster, and every nine years seven youths and seven maidens were brought
from Athens as human sacrifice. Hearing of this, the Greek hero
Theseus
arrived on Crete
vowing to venture into the labyrinth and slay the beast.
Ariadne
, daughter of the king,
promptly fell in love with him and, as every cub scout knows, showed Theseus how to find his
way back using a simple ball of thread. The legend has inspired writers from Homer to Dante,
who famously depicts the best in his vision of Hell:
Into the chasm was that descent: and there
At point of the disparted ridge lay stretch'd
The infamy of Crete, detested brood
Of the feign'd heifer: and at sight of us
It gnaw'd itself, as one with rage distract.
Dante, Inferno, Canto XII
