Total inhabited area: 10 km2 (3.9 sq mi).
Palace: 14,000 m2 (150,000 sq ft)[1]
History
Founded
Settlement around 7000 BC; first palace around 1900 BC
Abandoned
Palace abandoned Late Minoan IIIC, 1380–1100 BC
Periods
Neolithic to Late Bronze Age
Cultures
Minoan, Mycenaean
Site notes
Excavation dates
1900–present
Archaeologists
Minos Kalokairinos, Arthur Evans, David George Hogarth, Duncan Mackenzie, Theodore Fyfe, Christian Doll, Piet de Jong (artist), John Davies Evans
Condition
Restored and maintained for visitation.
Management
23rd Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities
Public access
Yes
Website
British School at Athens
Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism
Knossos (pronounced /(kə)ˈnɒsoʊs,-səs/; Ancient Greek: Κνωσσός, romanized: Knōssós, pronounced[knɔː.sós]; Linear B: 𐀒𐀜𐀰Ko-no-so[2]) is a Bronze Age archaeological site in Crete. The site was a major center of the Minoan civilization and is known for its association with the Greek myth of Theseus and the minotaur. It is located on the outskirts of Heraklion, and remains a popular tourist destination.
Knossos is dominated by the monumental Palace of Minos. Like other Minoan palaces, this building served as a combination religious and administrative center rather than a royal residence. The earliest parts of the palace were built around 1900 BC in an area that had been used for ritual feasting since the Neolithic. The palace was continually renovated and expanded over the next five centuries until its final destruction around 1350 BC.
The site was first excavated by Minos Kalokairinos in 1877. In 1900, Arthur Evans undertook more extensive excavations which unearthed most of the palace as well as many now-famous artifacts including the Bull-Leaping Fresco, the snake goddess figurines, and numerous Linear B tablets. While Evans is often credited for discovering the Minoan Civilization, his work is controversial in particular for his inaccurate and irreversible reconstructions of architectural remains at the site.
^McEnroe, John C. (2010). Architecture of Minoan Crete: Constructing Identity in the Aegean Bronze Age. Austin: University of Texas Press. p. 50. However, Davaras 1957, p. 5, an official guide book in use in past years, gives the dimensions of the palace as 150 m (490 ft) square, about 20,000 m2 (220,000 sq ft).
^Hooker, J. T. (1991). Linear B: An Introduction. Bristol Classical Press. pp. 71, 50. ISBN 978-0-906515-62-4.
Epimenides of Knossos (or Epimenides of Crete) (/ɛpɪˈmɛnɪdiːz/; Greek: Ἐπιμενίδης) was a semi-mythical 7th or 6th century BC Greek seer and philosopher-poet...
of the island, especially to the south. Knossos – the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete. Knossos had an estimated population of 1,300 to...
the Knossos Tablets. It contains two works, Leonard Robert Palmer's The Find-Places of the Knossos Tablets and John Boardman's The Date of the Knossos Tablets...
special reference to the archives of Knossos – ETANA". Retrieved 9 June 2016. Hogan, C. Michael (2007) Knossos Evans, A.J. (1909). "Scripta Minoa – Volume...
The Minotaur and Knossos featured in the 2023 exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford, "Labyrinth: Knossos, Myth & Reality" Theseus...
snake goddess figurines were excavated in 1903 in the Minoan palace at Knossos in the Greek island of Crete. The decades-long excavation programme led...
except for Knossos, which was itself destroyed roughly a century later. The term "palace" was introduced by Arthur Evans, who had interpreted Knossos as the...
curator of the archaeological site at Knossos to replace MacKenzie. He was not required to assume the post of Knossos Curator until the spring of 1930. Meanwhile...
BCE—Mycenaeans attack and capture Crete, destroying many royal palaces including Knossos. c. 1450–1300 BCE—Minoan Second Palace period ends and Late Minoan/Final...
Winged Girl of Knossos is a children's historical novel by Erick Berry. Set in Bronze Age Crete, it is based on Greek mythology, Cretan history, and archaeological...
"Quartier Mu" at Malia (Middle Minoan II period = MM II) Malia palace (MM III) Knossos (MM II or III) the Petras deposit (MM IIB), excavated starting in 1995...
the art of Minoan Crete, notably from the archaeological recoveries at Knossos. Brazilian green onyx was often used as plinths for art deco sculptures...
Lines and renamed it Cruise Bonaria and the other one renamed Knossos Palace. The former Knossos Palace was under the Minoan Lines 20 years. For 20 years did...
close to the ruins of the palace of Knossos, which in Minoan times was the largest centre of population on Crete. Knossos had a port at the site of Heraklion...
airport at Chania serve international travelers. The Minoan palace at Knossos is also located in Heraklion. The earliest references to the island of...
jewelry Fresco fragment of a dancing woman (Knossos, 1600-1450 BC) Bull leaping fresco(1600-1450 BC) from Knossos palace, acrobats leaping across a bull Boar...
of Knossos—in this pocket-sized volume entitled Cnossos : L'archéologie d'un rêve (lit. 'Knossos: The Archaeology of a Dream'; UK edition – Knossos: Unearthing...
surrounding the palace of Knossos. Lustral basins at various sites Lustral basin at the Throne Room, Knossos North Lustral Basin, Knossos Palace at Malia Lustral...
decoration. Platon concentrated on the episodic history of the Palace of Knossos. A new method, fabric analysis, involves geologic analysis of coarse and...
"Knossos Game – Zatrikion". Ancient Games - Playing the Board Games of the Ancient World. Retrieved 2021-12-26. Arthur Evans: "The Palace of Knossos"...
located at Knossos, does not appear on seals until after the Mycenean invasion. Arthur Evans came to believe that at the peak of the power of Knossos it was...
archaeologist to excavate Minoan Knossos, hired the Swiss artist Emile Gilliéron and his son, Emile, as the chief fresco restorers at Knossos. The restorations have...
much-photographed porous limestone horns of consecration on the East Propyleia at Knossos (illustration, right) are restorations, but horns of consecration in stone...
settlement found under the Bronze Age palace at Knossos date to the 7th millennium BC. Up to now, Knossos remains the only aceramic site. The settlement...
1988, Knossos was moved to the Piraeus–Chania service, where she remained until October 1995 when Minoan Lines decided to abandon the route. Knossos was...
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