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| Archaeological Museum. Photo credit: Diana Payne |
Heraklion Archaeoloical Museum
The Herakleion Archaeological Museum is a sinificant and impressive museum housing important ancient treasures. There was even a designated "marine style" of art where entire surfaces of pottery were decorated with marine organisms! |
| Marine organisms featured prominently in Cretian art. Photo credit: Diana Payne |
The famous Phaistos disc was discovered in Crete. While archaeologits have tried to decipher the inscription since its discovery in 1908, there is not a complete understanding of the markings.
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| The Phaistos disc. Photo credit: Diana Payne |
The original frescoes discovered at the Palace of Knossos are now housed at the museum. Of course, a favorite of our group was Dolphin fresco!
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| A section of the Dolphin fresco. Photo credit: Diana Payne |
The museum also has a collection of seals and coins from across the Mediterranean. The example below is from the Palace of Knossos.
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| Coinage at Knossos. Photo credit: Diana Payne |
Palace of Knossos
The Palace of Knossos, the center of Minoan civilization, was found in 1878 by Minos Kalokairinos and excavated by Englishman Arthur Evans beginning in 1900. Evans invited controversy when he restored sections of the palace using of concrete. During the excavation, Evans also discovered tablets with writing which he designated Linear A and Linear B, early forms of writing dating back between 1000-2000 BC. Linear A has not yet been translated, but Linear B is adapted from Linear A and is the earliest know Greek dialect.
The palace itself had more than 1300 rooms and was quite a labyrinth. It also had aqueducts to bring fresh water into the palace and a sewer system to dispose of waste.
The palace is well know for its beautifully colorful paintings and frescoes. The remains of the originals are housed in the Archaeological Museum (see above descriptions and images) - reproductions can be found throughout the palace.
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| The central staircase of the south entrance at Knossos. Photo credit: Diana Payne |
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| Reproduction of the Cup Bearer frescoes at the south entrance. Photo credit: Diana Payne |
The Throne room has an alabaster thone built directly into the wall. The walls was not ornately decorated except for the griffin frescoes.
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| Replica of the Griffin frescoes and throne in the Throne Room at Knossos. Photo credit: Diana Payne |
Look closely at the Minoan columns. Note that the pilars are smaller at the bottom and larger at the top - opposite of the style of other Greek architecture.
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| Recreation of the charging bull fresco at the north entrance. Photo credit: Diana Payne |
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