Travels, Directions
Knossos Palace in Crete - a mystery of the Minoan civilization
Knossos Palace in Crete is considered the prototype of the mythical labyrinth of King Minos, where he hid the terrible Minotaur. When the legend about this monster was recorded, the building was long ago destroyed, and the Minoan civilization has already been forgotten. For this reason, the palace itself was regarded as something fictional, unrealistic. This continued until the moment when, in 1878, Minos Kalokerinos paid attention to the hill. During the excavations, the archaeologist discovered storage facilities that were part of the royal palace complex. At that time, Crete was occupied by the Turks, so the study of ancient civilizations was postponed until better times.
Evans decided not only to conduct large-scale excavations, but also partially restore the Knossos Palace in Crete. Photos of this building can now be seen on many postcards, in guidebooks. Although Evans was criticized by his contemporaries, it was thanks to his colossal work that we could look into the past and learn a little about the way of life and culture of the ancient people who lived in 1900 BC. E. What Evans restored, is already the second palace, built in 1450 BC. The first was destroyed by a strong earthquake.
The Minoans did not adhere to symmetry, so the Knossos palace on Crete resembles a labyrinth, only one who knew his layout could get out of it. Especially it was easy to get lost in the utility rooms located on the lower floors. On walls very often there is an image of a double ax - labrys. Most likely, it was a sacred symbol of this people, therefore there is an opinion that the word "labyrinth" originated from Lydia Labrys, but these are only assumptions.
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