CRETE - CELESTYAL CRUISES HERAKLION SHORE EXCURSION

Knossos Palace map / layout plan

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

When we looked at the labyrinthian layout plan for Knossos Palace, we were happy that we were on a Celestyal Cruises shore excursion tour and not visiting Knossos without a guide. Located five kilometers south of Heraklion, the capital of Crete, the 20,000-square-meter site housed the Minoans — the first-known sophisticated civilization in Europe.

"Knossos was a town that developed around the palace of King Minos, so it was not just for the royal family," explained our guide Thalia. The complex included homes for royalty, officials, priests and ordinary people as well as treasuries, workshops, shrines and storerooms.

As we viewed remnants of the four-story buildings with wall paintings, running water and under-floor heating, it was hard to believe that the Palace of Knossos was first built about 4,000 years ago. "The Acropolis in Athens was built 1,000 years after the end of the Minoan civilization," said Thalia.

Minoan gold honeybee pendant

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

Gold jewelry

The Minoans were ancient people, but they were an advanced civilization. Even with today's modern tools, jewelers are unable to duplicate the fine spherical decorations on a 1700 BC gold honeybee pendant.

"Knossos was not fortified because it was a peaceful town," said Thalia. "The real power of the Minoans was their commercial relations with countries such as Egypt."

We walked by long, narrow storerooms which once held agricultural items for export. Some of the rooms still contained human-sized decorated pottery jars that once held wine, olive oil, grain and honey.

Popular sport

Stairways connected floors in the multi-level homes and buildings. As we entered the central court, Thalia explained that it was paved and had balconies surrounding it.

Fresco depicts sport of bull-leaping

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

Knossos residents came here for gatherings and sports, including watching athletes somersault over the back of a charging bull, as depicted in the famous bull-leaping fresco. (Minoans revered bulls.)

"The men are painted red and the women are painted white," she said. "The Minoans were a matriarchal society. Women took part in the games. Much later, during the Olympic Games in the Classical Period of Greece (500 to 336 BC), women were not allowed to watch."

Wall paintings

Thalia showed us the Throne Room with a small stone throne, probably used by a high priestess 3,500 years ago. Above the throne and adjacent stone benches, a fresco depicts plants and griffins — mythological beasts with bodies of lions and heads of birds. "Red and black were the favorite colors of the Minoans," she said.

Throne Room

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

In the beautifully decorated Queen's Megaron (apartment), we viewed a copy of the famous dolphin fresco. The room also had a stone bathtub. "All the other bathtubs found in Knossos were made from clay," said Thalia.

We were surprised that the 3,500-year-old room had a flush toilet. (Water was poured down by hand.) Nearby, we spotted a stone with three depressions for offerings of oil and grain.

Stone bull head used for pouring drinks

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

Archaeological Museum of Heraklion

We later admired the original dolphin fresco in Heraklion's Archeological Museum. Even after 3,500 years, it retained its original colors.

Archeological finds in the museum's 27 galleries span 7,000 years from the Neolithic to the Roman period. Minoan artifacts range from ivory snake goddess figurines and decorated clay sarcophagi to modern-looking gold necklaces and beautiful Kamares pottery.

For us, the most memorable item on display was a magnificent stone bull head (1600-1450 BC) used for drinks. It has golden horns, life-like crystal eyes, a hole in the neck for filling and a hole in the snout for pouring out the liquid.

How the Minoans and Europe got their names

Thalia explained that the Minoans declined after a 110-meter tsunami from Santorini's volcanic catastrophe destroyed their homes and ships.

Phaistos Disc with Minoan ideogram script

"We don't know what the Minoans actually called themselves," she said. "The British archeologist Arthur Evans, who discovered Knossos in the early 1900s, named them after the legendary King Minos."

Our guide explained that Minos was the first king of Crete and the son of Zeus and Europa. The continent of Europe was named after Princess Europa.

Minoan pictorial writing

We also don't know what language that the Minoans spoke, but we have one clue about their writing. The museum displays the Phaistos Disc, a 16-centimeter-diameter round clay tablet inscribed with hieroglyph-like symbols.

Thalia told us that the Minoans used two still-undeciphered ideogram scripts—one for religion and one for common people.

It's just one more reason why Celestyal's Minoan culture tour was so fascinating.