Knossos, Crete Watch a 3:35 minute video tour of the palace of Minos
VIDEO Read more about this ancient place here .
Theseus and the Minotaur. This picture was drawn on a piece of pottery, several hundred years before the birth of Christ. This subject was always popular with ancient Greek artists. All boys of Demetrius’ time knew the story well. (public domain)
When the buried city of Knossos, on the island of Crete, was uncovered, fragments of beautiful plaster pictures, like the one here, were found in the ruins. This is a reconstruction of one that shows a young priest-king probably leading a sacred bull. The original may have had him walking in his garden and followed by butterflies. (CC BY 2.0 ©2011 aaron wolpert)
At the Minoan palace of Knossos in Crete. The ruins are very impressive. It has to be understood though that there has been very extensive reconstruction, for example the frescoes are new paintings based on tiny fragments of original. (CC BY 2.0 ©2014 Tim Schofield) King Minos’ throne—the oldest throne in the world. It was hewn out of one piece of stone over 4000 years ago. For 700 years it seated the kings of Crete. On the walls are pictures of griffins—unreal animals with heads of birds and bodies of lions. (CC BY-SA 2.0 ©2013 Olivier Duquesne)
These large jars that stored olive oil in ancient Knossos are as tall as a man. There are 200 of these jars still to be found in the storehouses of the once-buried palace of King Minos. (CC BY-SA 2.0 ©2012 VIATOR IMPERI)
