17 Facts About Knossos

The palace of Knossos eventually became the ceremonial and political centre of the Minoan civilization and culture.

Name Knossos was formerly Latinized as Cnossus or Cnossos and occasionally Knossus, Gnossus, or Gnossos but is almost always written Knossos.

Knossos has a thick Neolithic layer indicating the site was a sequence of settlements before the Palace Period.

Palace of Knossos was by far the largest, covering three acres with its main building alone and five acres when separate out-buildings are considered.

Prosperity of Knossos was primarily based upon the development of native Cretan resources such as oil, wine, and wool.

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Knossos was still prosperous at the time of its destruction c 1370 with trade and art continuing to thrive.

Knossos had Daedalus construct a labyrinth, a very large maze in which to retain his son, the Minotaur.

Fieldwork in 2015 revealed that during the early Iron Age, Knossos was rich in imports and was nearly three times larger than indicated by earlier excavations.

In Hellenistic times Knossos came under Egyptian influence, but despite considerable military efforts during the Chremonidean War, the Ptolemies were not able to unify the warring city states.

In 325, Knossos became a diocese, suffragan of the metropolitan see of Gortyna.

The excavations in Knossos began in 1900 by the British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans and his team, and continued for 35 years.

Phaistos, contemporaneous with Knossos, was placed on a steep ridge, controlling access to the Messara Plain from the sea, and was walled.

Archaeological site, Knossos, refers either to the palace complex or, to that complex and several houses of similar antiquity nearby, which were inadvertently excavated along with the palace.

Pottery at Knossos is prolific, heavily-decorated and uniquely-styled by period.

Palace at Knossos was a place of high color, as were Greek buildings in the classical period, and as are Greek buildings today.

Many of these palaces were destroyed and abandoned in the early part of the fifteenth century BC, possibly by the Mycenaeans, although Knossos remained in use until it was destroyed by fire about one hundred years later.

Knossos showed no signs of being a military site; for example, it had neither fortifications nor stores of weapons.