Knossos (modern history)

Palace of Minos

Κνωσός
Royal road to Knossos
Crete, showing Heraklion, location of ancient Knōsos
Alternative name	Cnossus
Location	Heraklion, Crete, Greece
Region	North central coast, 5 km (3.1 mi) southeast of Heraklion
Coordinates	35°17′52.66″N 25°9′47.36″E / 35.2979611°N 25.1631556°E / 35.2979611; 25.1631556
Type	Palace complex, administrative center, capital of Crete and regions within its jurisdiction
Length	North-south length of inhabited area is 5 km (3.1 mi)[1]
Width	East-west width of inhabited area is 3 km (1.9 mi) max.
Area	Total inhabited area is 10 km2 (3.9 sq mi). The palace building itself is 14,000 m2 (150,000 sq ft)[2]
History
Builder	Unknown
Material	Ashlar blocks of limestone or gypsum, wood, mud-brick, rubble for fill, plaster
Founded	The first settlement dates to about 7000 BC. The first palace dates to 1900 BC.
Abandoned	At some time in Late Minoan IIIC, 1380–1100 BC
Periods	Neolithic to Late Bronze Age. The first palace was built in the Middle Minoan IA period.
Cultures	Minoan, Mycenaean
Associated with	In the Middle Minoan, people of unknown ethnicity termed Minoans; in the Late Minoan, by Mycenaean Greeks
Site notes
Excavation dates	1900–1931 1957–1960 1969–1970
Archaeologists	For the initial teams's work discovering the palace: Arthur Evans; David George Hogarth, Director of the British School of Archaeology at Athens; Duncan Mackenzie, superintendent of excavation; Theodore Fyfe, Architect; Christian Doll, Architect For the additional work on the Neolithic starting in 1957: John Davies Evans
Condition	Restored and maintained for visitation. Evans used mainly concrete. Modern interventions include open roofing of fragile areas, stabilized soil, paved walkways, non-slip wooden ramps, trash receptacles, perimeter barbed wire fence, security lighting, retail store and dining room[3]
Ownership	Originally owned by Cretans, then by Arthur Evans, followed by the British School at Athens, and finally by the current owner, the Hellenic Republic.
Management	23rd Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities
Public access	Yes
Website	"Knossos". British School at Athens. Archived from the original on 2012-05-24. "Knossos". Odysseus. Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-06-17.
Current activity is preservational. Restoration is extensive. Painted concrete was used for wood in the pillars. The frescoes often were recreated from a few flakes of painted plaster.

Knossos (Greek: Κνωσός, Knōsós, [knoˈsos]), also romanized Cnossus, Gnossus, and Knossus, is the main Bronze Age archaeological site at Heraklion, a modern port city on the north central coast of Crete. The site was excavated and the palace complex found there partially restored under the direction of Arthur Evans in the earliest years of the 20th century. The palace complex is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete. It was undoubtedly the ceremonial and political centre of the Minoan civilization and culture.

Quite apart from its value as the center of the ancient Minoan civilization, Knossos has a place in modern history as well. It witnessed the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the enosis, or "unification," of Crete with Greece. It has been a center of Aegean art and archaeology even before its initial excavation. Currently a branch of the British School at Athens is located on its grounds. The mansion Evans had built on its grounds, Villa Ariadne, for the use of the archaeologists, was briefly the home of the Greek government in exile during the Battle of Crete in World War II. Subsequently, it was the headquarters for three years of the Nazi Germany's military governorship of Crete. Turned over to the Greek government in the 1950s, it has been maintained and improved as a major site of antiquities. Studies conducted there are ongoing.