But to be honest: the place just did not catch me. You basically see many old stones lying around and where you see walls, houses, pictures you never know: are they guesswork? Facts? The guide told us about Sir Arthur Evans, the one who excavated the palace of Knossos, and obviously it was his fault why archeologists all around the world are not too happy with it. He digged out stuff, gave it names, added theories and what he could not dig out as a whole he builded himself - with the newly discovered "cement" as a building material, which you cannot remove anymore. So you find cement and antique stones baked together in one, and you do not have a clue anymore what part of it is the "real" thing if any.
One of the things that are known for sure: one of the most important figures was the bull or tauros. We know about the games when young girls and boys jumped across the back of a bull, but we don´t know why they did it. We just know that it happened, and that it must have been dangerous indeed. So of course the bull´s horns you can see here was a sign of the Mioan culture itself.
We also know that it must have been a very rich culture. All over the place you find huge amphoras where they kept enormous amounts of olive oil, gold, grain.... And not only the ruling class was rich, also the working class was well-fed and well-clad.
This replica of a bronze-age painting found at Knossos shows that women were not only priestesses of high rank but also that women were extremely well-respected members of society. To be a woman meant to be a mother meant to be the giver of life! So many societies seem to have lost this respect towards women....
This is what Arthur Ewans called the Throne room, where the King was sitting. New theories say that here was actually the place of the High Priestess, and that maybe Knossos did not have a King but a Queen who might have been also the religious leader.
This is the so-called Queen´s bathroom, because in a tiny place where we were not allowed in they found a bath tub. But who knows who actually took a bath in there? Or took a bath at all? The wall paintings are lovely though.
And here we have the famous Minotauros. You all know the story that somewhere under the palace is the famous labyrinth of the Minotauros who was later killed by Theseus with the help of Ariadne and her thread....
Of course go and see Knossos when you are there. But places like Turkish Ephesos or Austrian Carnuntum caught me lots more, the methods they used seemed to be more scientific and the places themselves were much more charming.
But what turned out to be the real highlight of the day was a visit to Heraklion, the main city of Crete. If you are in the area go to downtown Heraklion and enjoy the shopping, the harbour, the city.... Lovely place with lots to do!
We spend a lovely late afternoon there and then we went home, back to our little place by the beach... Bye-bye for this time, Crete, cannot wait to be back soon!
2 comments:
Ich hätte mir nie gedacht, dass ein Archäologe sich so dermaßen selbst verwirklichen will... Das ist echt schade! Damit hat er den Flair der Anlage sicher zerstört. Trotzdem sehen die Fotos toll aus und ich denke auch, dass man den Palast unbedingt gesehen haben muss.
Ich finde es auch schrecklich, was in Knossos angerichtet wurde, es verliert dadurch sehr viel an Flair, und man ist sich wirklich nie sicher, was man da eigentlich gezeigt bekommt. Schade, für so ein unglaubliches Erbe aus der Vergangenheit! Aber man muß ihn natürlich, wenn man nach Kreta reist, tatsächlich gesehen haben, wenn man sich für Ausgrabungen interessiert.
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