KNOSSOS PALACE
Knossos is a Bronze Age archaeological site situated on the north central coast, southeast of Heraklion. A Minoan Palace of 14,000msq founded in 1900BC. The settlement it sits in was founded in 7000BC and was an area that had been used for ritual feasting since Neolithic times.
The palace was abandoned between 1380-1100BC.
In 1900 Arthur Evans undertook extensive excavations which unearthed most of the palace as well as many artifacts. His work is controversial, in particular for his inaccurate and irreversible reconstructions of the architectural remains at the site. We have to agree and frankly we were seriously underwhelmed and very disappointed. In our opinion it has been ruined.
Since then, it has been further excavated, restored and maintained. A lot of the artifacts, frescoes etc can be seen in the Heraklion Archaeological Museum.