Telluride Inside…and Out in Greece: Crete & Knossos

While staying in Athens, Telluride Inside… and Out visited Corinth. The ancient city was upon a time a nearly impregnable fortress with a reputation for lewd and licentious behavior in the name of the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite. St. Paul must have found the profligates irresistible: he founded a church in Corinth during an 18-month stay.

"Golden" Mycenae was once the most powerful city state in Greece, with the whole of the Peloponnese under its dominion. 

The entrance to Mycenae's acropolis is through the Lion Gate, the oldest example of monumental sculpture in Europe. Inside the walls, excavations have uncovered a palace complex, Grave Circle A with its six royal tombs, courtier's houses, craft areas, sanctuaries, and other important buildings. Off the acropolis lie more finds: Grave Circle B with its 14 royal tombs and the tombs of 12 private homes. On a nearby hill is one of the most memorable edifices of Mycenaen architecture, the Treasure of Atreus, also known as the Beehive Tomb of Agamemnon.

(Spectacular relics from all these sites are housed in Athens' Archaeological Museum.)

But Corinth, whose history began in the 9th century B.C, and Mycenae, which reached its ascendancy even earlier, in the 14th century BC., are the new kids on the block when compared to Knossos,

The shrine of Knossos was once the heart of the Minoan culture on the island of Crete, Telluride Inside… and Out's present address. Knossos was the target of today's unforgettable adventure.

The Minoan civilization was the oldest in Europe, dating from 2000 B.C.  – 1400 B.C. The 600-year period, according to our guide Anna, was known as the Pax Minoan: Thanks to a very strong navy and a just ruler, there were no wars.

Credit for the excavation of Knossos traditionally goes to the Brit, Sir Arthur Evans, on a visit to Crete to enhance his collection of ancient seals. But the site was originally discovered by an olive farmer in 1878, in the course of tending his groves. However, little was known about the Minoans until Evans began excavating the place in 1900, a project that took 35 years to complete.

Lots has been written about Knossos,: one book, "The Bull of Minos," was penned by Evans himself. We are not going to try to write another. However, there are some discoveries from the day too exciting not to share. 

• As Schliemann mentioned in his excavations of Troy and Mycenae, clues about Knossos came from the tales of Homer and Greek mythology. In fact, turn to Greek mythology for the explanation of how King Minos came to be absolute ruler over his two brothers. It appears he had regular tete-a-tetes with Zeus, King of the Gods, who gave Minos the just laws that kept everyone happy during the Pax. Yes, just like Moses and the Ten Commandments, only Moses came later, around 1200 B.C.

• Knossos was built twice, in 2000 B.C. and in 1700 B.C. The first palace was destroyed by an earthquake. The site was tailor-made for a major complex because the site is near two rivers, one with a connection to the sea, and is close to a spring for fresh water.

• The palace of Knossos covers 21,000 square meters and once included over 1,000 rooms. It was apparently very easy to get lost in the place – just like in the legend of the Labyrinth that once housed the half-man, half-bull known as the MInotaur. The truth is Knossos was the Labyrinth described in the myth. You following my thread? So far….?

• Knossos was actually more an administrative and religious center than a palace, and contains all the features that have come to be associated with Minoans, including very sophisticated water and drainage systems. In fact, in addition to housing the oldest throne in Europe, an unpretentious alabaster structure, Knossos also boasts the oldest toilet in Europe. The first wet closet was located behind double walls near the queen's quarters. 

• Knossos has two signature symbols: the bull and the double ax. The bull was sacred to the Minoans and the double ax was roughly the equivalent of the the Christian cross. Other symbols around the house include Flipper's ancestors. Dolphins connoted music and happiness. (Are you listening Louis Psyihoyos?) Wavelike spirals signified the continuity of life and rosettes referred to the cycle of vegetation.

• The roof, beams and round columns of Knossos were built from cyprus wood. The shape of the columns, an upside down tree, came from a tradition of the early settlers, who, when they built their homes from the trees, turned them on their heads to prevent them from sprouting new branches.

• The men in Minoan frescoes are painted in Minoan red, a color or colors derived from crocuses and sea shells, because they are tan from working outdoors. The women who stay inside are painted white. 

• At Knossos, Minoans worshipped women – literally: their religion was a matriarchy at the head of which was a goddess who wore a hat of a panther and held a snake in each hand, symbols that expressed her dominion over nature and her fertility. 

According to our new friend Demitrius Christakas, a professor and expert in wind energy, one difference between Crete and the mainland is the way the island treats women: on Crete women to this day are goddesses. Our guide explained further: on Crete there is a saying: "Men are the head and women the neck. The head can't move without the neck." 

Lunch at a taverna in the nearby town of Arhanes, just 10 kilometers down the road in the region of the oldest wineries on the island, capped off a perfect afternoon.

Tonight the plan is to hook up with Demetrius and other new friends Lefteris and Stephanie Pavlides for a follow-up to last night's amazing dinner at a taverna in Herkalion,  a place that must be at the top of everyone's do-not-miss list of places to eat in Crete: Terzaki. Demetrius promises a guitar. Clint is expected to entertain.