Greek Seek - Day 6

 

Today, we left Chania and headed back toward Heraklion. We leave create early tomorrow morning and the main airport is in Heraklion. Just south of Heraklion is Knossos. Located there is one the oldest archeological sites in Greece. The area was originally a Minoan civilization possibly dating back to 7000 BC - no that isn't a typo! The site eventually housed two palaces and the first dates back to around 1700 BC. The existing structure on the site was discovered in the late 1800s by archeologist Minos Kalokairinos who not only excavated but also tried to rebuild parts of the palace. Because of that, parts of the original palace from 1700 BC, parts of the new palace (dating somewhere between 1700-1450 BC), and Minos' reconstruction are all combined together. In places, it's obvious where his reconstructions are and in other places, it's not as easy to tell. In the photo below, you can clearly see the smooth surface over older items because some of the smooth, newer surface as crumbled away. It's kind of confounding to me why an archeologist would do this. 

Upon entry, you can see several deep round areas. It is only a guess as to what these areas were used for, but the rock walls of the areas dates to around 1200 BC so they suspect they were used during the time of the "new" palace, possibly as water or rubbish storage. They all have a dirt bottom except one, which was actually built over top of an existing housing structure that they have dated to back to 3200 BC. 

Front receiving area of the palace

Front

Within the palace during excavation, archeologists found multiple frescos. The original frescos were removed for preservation and can be viewed in a nearby archeological museum. Replicas of the frescos are on site.

Based on many items discovered, archeologist believe that the civilization was a matriarchal society. It is even questioned whether it was governed by King Minos or not, but instead the queen. Other discoveries also led archeologists to believe the the society was one that was very concerned about beauty, everything from clothing to eye brow plucking for both men and women. Hair was an important symbol of beauty and also a symbol of age. Young children's heads were shaved and as they aged, certain parts were allowed to grow. Once adulthood was reached, the hair was allowed to grow and not be cut regardless of if you were a man or woman. 

You can see the pieces that have been put back together

You can see the wall that denote different spaces

Some archeological areas are covers like this because it's an ongoing dig/excavation.

The palace is also recorded as having the first ever flushing toilets inside of a structure. The civilization is said to have been extremely hygienic so they invented a pipe system that could be flushed out with water. to remove waste! The palace grounds contained many Olive and Fig trees which were primary staples to their diet, and actually, is still the case in Greece. Olive trees are EVERYWHERE! Additionally, various animals were on the grounds. Peacocks were introduced to the island and are still roaming the area now. 

The most elaborate part of the palace is thought to have been the grand staircase. 

It's absolutely amazing to me that remnants of civilizations from this long ago!! 

Palace Theater - Crete is supposed to be the birthplace of dance.

Old roadway to the palace

After we finished our Knossos Palace tour, we had some time before checking into our Heraklion Airbnb. So we looked for other interesting places in the area and drove around in our "sporty" rental! We found a Venetian aqueduct which is super young! It was used to bring water from the mountains into Heraklion between the 17th and early 20th centuries.

Spilia Venetian Aqueduct

Our sporty little rental under the aqueduct

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We left the aqueduct to make our way to a local canyon to view. However, after winding through the countryside and some small one lane roads, we reached a very small unpaved road that continued on to the canyon. Since our rental car guy was rather explicit about no off-roading, we decided to forgo the canyon, take in countryside views, and make our way to the Airbnb.

The Olive Tree groves reminded me of the Christmas Tree farms in western NC

Olive Trees

Bee Hives - honey is very largely produced in Crete by both families for themselves and to sell.

 

We checked into our place, hung out for a bit, then headed out to see a bit of Heraklion and get some dinner. Heraklion is the capitol city of Crete and the largest city as well. After the small amount we saw from our drive and then walking around, I definitely would recommend Chania over Heraklion! We had a pretty simple dinner. I had Greek pizza. It was good but not at good as my other dinners. 

Morosini Lion Fountain in Heraklion

We all opted for ice cream!

A view down a city street toward the port - you can see the water in the distance.

Heraklion not only has the main airport on Crete, but is also is port city. Many of the ferries go from here back to other Greek islands, Athens and Italy. We walked down by the port area which is somewhat historic with great views. Then headed back to our place to call it a night. We have an early rise tomorrow to head to the airport and fly back to Athens. 

Ruins near the port

I haven't said much about the cats, nor taken pics - but they are everywhere and cities have adopted them and put out food and water for them everywhere. They just roam around. Athens even has t-shirts of the cats of Athens.