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Top Attractions in Heraklion

Knossos

Knossos or Cnossos, is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and is considered Europes oldest city. The name Knossos survives from ancient Greek references to the major city of Crete. The identification of Knossos with the Bronze Age site is supported by tradition and by the Roman coins that were scattered over the fields surrounding the pre-excavation site, then a large mound named Kephala Hill, elevation 85 m from current sea level. Many of them were inscribed with Knosion or Knos on the obverse and an image of a Minotaur or Labyrinth on the reverse, both symbols deriving from the myth of King Minos, supposed to have reigned from Knossos. The coins came from the Roman settlement of Colonia Julia Nobilis Cnossus, a Roman colony placed just to the north of, and politically including, Kephala. The Romans believed they had colonized Knossos. After excavation, the discovery of the Linear B tablets, and the decipherment of Linear B by Michael Ventris, the identification was confirmed by the reference to an administrative center,, ko-no-so, Mycenaean Greek Knosos in Linear B, undoubtedly the palace complex. The palace was built over a Neolithic town. During the Bronze Age, the town surrounded the hill on which the palace was built. The site was discovered in 1878 by Minos Kalokairinos . The excavations in Knossos began in AD 1900 by the English archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans and his team, and they continued for 35 years. The palace was excavated and partially restored under the direction of Arthur Evans in the earliest years of the 20th century. Its size far exceeded his original expectations, as did the discovery of two ancient scripts, which he termed Linear A and Linear B, to distinguish their writing from the pictographs also present. From the layering of the palace Evans developed de novo an archaeological concept of the civilization that used it, which he called Minoan, following the pre-existing custom of labelling all objects from the location Minoan. The palace of Knossos was undoubtedly the ceremonial and political centre of the Minoan civilization and culture. It appears as a maze of workrooms, living spaces, and storerooms close to a central square. An approximate graphic view of some aspects of Cretan life in the Bronze Age is provided by restorations of the palaces indoor and outdoor murals, as it is also by the decorative motifs of the pottery and the insignia on the seals and sealings. The palace was abandoned at some unknown time at the end of the Late Bronze Age, c. 1380–1100 BC. The occasion is not known for certain, but one of the many disasters that befell the palace is generally put forward. The abandoning population were probably Mycenaean Greeks, who had earlier occupied the city-state, and were using Linear B as its administrative script, as opposed to Linear A, the previous administrative script. The hill was never again a settlement or civic site, although squatters may have used it for a time. Except for periods of abandonment, other cities were founded in the immediate vicinity, such as the Roman colony, and a Hellenistic Greek precedent. The population shifted to the new town of Chandax during the 9th century AD. By the 13th century, it was called Makruteikhos Long Wall; the bishops of Gortyn continued to call themselves Bishops of Knossos until the 19th century. Today, the name is used only for the archaeological site now situated in the expanding suburbs of Heraklion. In the first palace period around 2000 BC the urban area reached a size of up to 18,000 people. In its peak the Palace and the surrounding city boasted a population of 100,000 people shortly after 1700 BC.

Historical Museum of Crete

The Historical Museum of Crete was founded by the Society of Cretan Historical Studies in 1953 and is housed in a neoclassical building of significant architectural merit in the city of Heraklion on Crete, an island of Greece. The museum was expanded following the addition of a new wing and floor. The museum’s permanent collections highlight the art and history of Crete from the 4th century AD up to and including the Second World War. The collections are ordered chronologically and by subject matter, and are combined with visual material and multimedia. They include ceramics, sculptures, coins, jewellery, wall paintings, portable icons, ritual objects, manuscripts, heirlooms, weavings, the reconstructed interior of a Cretan rural home and much more. The museum’s finest exhibits are two paintings by Doménikos Theotokópoulos, born in Crete: The Baptism of Christ and View of Mount Sinai, the only works by the artist now on Crete. Another outstanding exhibit is a 4×4 metre mock-up of mid-17th century Chandax, at the time when the city reached its peak under Venetian rule. Of particular interest is the Nikos Kazantzakis Collection, featuring the study and library from the author’s home in Antibes, France, personal effects, manuscripts of his works, first editions of books in various languages, etc. The temporary exhibition rooms at the Historical Museum of Crete host exhibitions on a wide range of themes . The museum library, featuring rare editions and much archive and photographic material, caters for the needs of both researchers and the general public.

Knossos

Knossos, refers to 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 3rd Reichs 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.

Church of Crete

The Church of Crete is an Eastern Orthodox Church, comprising the island of Crete in Greece. The Church of Crete is semi-autonomous under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The current Archbishop of Crete is, since 30 August 2006, Irinaios Athanasiadis. The Church of Crete has been self-governing since late Ottoman times. The charter of the church was recognized by law by the Greek state in 1961, some 50 years after the island's incorporation into Greece. In 1962, the Patriarchate elevated the island's bishoprics to metropolises, and in 1967, the Metropolitan of Crete was promoted to Archbishop. The Patriarchate nominates the island's presiding bishop from a list of three Cretan bishops prepared by the Greek Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs, but the Church's affairs, including the nomination of the other bishops, are otherwise handled by the Holy Provincial Synod of Crete. The link with the Patriarchate ensures less opposition to ecumenism than generally expressed in the mainland Church of Greece. The Church of Crete is composed of: the Archbishopric of Crete, based at Heraklion the Metropolis of Gortyn and Arkadia, based at Moires the Metropolis of Rethymno and Mylopotamos, based at Rethymno the Metropolis of Kydonia and Apokoronas, based at Chania the Metropolis of Lampi, Syvritos and Sfakia, based at Spili the Metropolis of Hierapytna and Siteia, based at Ierapetra the Metropolis of Petra and Hersonissos, based at Neapoli the Metropolis of Kissamos and Selino, based at Kastelli Kissamou the Metropolis of Arkalochori, Kastelli and Viannos, based at Arkalochori.
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