The Minoan Disneyland

Trip Start Sep 07, 2008

148

Trip End Dec 09, 2008

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Flag of Greece Heraklion, Greece
Saturday, September 27, 2008

This morning we visited the ancient Minoan palace at Knossos (GNAW-soss). Our archaeological guide, Indy, told us that it's known as the "Disneyland of Minoan Archaeology" because what we were looking at is not really authentic, it is a reconstruction unwisely done in the nineteenth century by Sir Arthur Evans during the bad old days of archaeology. But looking through our lay eyes, the students and I enjoyed it because rather than just looking at foundation stones visible at other sites, here we could actually see reproductions of the buildings that might have risen from those foundation stones.

As we looked at the architecture and the copies of the frescoes, Indy explained that the buildings were made with a wooden framework which was then filled in with limestone and finally plastered over. The wood was important because its flexibility allowed the buildings to survive earthquakes. Greece is located in a dangerous earthquake zone (there was a destructive earthquake in 1999, and a medium-sized one that made the news just a month before I left for Athens), and the ancient Minoan palace at Knossos was destroyed at least three times in antiquity by earthquakes.

When you study Greek architecture, everyone seems to be fascinated by the characteristics of the columns, so for your future reference, Minoan columns are wider on the top than they are on the bottom.

Indy showed us the flame marks on the exterior of an original wall not part of Evans' reconstruction. He explained that this part of the palace contained huge vats to store olive oil, which made the building extremely flammable!

Indy is hilarious because he teaches us not just about archaeology, but also about the foibles of archaeologists. "Here are the rooms for storage, here are the rooms for religious practice, here are the rooms for banqueting, here are the living quarters.... We know this palace was at least two stories high, even four stories in some sections, but when all you have left is the basement after 3000 years, your theories tend to cram all the activities into the only level you can see."