Honeymoon Day 6: Crete! Palace of Knossos, Archeological Museum & the “Ferry Hotel”

Crete is a fascinating island with rich history and the site of one of the oldest civilizations in the world, and the oldest civilization in Europe. Crete has a special and rather strange spot in my heart. My wonderful sister, Elsie, and I used to play a old 1990’s PC computer game in middle school called “Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis” (remember Sisterly Sister!? Always connected!). We had the disc and would play it together for hours. I was always awed at my sister’s ability to problem solve and figure out logic puzzles, which was what the game was primarily about. I remember it being more fun to watch her play than it was to play it myself. We both loved the game and it’s something we’ve always remembered about our childhood. At one point in the game Indy goes to Crete to try to find a lost Atlantis artifact. We always talked about how cool it would be to one day go to Crete. I thought about Elsie and good ole’ Indiana Jones the entire time we were in Crete!

CRETE

Crete is an island – a very long and narrow one, approximately 159 miles long and only 37 miles wide (at its widest). The island has three major cities which exist all along the north coast: Heraklion, Rethymnon, and Hania. The south coast contains no major cities and is left almost entirely unspoiled with some of the beast beaches (so we heard). Because the beaches were so isolated and not accessible via the main highway running along the north coast, Andy and I were unfortunately unable to squeeze these beaches into the one day we had on Crete. However, from our guidebook and from what we heard from Greeks living on the island, they were a must-see if you had the time. 

Despite its pristine beaches, Crete is really for history lovers – one of the most advanced and unique cultures in the world sprung up on Crete – the Minoans. They existed from 2700 to 1450 BC and gave us some of the earliest glimpses of the advancements and achievements of original Greek civilizations. Thanks to a British archeologist, Arthur Evans, the world is currently graced with thousands of paintings, artifacts, dishes, statues, and sculptures from the Minoan people that allow us to peer into their life and culture. The Minoans were politically, legally, religiously, and culturally advanced, existing in great wealth and prosperity (at the time) within one giant area of buildings in an area called Knossos. Historians disagree as to the eventual downfall of the Minoans – some say the Minoan civilization fell apart due to declining trust in the material wealth and economic center of the area; others suggest a volcanic eruption on the island of Santorini literally destroyed the Minoan civilization; and yet others argue that constant warfare eventually rendered the civilization incapable of thriving. 

PALACE OF KNOSSOS

Andy and I woke up that morning and headed downstairs for breakfast. We checked out the menu prior to venturing downstairs, and discovered an interesting twist. On the menu was two fascinating options: ‘Cake” and “Variety of Cakes.” How can anyone ignore THAT?!

After eating our fill of cake (ok, neither of us had cake, but we still got a kick out of the menu), we caught a cab to visit the Palace of Knossos.

The Palace of Knossos was the epicenter of the Minoan civilization and existed in the oldest city in Crete, also called Knossos. The palace is 150,000 square feet with interconnecting rooms, storerooms, and work spaces. The palace really didn’t come into prominence until Arthur Evans excavated and restored the area, and thus the initial construction and subsequent timeline of its existence is heavily debated. What has been agreed upon however is that original construction began around 1950 BC with the building of the first palace which was later destroyed. The second palace was built right on top of it. The palace was permanently destroyed around 1300 BC when the Minoan civilization and the area of Knossos was occupied and eventually taken over by the Mycenaeans.

When we first walked into the palace from the western entrance, we found ourselves in the West Court. The courtyard area was apparently a very sacred space. There are altars there and three ceremonial walkways. This included an area with large deep holes reinforced by inner stone walls. There seemed to be a debate as to what these “holes” were used for – some historians believed they were simply large storage areas, others believed they were areas to dump sacrificial animal bodies.

One of the “holes”

Ruins near the west entrance

The courtyard

Beyond the west entrance to the right were remands from the Prepalatial Period (pre-2000 BC) and the Neolithic Settlement.

Leading down from the courtyard; remains from the Prepalatial Period

After making our way through the ruins from the Prepalatial Period, we walked though the South Propylaeum, which was the main area of the southern entrance to the palace. Arthur Evans, the archeologist I mentioned earlier, was responsible for the reconstruction and care given to this particular part of the palace. While there are only a couple pillars and walls left, this area was apparently 3-5 stories high.

On the side of the South Propylaem was the Minoan Fresco of the Procession. The paintings that existed throughout the palace awed me – their colors were vivid and bright, almost like they had been painted the day before. I learned from the “Explore Crete” website that the paintings were made with plant dyes mixed onto damp plaster. Basically what this did was allow the color to soak into the plaster which created a permanent color. This is what is known as “fresco painting,” which most people attribute to church frescos, but which apparently existed centuries earlier. Here is the Minoan Fresco of the Procession:

Next we wandered into the Throne Room, dating from the Creto-mycenaean period. It is one of the few parts of the Palace that are closed to the public. Instead of walking around the Throne Room, you had to stand in a line and move slowly along an open-squared area blocked off by rope.

There is an alabaster throne on the North wall, as well as benches and a basin used for ritual cleansing.

This door leads to secondary rooms housing figures of divinities and ritual vessels.

Basin at the bottom and fresco paintings across the walls



Replication of the wooden throne

After the Throne Room we went down a small area to see the grand staircase. It led down to the Royal Apartments, but unfortunately the staircase is closed to conserve it. From what I could understand, despite the fact that we take stairs for granted, the grandiose length and steepness of the stairs was a huge feat of architecture. It was beautiful to see even if we couldn’t walk down them.

The most famous part of the Palace was the northern entrance with the “bull fresco.” The fresco emulated the tradition of bull handling, with many historians speculating the Minoans practiced bull jumping, a dangerous and risky sport that involved grabbing the horns of a charging bull and attempting to flip over the animal.

HERAKLION ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

After exploring the palace we made our way to the Heraklion Archaeological Museum located in the center of town. This museum was huge. It took us forever to get through it but it was definitely worth it. It prides itself on being one of the largest and most important museums in Greece and in Europe, and it truly is. It contains artifacts, statues, jewelry, pottery, paintings, weapons, and you-name-it from 5,500 years of Greek civilization ranging from the Neolithic period to the Romans. It is widely thought of as the premier museum for Minoan artifacts and history, and if you have any interest in the Minoian civilization, this museum cannot be beat. 

For being built in 1940, the museum looks surprisingly modern, with cool, air conditioned halls, wide viewing areas, and ideal lighting. Tours were available to the public starting in 1952 and the exhibits appear to be all chronological, which is ideal when attempting to decipher and understand the complicated and often over-lapping civilizations and peoples of early Greece. According to its website, the museum boasts “pottery, carved stone objects, seals, small sculptures, metal objects and wall-paintings.” There are a total of 24 rooms covering two floors, with different themes in each area, including Minoan wall-paintings, mortuary habits of early Greek people, writings, and bureaucratic and political administration artifacts. Here are some of the interesting things we saw while exploring the museum (I did my best to remember what everything was….there was so many artifacts it was impossible to write everything down!)

Bronze daggers

Minoan jewelry and head pieces

Bull terracotta figurine

Hagia Triada Sarcophagus

Dolphin Fresco from the Knossos Palace

Kamares Vase

Bull jumping fresco

The Bull’s Head Rython. It is made with Steatite. It’s eyes are made of red jasper and the line around his nose is made with marble.

Knossos Palace model

The museum was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. You probably could have spent days in that museum looking at every artifact and piece of history. It was also incredibly sad to leave because the air conditioning in there was DELICIOUS. It was hard to walk outside into the blazing heat and humidity.

We walked around the center of town for a bit and made our way down towards the Koules Fortress.

The Koules Fortress stands at the westernmost water point of the Heraklion port. It sits opposite to what is commonly referred to as the “Small Koules,” which was eventually leveled to build the pier. The necessity of fortifying the Crete coastline didn’t come into effect until well after the first Byzantine period when Turkish and Arab pirates began attacking the island. After the first Byzantine period, the people of Crete attempted to build a variety of fortresses, many which were looted and destroyed by the different enemies throughout the eras.

The most influential of these enemies was the Venetians, who refortified the walls, and transformed the fort into what is now the Koules Fortress. The Venetians, however, referred to it as the Rocca al Mare or “Fort of the Sea.” The fort has two floors, with the ground floor divided into 26 apartments with skylights. The fort also has a bakery, a small church, a garrison, and a lighthouse.

After exploring the Fortress, we walked up and down the long stretch of walkway leading out into the Aegean. It was fun to watch all the boats and fisherman along the side. The water was a deep beautiful blue.

While strolling along the walkway, I saw an older Greek gentleman on the side of the port area selling paintings. He was even painting one when I stopped to look at his work. He had a little table and an umbrella set up to do his painting and protect him from the rain and the wind. All his paints were lined up in small dishes, with some of his old brushes soaking in tubs or laying out in the sun to dry. His paintings were beautiful and I couldn’t stop looking at them. He had numerous sizes, all painted on large canvases. I chatted with him a bit (his English was great), and learned every morning he would load up his car with his paintings and all his accessories, and drive out to the port area to paint and sell his paintings. Some days he said he couldn’t paint enough to keep customers happy, and other days he wouldn’t sell any. He was fun and jovial and couldn’t get over the fact that Andy and I were from Alaska (“ALASKA!? Wooooowwwwww, you are the first person I meet from Alaska!”).

He had an entire set of beautiful paintings of Oia, Santorini. I spent a lot of time while in Oia looking for a beautiful picture or painting to put in my office and I could just never find one I liked. They all seemed so generic and many stores had the same prints. I wanted one that was a true original. So, I decided to buy one of these man’s paintings. He was so happy and helped me pick out the one I wanted.

The painting I picked. The area of Oia where Andy and I stayed is in this picture.

I tried to get him to pose for a picture with me but he was so happy and excited he didn’t really look at the camera.

I paid him for the picture, and he gently took it off the wooden frame and packaged it up for me. He offered to let me have the frame but I told him I couldn’t get it on the plane or in my luggage. He slowly removed each staple so it wouldn’t tear, and rolled it up with two reams of tissue paper and wrapped a thin paper bag over it. Before he wrapped it he showed me how to clean it; he said with the wind sometimes the paintings get dusty. I thanked him so much, he gave me a big hug and said “Maybe one day I’ll see you in Alaska!” I told him he was welcome anytime.

The painting is laying in my office ready to be framed. I have a spot on my wall picked out for it.

We walked around the city of Heraklion and the port area a bit more and stopped for some snacks and a glass of wine. Heraklion was an interesting city, with small side streets filled with shops and restaurants.

Streets with vendors, cafes, restaurants, and bars

We only had that one day in Crete and tried to see as much as we could. Unfortunately it was a Sunday and a lot of the other museums and cultural sites were not open. We spent a lot of time just walking around, but it was a nice day and we enjoyed the exercise.

Eventually it came time to make our way to the ferry port. The Megaron Hotel had kindly stored our things at their front desk, so we stopped by to pick them up and walked across the street to the port to wait for our ferry. Unlike the other ferries, this ferry was out of this world. It was pretty much a cruise ship. We had a VERY long ferry ride back to Athens, which spanned over an entire evening. Andy was able to book us a “cabin” but we were’t entirely sure from the ferry’s website what that exactly meant. I was bracing myself for having to sleep in a chair or on the floor somewhere, but we were pleasantly surprised.

The ferry was beautiful. It had an inner bar and restaurant with a small cafe, a large outdoor deck with a pool (although it wasn’t filled at the time we were there), an outdoor bar, and a lounge area. Our “cabin” ended up being our own private room! It had two double beds, a little desk and a window, and a full bathroom and closet. It was cozy and perfect for the long ferry ride.

Andy in our little ferry hotel!

I didn’t even care how small that bathroom was or that the boat was swaying about, I was so happy to have our own private space on a ferry for once. And after that looooong day in Crete, that was the best shower of my life.

The only bad part about our day in Crete is I missed little Sofia’s first birthday party. Sofia is my legal assistant’s daughter. I was thinking about her the whole day and wished I could have been there.

Playing with her birthday presents. Caroline bought her this tutu, shirt, and headband. It was handmade and looked so cute on her.

I’ll be there for Birthday #2 Wincess. Miss Arrisun promises!

Andy and I hung outside at the outdoor bar for a bit but eventually retired to our room. We were exhausted. Tomorrow we were headed back to the Athens airport to pick up our rental car and make our way to MOUNT OLYMPUS!