THE HISTORICAL MINOAN SITE OF KNOSSOS NEAR HERAKLION ON THE ISLAND OF CRETE

Knossos is the most important archaeological excavation on the island of Crete. It is 22,000m2 and covers 1500 rooms. Knossos is about 20 minutes drive from Heraklion, slightly dependent on traffic lights and any traffic. The whole place is largely shaped by the fantasy of archaeologist Arthur Evans who started the excavation. I visited this excavation for the first time in 1980 when there were still as good as no visitors. Nowadays it's a busy commercial affair and to see some things you need to wait in line. There are large parking lots, there is a charge for the entrance and the excursion buses ride off and on. The romance of it has disappeared. It's a must to see it once, but when I visited again in 2016 I did not linger around very long. There has been so much written about Knossos that I do not want to dedicate myself to writing more. Give me the excavation of Agia Triada in southern Crete, which is still situated at the end of a dirt road. Here it is much and much quieter and it is better to imagine how it was in Minoan time. This excavation grabs and moves me a lot more.