I hope to contact the British School archaeologists working at Knossos while I’m staying in Iraklion next week, but in the meantime, I’ve decided to enjoy the iconic site as a tourist. I’ve visited several times over the years, marveling equally at the romance of the finds–deemed the improbable, mythical “Minotaur’s labyrinth” by its most famous excavator Sir Arthur Evans in the early 20th century–and extent of their reconstruction in reinforced concrete. While structured pathways give the site a sterile feel, the layout and architecture are ever impressive. Not only was the complex fitted with running water and flushing toilets, the doors were designed to slide into the walls of each room, opening up spaces and filling them with light, or closing them off to darken them, as needed.

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My favorite spot at Knossos is this room, where the original alabaster "throne" sits intact. The surrounding reconstructed frescoes depict fantastical griffins. The stone basin on the floor is original, though it was found in an adjacent corridor. The throne faces an open, sunken area surrounded by columns, a type of feature Evans dubbed "Lustral Basins," where he believed purification ceremonies in water took place.

This entry was posted by Eti Bonn-Muller on Wednesday, July 22, 2009. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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