Things to see and do
There is much to do and see in Crete, we have given you a long
list of possibilities. I would suggest that you discuss your activities
and tours with Antonios upon your arrival, he is a wealth of information
and will talk to you about your choices, and help with the arrangements.
He may also give you some suggestions that you had not thought of!
And if you would like to get a head start, it would be my pleasure
to give you any information that you require!
Knossos
 On
Friday March 23, 1900 at 11am Arthur Evans began his excavation
of Knossos. Although he was not the first to excavate at the site,
that honor belongs to a Greek appropriately called Minos Kalokairinos
in 1878, it was to be Evans who uncovered the Knossos Palace and
brought to light this unknown civilization - possibly the oldest
in Europe. The basic excavation of the site took 4 years and for
the rest of his life Evans continued working on the site, reconstruction
and building, often in an attempt to preserve the remains from the
weather to which they have been exposed for the first time in 3,500
years. Evans designated the building at Knossos a palace and named
the civilization that had built it the Minoans, after King Minos
of Greek Mythology. Since then the actual function of the building
and of the other palaces has been questioned and new interpretations
advanced. Alternative views consider the 4 large palaces of Minoan
Crete to be temples or administrative centers or both and in one
interpretation; Knossos is seen as a neoropolis - a huge burial
site to which only a small band of priests and embalmers had access.
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