The first palace was built near the beginning of the Middle Minoan Period, around 1700 BCE. Knossos is the largest of the preserved Minoan palatial centers. Four wings are arranged around a central courtyard containing the royal quarters, workshops, shrines, storerooms, repositories, throne room, and banquet halls. On the west side, there was a paved market court and a theater area to the north of it. Most buildings were at least two stories, with the lower story being approximately 2.44 meters (8 feet) high. The royal apartments were three stories high, with the upper story at courtyard level and the lower two stories facing outwards towards terraced gardens. Generally the structures were built of cut stone or gypsum blocks in the lower tier and brick or rubble laced with timber in the upper tier.
The Archivision Collection of Ancient Sites was funded by the Jack Martin Balcer Library Endowment.
Keywords: Greece, Crete, Iraklion, Knossos, Ancient Greek, Classical, Mediterranean. Photographed by Scott Gilchrist, Archivision.
