readx;? Knossos is located in the north of Crete, where the first palace was built in 2100 BC. Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info then palaces also appeared in Faeste, Maria, Zacquero and other places.

In 1900 BC, the Minoan dynasty was established, uniting the whole of Crete. Reigned: 1900-1600 BC.

Before the establishment of the Minoan Dynasty, the ruling nations on Crete were mainly from Egypt, so they have been deeply influenced by the ancient Egyptian civilization, and the city-states were all subject states of the ancient Egyptian dynasty.

After the establishment of the Minoan dynasty, it refused to become a vassal state of the ancient Egyptian dynasty. Only ordinary commercial relations with the ancient Egyptian dynasties.

The palace of Knossos was destroyed in the final battle of the War of Unification. After the establishment of the Minoan dynasty, the reconstruction of the royal palace began. The Minoans rebuilt the more palatial palace, a perfect complex of buildings with more than two floors, dedicated to the sacrificial scene.

There are two architectural forms unique to Crete:

The first form of architecture: all the rooms are arranged around a central square courtyard, connected to each other by a labyrinthine of intricate passageways, while this larger square is entered from the long side and divided longitudinally by a number of columns. i.e. labyrinthine architecture.

The second form of architecture: the main rooms are in the form of the so-called main hall. It stands on its own, separated from the rest by a corridor, and can be accessed from a foyer on the short side. It has a central fireplace, surrounded by columns and possibly with direct access to the sky, and there is no central courtyard, with the rest of the rooms grouped into separate sections. That is, a palace-style building

The Palace of Minossos has two architectural forms at the same time.

The huge palaces of Crete provide evidence of the existence of the island's monarchical regime.

The Minoan dynasty with its capital in Knossos. Its king, who was also the high priest of nature worship that flourished at the time, ordered the construction of a magnificent stone palace. He also received tribute from weaker tribes, such as Prince Festos, who ruled the plains of Messara. The Minoan monarch had a sea connection with Egypt and sent his goods to various parts of the South Aegean Sea, and in exchange received goods such as obsidian knives. In addition, they developed an iconographic writing system in the early days, but only a small number of inscriptions that remained on durable objects were preserved. The style of native painting on ceramic objects or plaster has also become increasingly sophisticated, and the shape of the pottery suggests that they also have a high degree of metallurgy.

Legends about King Minos:

King Minos, the owner of the palace of Knossos, is the son of the main gods Zeus and Europa, holding a "double-edged axe" that symbolizes the dual rights of the human world and the gods, and dominates the Mediterranean world. Later, Poseidon, one of the Olympian gods, asked King Minos to kill a bull as a sacrifice for himself, and King Minos not only did not carry out his will, but also offered the bull to him. Poseidon was furious, and even had the bull mate with the wife of the king of Minos, giving birth to a monster Minotaur with the head of a bull. In order to cover up the ugliness, King Minos ordered the construction of a special royal palace (a labyrinth, legend has it that those who enter it will not find their way and never get out, the first architectural form of the Cretan civilization described earlier) to imprison the Minotaur, and also demanded that Athens pay Crete an annual tribute of seven pairs of virgins as food for the Minotaur.

One year, Theseus, the only son of the king of Athens, volunteered to bring other virgins to Crete. Handsome and courageous, he soon won the heart of Ariat, the daughter of King Knossos, and gave Theseus a sword and a ball of thread. Theseus led the thread and sword to the Minotaur, killed the monster with the head of the bull and the human body, and followed the thread out of the labyrinth.

British archaeologist Evans et al., found the ruins of the Minoan Palace on a gentle slope called Kevlar Mountain in Knossos, covering an area of 22,000 square meters, with more than 1,500 large and small palace rooms, the floors are closely connected, the stairway corridor is tortuous and complex, the halls are scattered, the patios are numerous, the layout is not symmetrical, it is surprisingly ingenious, and it is difficult for outsiders to find it.

The palace of King Knossos, built on a hill, is very large. In the center is a rectangular courtyard measuring 27.4 meters from east to west and 51.8 meters from north to south. The palace is centered on the central courtyard, the west building of the courtyard is mainly used for office gatherings, rituals and stockpiling, and the east building is the dormitory (the main hall [also called the "double axe hall", the symbol of the king of Minos] is the king's living place), living room, school and workshop. There is an amphitheater in the north and a staircase in the southeast corner that leads to the bottom of the mountain.

There are stairs connecting all the floors, especially the central grand staircase on the east side of the courtyard is the most magnificent, it has a patio for light, three sides form a colonnade, the corridor is wide, the color is gorgeously painted, next to it is the inner and outer two rooms of the double axe hall, separated by folding doors, which can keep warm in winter and ventilate in summer, showing the dexterity of Minoan architecture. The Queen's Quarters, next to the Hall of the Two Axes, is a typical Minoan luxury dwelling, with beautiful frescoes of dolphins playing in the water on the walls, and adjoining rooms with bathrooms and flushing toilets, and the frescoes throughout the palace are also masterpieces of ancient art. Judging from the various exquisite pottery excavated, the handicraft industry was quite developed at that time. In short, the architecture of the royal palace, from the post roads from Knossos to the plain of Faeste, the smelting of bronze, the long-handled bronze sword with ridges, the thin-shelled pottery, the richly painted pottery called the "Camares", and the early hieroglyphs, etc., all show the high level of cultural development at that time.

The interior of the palace is staggered, and the staircase is twisting and turning. Crete has a mild climate and an open colonnade layout in the palace halls. Decorative structure: architectural elements, such as columns, cornices, and different decorative lines, the pillars are thick and thin, well-proportioned, upright and handsome, and wall decorations, such as frescoes, colored reliefs, and mosaic collages, with realistic mural style and rich colors, and the corners of the walls are made of large stones.

No obvious temple architecture has been found, but the altar and the " (religious enclosure) are recognizable on intaglios and frescoes.

To date, the altar has only been found in the palace, indicating that the king also held religious power in his hands, representing the theocratic character of the Minoan dynasty.

The Minoan artifacts contain a very sophisticated system of records, accounting, and other secretarial work, showing the existence of a considerable legal system.

The life of the ruling class was very comfortable, even from the point of view of the early society. They had elaborately decorated stone palaces with separate dormitories, huge halls, and ingenious devices that brought in light and air. Public facilities: paved, stepped roads, bridges, sanitary systems, and state-of-the-art drainage and water supply systems. Even the small dwellings of the inhabitants were made of stone with plaster inside. Cretan palaces have more than one floor, beautiful staircases, bathrooms, windows, folding doors and sliding doors. In the final phase, the arrangement of apartment rooms in some palaces suggests that there were at least separately spaced harems in the ruling class. The evidence is that Minoan frescoes depict groups of segregated women wearing jeweled ornaments (the princesses of the harem).

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