Turkiye and Greece - April 27, 2026

April 27, 2026

Our excursions today took us to two places that were somewhat related.  Both told of the history of the Minoan culture, the first to settle the island of Crete.  We first traveled to the Palace of Knossos, a massive palace that originally dated back to around 2000 B.C.  After being destroyed a couple of times by earthquakes and once by fire the palace was eventually rebuilt around 1500 B.C.  Each time the palace was rebuilt a little bigger and a little more grand.  It eventually covered an area around 22,000 square meters.  The palace was occupied from its origin around 2000 B.C. to around 900 A.D., some 3000 years.

Our second excursion took us to the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion.  This museum contained many artifacts dating from the stone age (around 7000 B.C.).  A bulk of the artifacts came from the times from 3000 B.C. to 1500 B.C.  There was a great deal of pottery, tools and utensils from the bronze age, and a great deal of jewelry.

A throne in the palace.  Simple but got the idea across

This is part of the palace.  It has a reconstructed fresco painting.  Note the inverted downward taper on the columns.

This 5000 year old street is still usable today.

Examples of pottery at the museum dating back over 3000 years.

Large pot with an octopus.  Also over 3000 years old.

Bull leaping.  This fresco is 3500 years old.  The men were painted red while the women were painted white.

Lioness head carving.  The eyes and nose were originally jewels.

The Minoans originally buried their people in large pottery jars.

Flat Lizzy went with us today.  She posed with Bear Paw at the entrance to the palace.

And of course she got ‘bunny ears’.

As we bid farewell to Crete we saw a beautiful sunset.

We dock in Athens tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow will be another adventure.

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