Coin variations

Dolphin fresco

The Palace at Knossos is the largest (it covers an area of 20.000 square meters) and most spectacular of all the Minoan palatial centres. It has all the typical features of the architectural type established in ca. 1700 B.C.: four wings arranged around a rectangular, central court, oriented N-S, which is actually the nucleus of the whole complex.

On the east side of the Central Court are the Royal Apartments, accessible by the Grand Staircase, one of the masterpieces of Minoan architecture. The gypsum stairs (almost five flights of steps are preserved) descend to a colonnaded courtyard (Central Light Well), providing light to the lower storeys. Such light wells were a typical characteristic of Knossos.

The Queen’s Megaron is decorated with many frescos; however, the most famous of all is the “dolphin fresco”. The Queen’s Bathroom had a clay bathtub and a fill-up bucket and flush lavatory. Left of the Queen’s Bathroom follows a dark corridor toward the Central Court. After this corridor is a dark room, where a clay tablet was found containing a list of names. Continuing along the corridor you will see a staircase, which leads to the upper floors. Under this flight of steps was found the famous Bull-Leaper statuette made of ivory, displayed in the Archeological Museum of Heraklion

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