Overview

Knossos (also spelled Cnossus) is located 3.1 miles (5 km) inland from the northern coast of Crete near the present-day town center of Heraklion (Iraklion). Known in Greek mythology as the capitol of King Minos and the site of the Minotaur's labyrinth, Knossos was the center of Minoan civilization, the earliest of all Aegean civilizations.

Greek myth and epic poetry attested to the existence of an ancient city called Knossos on Crete. Later inhabitants of the region often found artifacts of previous civilizations when they tilled their fields. Originally attracted by the discovery of stones bearing an unknown script, British linguist and archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans (1851-1941) first visited Crete in 1894 hoping to decipher the script and link the Cretan tablets with similar artifacts of the recently discovered Mycenaean civilization in...