Architecture
Cast your eyesaround most major Western cities and you’ll eventually
fi nd a reinterpretation of classical Greek architecture. The Renaissance
was inspired by the ancient style as was the neoclassical movement
and the British Greek Revival. For those of you with an eye to the past,
part of the allure of Greece is the sheer volume of its well-preserved
temples. Stand in the ruins of the extraordinary Parthenon, and with a
little eff ort of the imagination, it’s easy to transport yourself back to clas-
sical 5th-century Greece.
It’s also an exciting time for modern Greece: visitors can track the
country’s transition from fugly modern high-rise to exciting modern
hi-tech, and heritage gurus are restoring neoclassical glamour with
sassy retrofi ts. Much of Greece is moving forward, including its past.
Minoan Magnifi cence
Most of our knowledge of Greek architecture proper begins at around
2000 BC with the Minoans, who were based in Crete but whose in-
fl uence spread throughout the Aegean to include the Cyclades.
Minoan architects are famous for having constructed technologically
advanced, labyrinthine palace complexes. The famous site at Knossos
is one of the largest. Usually characterised as ‘palaces’, these sites were
in fact multifunctional settlements that were the primary residenc-
es of royalty and priests, but housed some plebs, too. Large Minoan
villages, such as those of Gournia and Palekastro in Crete, also
included internal networks of paved roads that extended throughout
the countryside to link the settlements with the palaces. More Minoan
palace-era sophistication exists at Phaestos, Malia and Ancient Zakros
GRANDEUR OF KNOSSOSAccording to myth, the man tasked with designing a maze to withhold the dreaded Mi-
notaur was famous Athenian inventor Daedalus, father of Icarus. He also designed the
palace of Knossos for King Minos.
First discovered by a Cretan, Milos Kalokirinos, in 1878, it wasn’t until 1900 that the
ruins of Knossos were unearthed by an Englishman, Sir Arthur Evans. The elaborate
palace complex at Knossos (p452) was originally formed largely as an administrative
settlement surrounding the main palace, which comprised the main buildings arranged
around a large central courtyard (1250 sq metres). Over time the entire settlement was
rebuilt and extended. Long, raised causeways formed main corridors; narrow labyrin-
thine chambers fl anked the palace walls (this meandering fl oor plan, together with the
graphic ritual importance of bulls, inspired the myth of the labyrinth and the Minotaur).
The compound featured strategically placed interior light wells, sophisticated ventila-
tion systems, aqueducts, freshwater irrigation wells, and bathrooms with extensive
plumbing and drainage systems. The ground levels consisted mostly of workshops,
cylindrical grain silos and storage magazines.