Knossos
Knossos was the vast Bronze Age palace complex in Crete — seat of King Minos and the mythological site of the Labyrinth.
The Story of Knossos
Sir Arthur Evans excavated Knossos beginning in 1900 and revealed a palace complex covering over 20,000 square metres with 1,300 rooms, advanced plumbing, frescoes of bull-leaping, and storage magazines for olive oil and grain. He named the civilisation "Minoan" after King Minos. The palace's complexity — corridors within corridors, rooms within rooms — may have inspired the Labyrinth myth. The double-axe symbol (labrys) found throughout may be the Labyrinth's etymological source.
Symbols
Fun Fact
Evans controversially reconstructed parts of Knossos in concrete — creating the colourful "palace" tourists see today, which divides archaeologists.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Crete
🏛 placeIsland of the Minotaur and Minoan civilisation
Crete was the largest Greek island and the seat of the Minoan civilisation, home to King Minos, the labyrinth, and the bull-cult that produced some of mythology's most famous stories.
Labyrinth of Knossos
🏛 placearchitecture, mystery
The legendary maze built by Daedalus to contain the Minotaur, possibly inspired by the elaborate palace at Knossos with its hundreds of interconnecting rooms.
Pylos
🏛 placekingdom, Messenia
A Mycenaean palace-kingdom on the western coast of the Peloponnese, seat of the wise King Nestor in Homeric tradition.
Mycenae
🏛 placeCitadel of Agamemnon
Mycenae was the great Bronze Age citadel in the Argolid, seat of King Agamemnon who led the Greek expedition against Troy — its Lion Gate still stands after 3,200 years.
Arges
🏛 placegeography
The Argolid plain dominated by the city of Argos, one of the oldest and most mythologically saturated regions of Greece.
Didyma
🏛 placegeography
A grand oracular sanctuary of Apollo near Miletus, home to one of the largest temples ever built in the ancient world.
Libya
🏛 placeGeography
The ancient Greek name for the entire continent of Africa, personified as a daughter of Epaphus and Memphis
Phrygia
🏛 placekingdom, Anatolia
An ancient kingdom in central Anatolia famous in Greek myth for King Midas and the cult of the Great Mother goddess Cybele.
Ilium
🏛 placeGeography
The citadel of Troy, site of the legendary ten-year siege by the Greek forces
Corinth
🏛 placeCity of Sisyphus and Medea
Corinth was a wealthy trading city on the narrow isthmus connecting mainland Greece to the Peloponnese, associated with Sisyphus, Medea, Bellerophon, and Pegasus.
Minoa
🏛 placegeography
A name given to several cities across the Greek world, all claiming legendary foundation by or connection to King Minos of Crete.
Lerna
🏛 placeSwamp of the Hydra
Lerna was a marshy region near Argos, famed as the lair of the Lernaean Hydra and believed to contain one of the entrances to the underworld.