Heraklion

Justin and I distinctly remember learning about the Minoans, Minotaur, and Knossos in our ancient civilization classes in middle school. This was going to be one of our cruise excursions right outside Heraklion, and with the cruise cancelled, figured we’d go ourselves. Plus, as our ferry to Santorini leaves from the central capital of Heraklion, I decided to book a hotel near the port. The drive from Chania to Heraklion can take up to 3 hours and with only one high speed ferry leaving at 8 am daily, figured this was the safest choice.

So after breakfast and checking out, we drove a little less than 2.5 hours east from Chania on the northern coast to the Heraklion metro area. Some pics of our drive:





The ancient city of Knossos, is considered the home to the very first civilization of Europe, the Minoans. The first excavations were undertaken in the 1870s by Minos Kalokairinos, a Cretan himself and then by a Brit named Sir Arthur Evans in the 1900s. Due to the fact that cement was used to restore the ruins, the site cannot be considered a UNESCO site, but as our tour guide said, Evans did the best that he could.

We learned, although it’s commonly called the Palace of Knossos, it was technically not a palace. Through continued research and archaeological theory evolutions, this was the economic and social center and not the residence of the Minos, or local leader.

Furthermore, the corridors and the labyrinth was actually above ground, but due to volcanic eruptions, the area was buried and initially believed to be below. We learned about the nearby aqueduct and the cisterns used to store water and their drainage system. The many frescoes and original columns are now at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum which we didn’t opt into as we were feeling a bit tour fatigue. Some photos of the ruins:













Here’s the Throne Room…







They also stored various items in large jars and apparently these are original:





Here’s the Grand Staircase:



What was believed to be initially the Royal Apartments:



They also revered the bull as it was the age of the Taurus and they could see that constellation vividly. Furthermore, there was the legend of Poseidon sending a bull, and the Minos leader’s wife, Pasiphaë mated with it birthing a half bull man called the Minotaur. As the Minoans conquered the Mediterranean, young girls and boys were sent as offerings to the island and people believed they were eaten by the Minotaur who lived in the labyrinth, but really they became local slaves.

Here’s the famous bull fresco:





Then our tour ended at the square-ish theater:



Throughout our visit, you could hear the squawking of very loud peacocks as it was mating season:





After the tour, we drove north to a village called Archanes - a view from our drive:



Google Maps led us into some tiny alleys, so we parked the car and walked to the central square. We ultimately decided on Taverna Spitiko where we shared pork mezze, zucchini fritters, and a salad after running into the same Aussies that were on our Monday olive oil tasting tour:



We filled up the rental car with gas, and drove about 20 minutes into Heraklion where we checked into the GDM Megaron Hotel, and then dropped off the car across the street. We previewed where we need to be tomorrow morning as well.

After some naps, we checked out the rooftop bar for some harbor views influenced by the Venetians:



The front desk associate told me that we would be able to see our Seajets ferry after 6 pm:



We then walked into the town center which was very cute. We first stopped at the Venetian Loggia which is now the Town Hall with a cool courtyard:





We also passed by Lions Square and Morosini Fountain:



Nearby, we ended up at Ritz Heraklion where we shared pizza, shrimp pasta, and chicken paccheri and continued to test my basic Greek language skills:



For dessert, we walked downhill back to our hotel with chocolate frozen yogurt. We got to see more of Heraklion than if we were on our cruise!