Minoan architecture is the Bronze Age building tradition of Crete, best known through the palace at Knossos, the largest and best known centre of the Minoan civilisation. The first palace was built around 1900 BC and was rebuilt and expanded after a major destruction around 1700 BC, when it was reconstructed with its central court, monumental entrances, staircases, magazines, reception rooms, ritual spaces, light wells, drainage systems and richly decorated wall paintings. The multi-storey complex covered approximately 20,000 square meters, its west wing held magazines, the Throne Room complex and pillar crypts, and the Throne Room complex contains a lustral basin.
Facts
Minoan Architecture
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Influenced
Mycenaean palatial architecture derived significant technique and decorative vocabulary from Minoan Crete.
Notable Examples
The Bronze Age Minoan palace complex on Crete, the type site of Minoan architecture.
Source Knossos - Wikipedia
Source Wikipedia: Phaistos
In the Other Atlases
Originated In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.
Sources
1. Getty Research Institute, Art and Architecture Thesaurus: Minoan
Getty Research Institute, Art and Architecture ThesaurusScope noteQuote, Scope note
from around 3,500 BCE to around 1,050 BCE
Knossos (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead section, Minoan centre
The site was occupied from the Neolithic period into the first millennium AD and became the largest and best-known centre of the Minoan civilisation.
Lead section, palace dates
The first palace was built around 1900 BC on a hill that had already been occupied for several millennia. It was rebuilt and expanded after a major destruction around 1700 BC and remained the central monument of Knossos into the Late Bronze Age.
History, Second Palace period
The palace was reconstructed with its central court, monumental entrances, staircases, magazines, reception rooms, ritual spaces, light wells, drainage systems and richly decorated wall paintings.
Architecture, size
The multi-storey complex covered approximately 20,000 m2 (220,000 sq ft).
Architecture, west wing
The west wing contained important administrative and ritual areas, including magazines, the Throne Room complex, pillar crypts and repositories.
Throne Room
It contains a gypsum seat set against the wall, benches, a lustral basin and painted griffins.
Arthur Evans
Evans established "Minoan" as the archaeological designation for the Bronze Age civilisation of Crete, drawing on the myth of King Minos.
View the Source Knossos - Wikipedia
Notable Examples: Palace of Knossos, Article bodyQuote, Notable Examples: Palace of Knossos, Article body
The palace includes examples of the distinctive Minoan column.
Wikipedia: Phaistos
Notable Examples: Phaistos, LeadQuote, Notable Examples: Phaistos, Lead
It is notable for the remains of a Minoan palace and the surrounding town.
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