Aghios Nikolaos, Greece and the Minoan Palace of Knossos

We had a bit of a rushed start this morning because I looked at a sheet of paper that had an incorrect departure time.  So, it turned out we only had 30 minutes to get ready to meet the guide.  Bill was the only one who got up early enough to eat breakfast.  Duffy and I did a "banana on the fly"!  Our ship docked at Aghios Nikolaos (Crete), Greece -- St. Nicholas .... We met our guide and set off on an hour drive to the other side of Crete to see the Palace of Knossos.  Actually, it is an amazing archeological site of ruins that were once the Palace of the Minoan King.  The Palace was rediscovered in 1924 by an Englishman , Sir Arthur Evans, right after the expulsion of the Turks by resistance fighters. The Turks arrived in the mid 1600's and conquered the Phoenicians who had been here for 500 years.  The Turkish occupation was devastating for the Cretins.  Their churches were converted to Mosques.  Many were killed and children were not allowed to learn their native language in schools.  It was a very unhappy time for the citizens of Crete....  The Turks were not expelled until the beginning of the 20th century.   

The Ruins of the Palace of Knossos was discovered by Evans in 1924. He spent his life in Crete and used concrete (a new material for his time) to help reconstruct the ruins.  Today you see a mixture of the old original stone work and the "new" concrete additions of Sir Arthur Evans..  The Palace of Knossos is part of the Minataur legend (half man, half bull) who was imprisoned in a labyrinth (the Palace) by the Minoan King.. This palace is the most spectacular and largest of the Minoan civilization. The Palace dates back 3,000 years.  

The guest lecturer aboard our ship had just finished attending a conference that is claiming amazing new information on Crete.  He has not yet published the papers, but they will be forth coming.  They now have proof that there is evidence of human life on Crete 100,000 BC.  Wow.....they have found tools that they can date to that time period....

We concluded a lovely day with a little shopping in the markets of Heraklion and returned to the ship at 3:35.  (All aboard was 3:30 pm).  We went directly to tea (fantastic scones and jam!) and enjoyed every morsel since we had skipped breakfast (timing issue) and had a very light lunch at the coffee shop at the Palace ruins.

Tonight we went to the magic show of Matthew McGurk, the British Magical Champion, and a new friend of Trey's!  We were front and center for tonight's amazing close up magic and Bill was chosen to  go on stage and help with one of the magic tricks!  He had to remember a card he chose, AND he did remember!  ( he was so nervous he was going to forget:)). Great fun!  

Tomorrow we are in Turkey for the first time --Antalya... 

Arriving at Aghios Nikolaos this morning....

The Kings throne room at the Knossos Palace...

The theater-- steps seen behind are the ancient seats...

Ancient Urns that held olive oil or wine...

Note the Bouganvilla arch behind us...

Roots of the Bouganvilla. 

The Queens bedroom at Knossos...

Note the figure leaping over the bull.  They think this was one of the first "sports"!

Though hard to see in this photo, the reproduced columns are smaller at the bottom then the top. This is because it is thought that the columns were made from Cypress Tree trunks.  They turned the tree upside down to prevent further growth...

The 2nd largest Greek Orthodox Church on Crete.  During the Turkish occupation, the dome was added and the church converted to a Mosque.  It was once again a church after the Turks were kicked out in the early 1900's..

Inside the Greek Orthodox Church..

Bill with Magician Matthew McGurk for an up close amazing card trick...