Wednesday 11 October 2017

Heraklion, Greece

Excursion: "The Best of Crete"

Forecast: Mostly sunny clear skies

Max: 23°

Second visit to Crete - First to Heraklion, Greece

The largest city and the capital of Crete, Heraklion harbours a wealth of Venetian architecture, including the city walls and fortress. Further afield, you visit the vintage Cretan villages and get a feel for the local lifestyle.

Digressing from the "norm" and in keeping with celebrity status, I have invited a "guest blogger" to contribute to this article. Phillip has held a deep intrigue of the Minoan civilisation and it is only fitting (and very appreciated), that he prepared this blog, at least the "historical" part, thank you darling.

Heraklion is the capital of Crete and largest city with about 180,000 people.

Today we were going to see Knossos the ancient centre of the Minoans. This was quite a moving day for me because I had always been intrigued by the Minoans - the essential lost civilisation, only rediscovered at the end of the 19th century, and we were going there!

Knossos is in the outskirts of Heraklion in a close mountain valley, with snow capped mountains in the winter, and a stream flowing nearby. Our guide Irene (pronounced Eereenee) told us that there was a breeze in that part of the valley which came up about 10am each day and cooled the valley, and it was there just like clockwork. It made summer bearable.

Language note. - I never know where the emphasis is going to be in modern Greek words. Knossos is actually stressed on the last syllable (so knossOS).

The site of Knossos was discovered in 1878 by local, Minos Kalokairinos and the excavations in Knossos began in 1900 by the English archaeologist Arthur Evans and his team, and continued for 35 years. The size of the site is enormous - at least as big as the pyramid site. The scale and sophistication far exceeded expectations. After being to the site you can see how the story of the Minotaur and the Labyrinth came about.

The Minoan civilisation is at the same time as early Egypt and Sumer. Their trading links and cultural influence reached as far as Germany, the Middle East, Egypt and Sub-Saharan Africa. (Ivory decorates the walls of their palaces.)

One of the most interesting things was the plumbing. Yes the plumbing! They had running water in the palaces and reticulated toilets, using fired clay pipes. And this is further way in time from the Romans than the Romans are from us.

The Minoans used a phonetic writing script (writing down the sounds rather than pictures), which has not been translated yet, so there is still a great deal of mystery about them. What we know of them we surmise from their artwork, painting and pottery.

In the photos you see elegant staircases and beautifully painted walls, some of which have been redone after the fragments found in the ruins. They seem to have been much more life affirming than say the Egyptians. Even a funeral procession looked joyous. They seem to have worshipped the bull (or at lest were very fond of them). There are many pictures of bulls and contests with bulls which were acrobatic rather than what we know as bull fighting, and with both men and women participating.

The Minoan use of doors and windows for climate control was amazing too, and experiments have shown that whatever the weather outside, inside could by made to be comfortable - summer or winter. Some of the structures were up to five stories with light wells and water collection areas.

Their style of building would influence the Greek and Romans, and some of the features would not be out of place in a Frank Lloyd Wright home.

What happened to them? There is evidence of a very large earthquake about 2000 BC, which they recovered from, and then another about 1300 BC. They were unable to recover because of an invasion from the Greek mainland. Their civilisation disappeared.

…The blog's originator takes over….

We left Knossos, an hour's drive, through the ever-changing Cretan countryside, we arrived at Aghios Nikolaos, one of the island's most famous resorts. Boasting a superb setting on the Bay of Mirabello, built around the harbour and Lake Voulismeni, now interconnected by canals, the area is filled with a variety of shops and cafes of every description and we had approximately one hour to explore.

A typical Greek luncheon with wine and coffee was served at a local restaurant.

You can see from the picture, the very large but empty baskets sitting on the tables (a Greek version of a "lazy Susan"). I forgot in my enthusiasm to take of photo after the huge amount of food was brought out and placed on these baskets. Believe me, a wonderful banquet was laid on for us and we left the table, well and truly satisfied!

A photo stop was made after lunch to admire the islet of Spinalonfa, a former leper colony dominated by a Venetian fortress. This was the setting for "The Island" by Victoria Hislop who was inspired to write after a visit to the island.

Nearer the ship and the end of this tour, we took advantage of waterfront cafes and enjoyed a Greek version of "iced coffee", very nice, very refreshing on what was an emotion, exhausting and enjoyable adventure.

Crete has always held a place of affection in the minds of students of Greek mythology, and there cannot be many who even as children did not know the story of Theseus and the Minotaur of Crete the fabulous monster with the body of a man and the head of a bull. The Minotaur was supposed to be the offspring of Pasiphae, wife of Minos, son of Zeus, and a snow-white bull which Poseidon had sent to his nephew Minos for sacrifice. Minos spared the bull and Poseidon, as a punishment, inspired his wife with an unnatural passion for it. The monster was shut up in the labyrinth. When Androgeus, son of Minos, was killed by the Athenians who were jealous of his victories in the Panathenaic festival, Minos demanded that seven Athenian youths and seven maidens be sent every year to be devoured by the monster. On one occasion, Theseus volunteered to go and with the help of Minos' daughter Ariadne, who provided him with a ball of thread to trace his way out of the labyrinth, slew the Minotaur.

His return to Greece was awaited anxiously by his father Aegeus, who on seeing the ship carrying the black sails - Theseus had forgotten to change them to white if he was successful - threw himself to his death from the cliff-top of Cape Sounion.