Palace of Knossos

Past
WHO built it: The Minoans.
WHAT was it: Artifacts of the Minoan civilization--the most important place in the land of Keftiu.
WHEN was it built: Starting in 6000 B.C.E., it reached its peak of power around 1500 B.C.E.
WHERE was it: Knossos, Crete.
WHY did they build it: As a center for life, religious rituals, and trade.

Present
WHO excavated it: First Minos Kalokairinos, then Arthur Evans.
WHAT is it: Palace, storeroom, jars, vases, paintings, and other signs of a great civilization.
WHEN did they excavate: Minos Kalokairinos in 1878 and Arthur Evans from 1892.
WHERE did they discover it: Crete.
WHY is it important: To provide information about a civilization that doesn't exist any longer.

The Minoan civilization in Crete was named for a legendary king named Minos. Many things were discovered at this site such as storerooms, jars, and vases. The most impressive was the palace with hundreds of rooms discovered by Sir Arthur Evans in 1894. He started excavating in 1892 and continued digging up the civilization until 1903. Inside the palace, archaeologists found a lot of paintings, many with bulls. The Minoans theough that the bull was a sacred animal. According to Greek legends a half-bull half-man monster called the Minotaur was kept in a maze called the Labyrinth. The palace Evans discovered has long corridors and it may be modeled after the Labyrinth. The palace also has water running in pipes to some of the rooms.

The Minoan civilization died out, perhaps due to an eruption of the volcano of Santorini, an island to Knossos' north, or to some other natural disaster.