CRETE
Greece's largest island has the dubious distinction of playing host to a
quarter of all visitors to Greece. It's still possible to find some peace by
visiting the undeveloped west coast, the rugged mountainous interior and
the villages of the Lassithi plateau. Crete was the centre of the Minoan
culture, Europe's first advanced civilisation, which flourished from 2800 to
1450 BC. The palace of Knossos, just outside Crete's largest city, Iraklio,
is the most magnificent of Crete's Minoan sites. The beginning of the Minoan Period coincides with the beginning of the Bronze Age. The new civilization which would
develop on and would come to dominate the island for 1,200 years was brought to Crete around 2,600 B.C. by a people out of Asia Minor. Perhaps other people also came there from Egypt and Libya but they did not, however, have any relationship to the races of the Egyptians and the Semites. It is probable that all these newly arrived people belonged to the
Indo-European race. Unfortunately, we do not know what language they spoke, just as we know very little about the history of Minoan Crete in general.
The lack of knowledge, however, in regard to its history has been partially obviated by the great wealth of finds the archaeological pick has brought to light. Due to these finds we have a fairly good idea of the achievements of Minoan civilization in art, social development and economic organization.
From these rich finds we can separate the Minoan Period into smaller periods and sub-periods. According to Evans the division was as follows: Early Minoan Period
(2600-2100 B.C.)
Many travellers spend a day trekking though the 18km-long Samaria Gorge to get to
Agia Roumeli on the southwest coast. Further along the south coast, which is too precipitous to support large settlements, are the villages of Loutro and Hora Sfakion, linked by boat. The climate on the south coast is so mild that swimming is possible from April to November.
email me
add as friend
Comments for Raffael about Greece