Knossos Tours & Tickets

Knossos is Europe's oldest civilization, with continuous habitation dating back to around 7000 BCE.

The palace was destroyed and rebuilt at least five times, with the final destruction occurring around 1375 BCE, likely due to volcanic eruption or invasion.

The famous bull-leaping frescoes at Knossos depict a dangerous ritual sport unique to Minoan culture, where young athletes literally jumped over charging bulls.

British archaeologist Arthur Evans excavated and substantially reconstructed Knossos starting in 1900, though modern scholars debate how accurately his 1920s-era reconstructions reflect the original Bronze Age architecture.

Knossos was the ceremonial and political center of the Minoan civilization, which flourished on Crete from roughly 3000 to 1100 BCE and predated classical Greek culture by over a thousand years.

The palace complex covers approximately 24,000 square meters and contains over 1,300 rooms, making it one of the largest Bronze Age structures ever built.