Knossos Crete Palace Guide Page Five

Maintenance of Knossos and other Minoan Sites -- Knossos is visited by more than a million people a year. This most spectacular Minoan site and all others are overseen by an 'ephor' (director) of prehistoric and classical antiquities in Central Crete who is responsible for maintaining the sites, managing the museum in Heraklion, and in issuing permits to those building near the sites before any construction is done. Excavations must also be carried out before any construction near the sites begins.

The fame of the Knossos site has brought wealth to Crete, but also threats to it from developers and from sheer weathering. Sir Arthur Evans, who most likely could see what would happen in decades to come with the excavation of this remarkable site, purchased not only the palace grounds, but surrounding land as well to keep it free of new buildings. He even landscaped those areas.

Read more about this far-sighted, visionary man dedicated to the preservation of Knossos in Sir Arthur Evans and the Minoans: The Archaeology of Myth and Ideals by Sandy MacGillivray. New York: Strauss and Giroux.

More Knossos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Kindly See our 10 day Athens-Crete-Santorini travel Itinerary Minoan Magic and also our Eco-Crete Guide and Crete Greek Island guides.