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Night location: Heraklion, Greece
The Palace of Knossos was our major objective for today. We arrived early so as to beat the massive cruise boat tour groups and also to avoid the heat of the day. The site has become somewhat infamous as Sir Arthur Evans, the British archaeologist who completed the major excavations in the early 1900s, chose to reconstruct significant portions of the 'palace' in 1925 using concrete widely across the site to create his own version of what the buildings may have originally looked like. This has caused some controversy as on one hand his reconstructions have served to protect some areas of the site and have promoted tourism, while on the other, he has done irreparable damage to the integrity of the remains, preventing future study. This provides an interesting debate regarding conservation and reconstruction in the Year 11 Ancient History Course, so Amber was particularly excited to visit the palace today.
We were really glad that we had visited the Archaeological Museum yesterday as the authentic remains and original frescoes are housed in it, meaning that we had a bit more of an appreciation of the various rooms where major artefacts were found. The information boards were really well written and offered both Evans' interpretation and then commented about the accuracy of these assumptions based on current understanding. Evans was very rarely correct, but as one of the initial boards observed his reconstructions are now a part of the history of this site and can therefore be valued.
After learning about the ancient history of Crete, we visited the Historical Museum to learn more about its modern history. Due to its strategic position in the Mediterranean, Crete came under fire in World War Two. In the relatively short 'Battle of Crete' (13 days) The British Allied forces tried to defend the island, but German paratroopers were ultimately successful, acting as the first ever major airborne invasion. After the initial defeat, the Cretans were the first civilian population to resist the Germans, and engaged in guerrilla warfare tactics. Sadly the response to this was a series of 'collective' punishments or massacres where entire villages were destroyed and the inhabitants shot en masse. Over the four year occupation it is estimated that 20000 Cretans died due to starvation, executions or mass shootings. The civilian resistance of Crete meant that Axis forces had to maintain large garrisons of men which would have otherwise been deployed elsewhere in Europe. The significance of this cannot be underestimated.
Our exploration of this island concludes today. The azure waters and pretty Venetian coastal towns seem to contrast aptly with the rocky interior that seems to only manage to support olive groves and wild brush. We have really enjoyed learning about Crete's ancient and modern history, both bearing witness to times of prosperity and of terrible conflict. Tomorrow we leave the Mediterranean, and head into 'the red'.
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Althea Halliday I found this blog particularly interesting re the history of Crete. What beauty and terror and nobility of character lies in this place. And now it's off to another remarkable place. We shall be most interested in your early and later impressions.