But already quite after, around
1600 BC in the lately Minoan time the Cretans started to rebuild their
palaces and even more, they build Knossos, Phaistos, Tylissos, Gournia
and Hagia Triada more
beautiful and magnificent, with more elegance and developed architecture.
During this time were the most building activities on Crete throughout
stimulus and develop of art this time is also said as the golden ages.
The
palaces were rebuilt on the ruins of the old ones, and
Knossos stood out as the biggest one. It was a three floor high building
with an area of more than 20.000 m2. To the palace belonged three kind of
buildings:
-
The living-rooms of the king and
their family, to which belonged also the administration rooms, the throne
room and some centre of cult worship.
-
The second group with the rooms
for accountancy, with a library of scrip slaps and a register.
-
As third group workshops and
material stocks in which were found a lot of ceramics, goldsmith, fresco
paintings till to weaver.
All the palaces
didn't had fortifications, it seems to be that
the citizen felt quite save, the complex of buildings were build around a
central assembly point where more than 30.000 citizens were living. Who
was the king at this time you cannot say anymore today, but it is said
that the role of the woman was quite developed. They developed also their
own letters the linear B scripts and had a big influence not only in the
Aegean area, even in north Africa , Mesopotamia till Italy.
Around 1450
BC with the volcanic eruption in Thira or also
Santorini, came up the quite quick end of the Cretan culture. It
seems it was a really big explosion and drove a huge tidal wave along in
front of it, and destroyed the whole Cretan fleet. The sky kept being dark
for more than weeks and it was raining ash. All the palaces got destroyed
and nearly all also deserted.
In some
places like Hagia Triada or also Knossos
they found tracks which showed that there was a
settlement till 1190 BC.
It seems that Knossos was the only palace where remained some more
citizens. The Mycenaean's conquered the Island
and took over the ruler ship also pirates entered and pillage the island
several times between 1300-1200 BC. Since that
the Minoan culture is history and never could reach again the glory of the
old times. Now it was the time of other cultures, and we will have a look
on the mainland of Greece, more precise to the
Peleponnese and the Mycenaean's which developed another kind of advanced
civilization.
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