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| The ruins of Knossos |
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| The ruins of Gournia |
Extensive ruins resonate with Crete's past
Just outside the city lie the ruins of Knossos, the largest Minoan palace ever built. The palace visible today was built at the height of Minoan power around 1700 B.C.E. Frescoes and fragments of sculpture hint at the vastness of Knossos, which once had hundreds of rooms on several floors.
While Knossos reveals the grandeur of the Minoan upper class, the ruins of Gournia show how the commoners lived, from the tools they used to their religious beliefs. Gournia is the best-preserved Minoan town: alleys, stairways and entire city blocks map out a town built 3,500 years ago.