
The day an island was shattered
The eruption of Thera
The modern island of Thera is actually the rim of an old volcano. This volcano had erupted during the Bronze Age. What effect did this massive eruption have in the Aegean, and on nearby Crete in particular?

The cemetery at Armenoi
A Late-Minoan archaeological site
About 8 km south of Rethymno, along the road to Spili, lies the well-signposted archaeological site of Armenoi. It is a cemetery with more than 200 chamber tombs dated to the Late Bronze Age.

From blue boy to blue monkey
Reconstructing a fresco from Knossos
Our ideas of the past are often based on mere scraps of evidence. Nowhere is this more literally true than when it comes to reconstructing ancient wall-paintings, such as the “Saffron Gatherer” from Knossos.

Cult and multiculturalism
A shared sanctuary at Early Iron Age Kommos
In Early Iron Age Kommos, joint participation in religious activity by Cretans and Phoenicians may have fostered a shared identity and ensured peaceful collaboration and coexistence.

An equid from Phaistos
A closer look at a terracotta figurine
The Archaeological Museum of Iraklion has a terracotta rhyton of an equid carrying two vessels. Over time, the interpretation and date for this object have changed. Let’s take a closer look.

An ancient, sacred place
The Melidoni Cave near Rethymno, Crete
Located about 30 km east of Rethymno is Gerontospilios (“Old Cave”), more commonly referred to in English as the Melidoni Cave, an underground site of great historical significance.

Carved into rock
The so-called “caves” (tombs) at Matala
Located on the southern coast of Crete, Matala is a modern beach-side resort with a history that stretches back to ancient times. The only visible remains of the distant past are the artificial caves near the beach.

A swordfish in Agia Galini
A dead swordfish in Agia Galini. The name of the species, Xiphias gladius, incorporates the ancient Greek word for swordfish (xiphias), still used in modern Greek, and the Latin word for sword (gladius).

A “landscape of memory”
Knossos in the Early Iron Age
During the Early Iron Age, people dwelled among the ruins of the palace at Knossos in what we may refer to as a “landscape of memory”, one imbued with the collective memories of a bygone era.

The birthplace of Zeus?
The Psychro Cave in Crete
High in the Dicte mountain range along the Lasithi Plateau in Crete is the Psychro Cave, which may have been the place where, according to myth, the great god Zeus was raised.