Long before classical Athens, Crete was home to a remarkable society. In the Bronze Age, roughly between the third and the second millennium BC, the people we call the Minoans built large palaces, painted bright frescoes, developed their own writing and sailed across the eastern Mediterranean. Many historians describe them as Europe's first great civilisation.

A name from a legend

The Minoans did not call themselves by that name, and we still do not know what they called themselves. The name comes from Minos, the legendary king of Crete in Greek myth. It was made popular by the British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans, who excavated Knossos in the early 20th century and named the culture he uncovered after the king of the old stories.

The palaces

The best known Minoan sites are the large building complexes usually called palaces. They were centres of power, religion, storage and craft, arranged around a large central courtyard. Knossos, near Heraklion, is the largest and most famous. Phaistos looks out over the Messara plain in the south. Malia lies on the north coast east of Heraklion, and Zakros at the far eastern end of the island.

These complexes were rebuilt more than once after destructions, probably including earthquakes. Around them grew towns, villas and harbours. In the west of the island, the old town of Chania also sits on top of an important Minoan settlement.

Writing, art and trade

The Minoans used a script known today as Linear A, written on clay tablets and other objects. It has never been deciphered, so we cannot read their language. A later script, Linear B, was used to write an early form of Greek and was deciphered in the 1950s. Linear B tablets found at Knossos come from a later phase, when Greek speakers from the mainland seem to have been in control.

Minoan art is full of life. Frescoes show processions, dolphins, flowers and young athletes leaping over bulls. Potters and craftsmen produced fine painted vessels, carved stone and gold jewellery. Minoan goods have been found across the Aegean and further afield, and contacts with Egypt and the Near East are well documented. The sea was their road.

Why did it end?

There is no single answer, and scholars still debate it. The main theories include:

  • A huge volcanic eruption on Thera (Santorini) in the mid second millennium BC, which may have damaged Minoan towns, trade and fleets.
  • A series of destructions across Crete some time later, whose causes are unclear.
  • The rise of the Mycenaeans from mainland Greece, who appear to have taken over Knossos.

Most historians see a combination of these factors, playing out over several generations. Minoan traditions faded into the wider Greek world, and Crete moved on to new chapters.

Exploring Minoan Crete

The best places to start are the site of Knossos and the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion, which holds the finest Minoan finds. To understand the land that shaped this culture, walk it. The mountains, gorges and coasts of Crete were the Minoans' world too. Browse our guided hikes for routes through that landscape, and read more about the island's history and myths in our culture section.