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Minoan Civilization

Europe’s Bureaucrats: Making the Minoans a Footnote of History

2019-05-09 by Phil Butler

Bull Dance

Today, the fate of some of the world’s most treasured Minoan landmarks is still mired in a European bureaucratic bog.

Tags: Constantina Benissi, crete, Crete monuments, cultural landmarks, Dr. Kostis S. Christakis, elitism, Greece culture, Greek sites, Knossos, Kydonia, Malia, Malia Palace, Meritocracy, Ministry of Culture of Greece, Minoan Civilization, Minoans, Nikos Igoumenidi, Phaestos, Phaistos, Sir Arthur Evans, UNESCO, Zakros, Zominthos

Last Battle of the Minoans: Crete’s Bid for UNESCO Recognition

2019-02-08 by Phil Butler

Sarpedon

A pitched battle is being waged over the inclusion of ancient Minoan palaces as UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Tags: Crete archaeology, Crete sites, Galatas, Greece, Heraklion, Heraklion Museum, Knossos, Kommos, Minoan Civilization, Minoans, Myrsini Zorba, Nikos Igoumenidis, UNESCO, World heritage Sites

Two Days Staring Into the Eternal On Incredible Crete

2019-01-18 by Phil Butler

Paul Butler

Crete is a multifaceted mystery, a layer cake of human civilization made up of more than 5,000 years of history, tradition, and culture. A recent trip to a lost Minoan city proves once more, the treasure of the island is an eternity of peace.

Tags: Arkalochori, crete, Crete villages, Galatas, Heraklion prefecture, Minoan Civilization, Minoan palaces, MM IIB, Palace at Galatas, Protopalatial, The Little Olive Tree Tavern, Το μουρέλο του Λαδωμένου

Exploring Kokkinos Pyrgos: The Forgotten Gem of Mesara

2018-07-12 by Phil Butler

Kokkinos Pyrgos

A day trip from our home in Heraklion to a quaint little touristic village of Kokkinos Pyrgos proves once again the unbelievable discoveries to be found on Greece’s biggest island. Like pulling back successive veils that cover the lovely face of a goddess, exploring Crete is just an amazing experience. Visit with us a tiny deserted touristic gem shining on the Gulf of Mesara.

Tags: Aghia Galini, Asterousia Mountains, Cave of Polyphemus, crete, Crete beaches, Crete Island, Crete legends, Gulf of Mesara, Heraklion Development Agency, Kokkinos Pirgos, Kokkinos Pyrgos, Lydia Koniordou, Minoan Civilization, Minoans, Nikos Igoumenidis, Paximadia Islands, Psiloritis Mountains, Rhadamanthys, Sarpedon, Tymbaki

Leaders Aim to Preserve and Share Crete’s Kommos Palatial Site

2018-07-08 by Phil Butler

Ancient Kommos

Situated on a hilltop overlooking the Gulf of Messara in south-central Crete, the Minoan settlement of Kommos may reveal amazing secrets from the Bronze Age. However, as fabulous such new discoveries may be, the intersection of modern touristic products and the island’s heritage are brought into sharp focus today. With untold Minoan Civilization discoveries still unearthed, Crete’s beaches and other touristic offerings represent a real crisis dynamic and a public dilemma. The good news is, a new preservation and public access initiative by Heraklion parliamentarian Nikos Igoumenidis and Greece’s  Minister of Culture Lydia Koniordou may pave the way to remedying these cultural points of pain.

Tags: Agia Triada, Bronze Age, Gulf of Messara, Joseph Shaw, Kommos, Kommos Conservancy, Lydia Koniordou, Messara, Minoan Civilization, Nikos Ingoumenidis, Phaistos, Stavros Arnaoutakis

Crete’s Sacred Caves – Part I

2018-05-31 by Phil Butler

Sacred Caves of Crete

The legends and spiritual wonders of Crete may never be fully uncovered. Then again, when local peasants in 1883 discovered ancient votive objects in the now famous Dictaean Cave no modern archaeologist had a clue of Crete’s hidden treasures.

Tags: Agia Paraskevi, Amari Valley, Arkalochori Axe, Cave of Eileithya, Cave of Zeus, Crete mythology, Crete sites, Eileithya, Fylakes Cave, Kamares, Lassithi Plateau, Minoan Civilization, Minoan Crete, Minoan sites, mythology, Nida Plateau, Phaistos, Phaneromeni, Psychro Cave, religious sites, sacred Crete

Prayer of Yidini: Echoes of Karfi

2018-02-11 by Phil Butler

A story from ancient Karfi, a story of how the last Minoans may have lived and believed. Karfi was the last stronghold of a magnificent culture destroyed by the gods.

Tags: crete, Karfi, Karphi, Keftiu, Lassithi, Lassithi Plateau, Mallia, Minoan Civilization, Minoan Crete, Minoan ruins, Minoans, Mycenaeans, Phaistos, Thera, Thera eruption, Tylissos, Yidini

An Encounter with the Spirit of Eileithyia at Tsoutsouras

2017-08-25 by Phil Butler

Eileithyia or Ilithyia

In the South of Crete there’s a little village on the sea called Tsoutsouras. It’s a sparkling and shiny little place where people go swimming in its “medicinal” waters, and where echoes of ancient cults and rites abound.

Tags: crete, Eileithyia, Heraklion, Heraklion province, Inatos, Minoan Civilization, Minoans, raki, Tsoutsouras

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