First Cretan palaces at Knossos and Festus

From the first Cretan palaces at Knossos and Festus are ony few ruins of the palace built under the later, while in Malia Palace, built later preserved the simple lines of the earlier period. Also in Knossos and Festus gave princely palaces and major cities: Hagia Triada in plain text Mesara and Kanji. We can say with certainty that this settlement is the first major example of the true architectural art, and not just an ordinary building techniques.








When we first the ruins in Malia, which are characteristic of the first palaces in Crete, that usually means "Middle Minoan period. Fortification wall was built of finely carved stone blocks and shows the progress sags and bulges, which is still seen mainly in the western part of the wall. From medieval courtyard with colonnades on two sides, of which one in the different chambers, which are surrounded distributed in a square. Malia in the early period, we can see the appearance of structures with floors, especially on the western part of the palace, which is either on the grand staircase in the center courtyard, this part of the palace, which was changed in the future. The eastern part consists only of a simple one-story warehouse, between the Court and the fence wall that was made for bowls with the food supply. Hall, bordered to the north with the way court testimony, the construction of Egyptian influence in Crete. This hipostil (ie ceiling supports) is made here, however, very clumsy, but this method is later in many different forms found in Knossos.



Royal Krisolak necropolis discovered in Malia. Fence around the palace, much like those that surround the massive graves, to build the same type as show homes. Walls everywhere are of lower quality materials, but always decorated with stucco. These architectural Gazette showed excavated in Malia, that a knowledge of metal working in already middleminoan period. In the workshop of bronze in the palace at Malia form in which they poured a variety of tools such as a double-edged axes, chisels and similar tools were found. In jewelry manufacturing for this period is also marked improvement in the processing of metals. Some other pieces of jewelry have been spared from the devastation of the necropolis Krisolak. The stylized forms suggests that people are more concerned about the jewelry, but for the faithful representation. This proves that the Cretans very sophisticated and knew very expressive and the Syrian and Egyptian art of jewelry making. This love is characterized by the formation of the ceramics of the period. In Malia there is usually a relatively simple geometric motifs and stylized flowers and plants in only three colors: red, white and black. It is a ceramic art of the early Minoan period, which were more primitive character.
Amphorae


If we cross to the study of so-called second palace in Crete. Ie, middle or late Minoan period, the advances in ceramic technology. Villages in the vicinity of the great palaces, notably Knossos show widespread use of fine ceramics. During the development of the highest positions in the palaces, it reached a very high technical level: vases are becoming thinner and eventually reach the thickness of the eggshells. The fact that the colors are preserved for thousands of years witnessed its full splendor of the high quality of materials used. Thus a more advanced technology to a large market and a high degree of specialization of the art handicraft, just to civilization at its height. The transition from the old culture to newer accordance with the development of the castle and the main changes that were implemented continuously.