Knossos Palace Tour

Knossos, the Minoan Frescoes

To the north, above the Throne Room, is a room restored by Evans which contains copies of the Minoan frescoes: the “Spectators by a Shrine”, the “Blue Ladies”,  the “Taureador”, the “Argonaut”, the “Blue Monkey” and the “Blue Bird”. The originals are on display at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum.

If you look at the copies carefully, you can see how Evans restored them from the very few pieces of plaster found during the excavation.

Bull Leaping Fresco

A copy of the “Taureador” or “Bull Leaping” Fresco. This is the famous Minoan ritual sport, during which the athlete did dangerous acrobatic leaps over the back of a bull. The white figures are female and the reddish one male.

In Minoan Crete the bull-leaping was a noble sport in which the bull was not killed, unlike modern bull-fighting.

Knossos map : Room with Minoan Frescos = No 05

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