Reconstruction

And this is possibly the most confusing aspect of Knossos. The reconstructions. The original archeologist, Sir Arthur Evans, who excavated this site over 100 years ago made many questionable judgements about the structures and then proceeded to reconstruct in the way he felt it would have been. Reconstructions can be great, like the Stoa (covered arcade) of the Greek Agora in Athens, but here it's almost completely random and without a tour guide it's had to tell what is as it was originally found and what has been built up since. The general rule we followed is that anything that looks newer, or freshly painted or has complete columns, is not the original. Nevertheless the slight reconstruction does give you a chance to imagine so much more when you gaze into these underground rooms, even if it might be a little inaccurate.