Our next stop is Iraklio. It is the capital of Crete and a bit of a noisy overgrown city. We docked the boat in the shadows of an ancient Venetian castle like boats have done for centuries. Just outside of the city are the famous Minoan ruins of Knosos. The ancient palace built with limestone and alabaster over 5000 years ago is still amazing in its structure and beauty. It is hard to believe that BC 3000 a people could live in such prosperity, comfort and intellectual harmony. The palace has no fortifications because there were no wars back then. Women were treated with respect and equality. Everyone worked together in harmony to make everyone’s lives prosper. This five-story palace had running water, flushing toilets big stone baths and stunning art. Its size is more of a small city.
Everything was going just great until Santorini blew its stack causing one of the biggest volcanic explosions in modern times and sending a tsunami tidal wave that some estimate at over 100 feet tall to wipe this incredible civilization off the face of the earth. The people disappeared, but their ideals were picked up by the ancient Greeks to give the world democracy.
No comments:
Post a Comment