DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.807#0444
4o4 THE PALACE OF MINOS, ETC.
however, that it consisted of a hall with six columns answering to the pillars
below (see Section, Fig. 290).
The appearance of fine masonry in a covered area agrees with what is
seen in the Pillar Room of the S.E. House and in that of the Royal Villa,
and in these and other cases there is clear evidence, as shown below, that
such pillared crypts fulfilled a religious function and stood in relation to
a Columnar Shrine above. There can be little doubt that we have here the
remains of an important sanctuary facing the inner Sea Gate of the Palace and
forming a monumental dependency of it on that side. A striking feature of
the Plan (see Fig. 290) is the appearance of the four openings at or near the
corners of the pillared chamber leading to small rooms and passages beyond,
which give the whole a curiously ' labyrinthine' aspect.
Well of Such evidence as might have been obtained from minor relics has been
Greek fe
Geome- here obscured by the later intrusion on the spot not only of squatters of
Period tne time °f tne re-occupation of the Palace but of Greek inmates of the
1 Geometrical ' Period, good ceramic remains of which were found in a later
well sunk close to the original South wall of the Pillar Crypt.1 This is
the nearest point to the Palace site where clear evidence of Early Greek
settlement came to light. On the line of the Minoan road and on the hill
of Hellenika to the West, however, such evidence became frequent, and in
the Little Palace especially the Minoan foundations were honeycombed
in places by later wells, several of them going back to the Greek Geometrical
Period.
; The wooden roofing which it was necessary to place over this well for safety's sake appears in
the foreground of Fig. 289.
however, that it consisted of a hall with six columns answering to the pillars
below (see Section, Fig. 290).
The appearance of fine masonry in a covered area agrees with what is
seen in the Pillar Room of the S.E. House and in that of the Royal Villa,
and in these and other cases there is clear evidence, as shown below, that
such pillared crypts fulfilled a religious function and stood in relation to
a Columnar Shrine above. There can be little doubt that we have here the
remains of an important sanctuary facing the inner Sea Gate of the Palace and
forming a monumental dependency of it on that side. A striking feature of
the Plan (see Fig. 290) is the appearance of the four openings at or near the
corners of the pillared chamber leading to small rooms and passages beyond,
which give the whole a curiously ' labyrinthine' aspect.
Well of Such evidence as might have been obtained from minor relics has been
Greek fe
Geome- here obscured by the later intrusion on the spot not only of squatters of
Period tne time °f tne re-occupation of the Palace but of Greek inmates of the
1 Geometrical ' Period, good ceramic remains of which were found in a later
well sunk close to the original South wall of the Pillar Crypt.1 This is
the nearest point to the Palace site where clear evidence of Early Greek
settlement came to light. On the line of the Minoan road and on the hill
of Hellenika to the West, however, such evidence became frequent, and in
the Little Palace especially the Minoan foundations were honeycombed
in places by later wells, several of them going back to the Greek Geometrical
Period.
; The wooden roofing which it was necessary to place over this well for safety's sake appears in
the foreground of Fig. 289.