DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1117#0027
PREFACE
IV
AIR-VIEW OF THE PALACE SITE
One great desideratum of this Work had long remained unsatisfied. Only
quite lately Mr. E. G. Lumsden, then in the service of the Imperial Airways,
succeeded in obtaining a successful snapshot of the site, which he has very
kindly placed at my disposal. The air-view taken is here reproduced with
the existing" ground-plan placed opposite for comparison, and displays the
whole of the Palace site, with the exception of a small piece of the much-
ruined South-West angle. It includes the newly discovered enceinte on the
West, with its circular-built pits, or 'koulouras', with the steps of the
Reception area (formerly called the ' Theatral Area') beyond, and the
starting-point of the paved Via Sacra, pointing" to the ' Little Palace'.
A mule path is visible leading North from the old Turkish house (not
included), which had been the earliest head-quarters of the Excavation,
towards the hamlet of Makryteichos, the name of which refers to the ' Long
Wall' of Roman Knossos.
Had the Fates, indeed, allowed Daedalos, the legendary builder and
adorner of the House of Minos, and Father of Aviation, to take part in
this later flight, there are many features that he would have sought in
vain. Gone are the long porticoes and superimposed verandahs,1 the
terraces and roof gardens, and below, perhaps, to the East, approached
through the postern of the great Bastion (on the river-flat, now overgrown
with secular olive-trees), other monuments of which all record has vanished—
the crowded Arena of the bull-sports, and beside it, may be, the ' Dancing
Ground of Ariadne'. But the old ground-plan of the Palace still stands
four square, partially roofed over in places, as first conceived by its great
architect, with its Central Court clearly defined and the main entrances to it
from North and South easily discernible. (Compare Ground-plan.) The
light-wells of the Grand Staircase and of the adjoining" Hall of the
Colonnades show clear openings amidst the repaved upper floors on that
side, and the light court of the great reception room below—the ' Hall of the
1 For a restored drawing of a Section of the idea of a complete portion of the building, see
West Palace Wing facing the Central Court, vol. ii, Pt. II, Fig. 532 (folding Plate opposite
by Mr. F. G. Newton, which gives the best p. 814).
t
IV
AIR-VIEW OF THE PALACE SITE
One great desideratum of this Work had long remained unsatisfied. Only
quite lately Mr. E. G. Lumsden, then in the service of the Imperial Airways,
succeeded in obtaining a successful snapshot of the site, which he has very
kindly placed at my disposal. The air-view taken is here reproduced with
the existing" ground-plan placed opposite for comparison, and displays the
whole of the Palace site, with the exception of a small piece of the much-
ruined South-West angle. It includes the newly discovered enceinte on the
West, with its circular-built pits, or 'koulouras', with the steps of the
Reception area (formerly called the ' Theatral Area') beyond, and the
starting-point of the paved Via Sacra, pointing" to the ' Little Palace'.
A mule path is visible leading North from the old Turkish house (not
included), which had been the earliest head-quarters of the Excavation,
towards the hamlet of Makryteichos, the name of which refers to the ' Long
Wall' of Roman Knossos.
Had the Fates, indeed, allowed Daedalos, the legendary builder and
adorner of the House of Minos, and Father of Aviation, to take part in
this later flight, there are many features that he would have sought in
vain. Gone are the long porticoes and superimposed verandahs,1 the
terraces and roof gardens, and below, perhaps, to the East, approached
through the postern of the great Bastion (on the river-flat, now overgrown
with secular olive-trees), other monuments of which all record has vanished—
the crowded Arena of the bull-sports, and beside it, may be, the ' Dancing
Ground of Ariadne'. But the old ground-plan of the Palace still stands
four square, partially roofed over in places, as first conceived by its great
architect, with its Central Court clearly defined and the main entrances to it
from North and South easily discernible. (Compare Ground-plan.) The
light-wells of the Grand Staircase and of the adjoining" Hall of the
Colonnades show clear openings amidst the repaved upper floors on that
side, and the light court of the great reception room below—the ' Hall of the
1 For a restored drawing of a Section of the idea of a complete portion of the building, see
West Palace Wing facing the Central Court, vol. ii, Pt. II, Fig. 532 (folding Plate opposite
by Mr. F. G. Newton, which gives the best p. 814).
t