#ancient palace

[viagginterstellari]

Dar Si Said (XIX c.) - Marrakech, 2012

[sheltiechicago]

Photo: Stock Photos from IULIIA_N/Shutterstock

This Ancient Palace on the Island of Crete Has the Oldest Throne Room in Europe

On the island of Crete lies the ruins of an ancient palace. Now part of modern Greece, Crete was once the center of the Aegean civilization known as the Minoans. Known for elaborate palaces and beautiful frescos, the Minoans were powerful players in the eastern Mediterranean during the Bronze Age, with trading connections to Old Kingdom Egypt and the civilizations of Mesopotamia. The Minoans are commonly described as the first complex civilization of Europe. Nowhere is the glory of Minoan culture so on display as at Knossos—a royal palace nearby the port of Heraklion, Crete.

The north portico of Knossos. (Photo: Bernard Gagnon via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

The throne room at Knossos, featuring frescoed walls.

(Photo: Stock Photos from ANTON CHYGAREV/Shutterstock)

The famous dolphin fresco.

(Photo: Stock Photos from GEORGIOS TSICHLIS/Shutterstock)

A bull-leaping scene shown in a (restored) fresco.

(Photo: Stock Photos from PECOLD/Shutterstock)

[jaynescozycorner-blog]

Ancient Palace, Calais, France

[danicavasquez]

Ancient Palace, Calais, France

[la-belle-dame-sansmerci]

Almost abandoned palace near Parma, Italy

//My photo//

[ancientstuff]

Researchers have uncovered new evidence that an earthquake may have caused the destruction and abandonment of a flourishing Canaanite palatial site about 3,700 years ago.

This appears to have been a catastrophic event. The evidence seems quite clear it was an earthquake. Very interesting. I wonder if there are any ancient texts that record this event.

[worldbuildingprompts]

World Building Prompt #164

[thisforestsolitude]

“Up the hill, sheep bleat, oblivious to human empires rising and falling.” ― David Mitchell, The Bone Clocks 

Photo taken at Palatine Hill, Rome, 2017