The earthquake that made the Minoans disappear.

Nederlands talige teksten

One night in 1450 BC a huge earthquake took place. The large, dark palaces were lit by many olive oil lamps. Due to the earthquake the lamps fell over and set the palaces on fire, which were very flammable because of the wood used in construction. Within no time everything was in flames.

That same night Santorini got hit by a volcano outburst. This outburst caused a tsunami that flushed away half of Crete. At the same time Crete was covered by a layer of 15 metres thick ash, caused by the outburst. Since this earthquake, nobody ever heard of the Minoans again.

The earthquake of Santorini is also connected to the legend of Atlantis. This civilization was very similar to that of the Minoans.

The Myceners, a war driven civilization of the Peloponessos, used the opportunity to plunder the left over buildings of the Minoans.

Because Festos is situated a lot more South than Knossos, this palace was preserved.

Even after the Minoan period, the palace and its surroundings were of great importance. Homerus named it as a participant in the Trojan war and titled it as a crowded city. After Festos got destroyed by the near city of Gortys in the middle of the 2nd century, it lost its meaning and importance.