Sep 303 min read

The Island of Crete

Updated: Oct 3

September 30, 2024

What Are These 2 large pottery pieces? (answers below)

Fun Facts About Crete:

An olive tree in Crete is possibly the oldest living olive tree estimated at being anywhere from 2,000-3,000 years old.
Every 1,000 years Crete grows 1 centimeter due to the Sahara dust blown over by the Southern winds.
Jennifer Aniston, the actress, lived in Crete and Athens when she was five years old. Her father, also an actor, was born in Crete as Yannis Anastassakis before changing his name to John Aniston and joining Days of Our Lives in 1985. Telly Savalas, a famous Greek actor known for playing Kojak, was her godfather.

Answers to the question above. The large pottery item on the left is a coffin made of clay; the one on the right is a sarcophagus with handles to tie it down for transport. See more information below.

Today we visited Heraklion, Greece, on the island of Crete. The island is the largest of the Greek islands, and its history and culture were strongly impacted by the Venetian empire (that ruled there for four centuries) as well as the many other empires/rulers over the years (Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman, etc...). Our visit today included a visit to the Archeological Museum of Heraklion that exhibited ancient artifacts from each of the many areas in their history. Observing the progression of structure, style and design over the years was interesting, and we found our interest drawn to some of the more unusual artifacts.

Let's start with coffins and sarcophagi (a coffin made of stone) - fun stuff! Below are several pictures of sarcophagi across the eras of history in Crete. An interesting note is that when people were placed in a sarcophagus they were frequently placed in the fetal position to reflect how they came into the world.

A wine press system - early instruments and containers were very primitive, but did a good enough job that wine became more and more popular.

Jewelry - the style changed from era to era, as did the materials used. Early examples show a reliance on local materials, while later pieces include materials brought to the area by foreign visitors.

Bull-Leaping! Check out the picture, then read the description which explains that young athletes (men and women) would jump over the horns and back of a bull!

And finally - a Mystery Object - The Phaistos Disc from early 17th century BC. What is it and what does it say? Nobody knows. No one has ever been able to decipher the meaning of the writing, and there were no clues to its purpose ever found. The two sides are different.

After leaving the museum we had some free time in the old town section of Heraklion. So we decided to eat and shop! We started with a traditional late morning snack in Greece called a Bougatsa. There are several versions with different fillings, and we decided to try a sweet version and a ricotta cheese version. We both liked the sweet version best. Sooo delicious. Then we walked back to the bus to go to the ship and did a little shopping on the way. Fun times!