The palaces of Crete and their builders . idors—crosses H^ ^ ^ FIG. 22.—masons MARKS OX THE BLOCKS OF THEPALACE OF PH^STOS. of various form, stars, double axes, small branches, tridents, andOther combinations of lines. Nearly all the blocks are marked ;some of the marks are shown in Fig:. X. I shall not describe the palace—it is too vast—but will onlytake the reader to visit a private apartment, of which I givethe plan. The porticoes, which are a characteristic of the courtyards ofthe Renascence, are here of less majestic type, as the constructionof the arch and of the vault was still unk
The palaces of Crete and their builders . idors—crosses H^ ^ ^ FIG. 22.—masons MARKS OX THE BLOCKS OF THEPALACE OF PH^STOS. of various form, stars, double axes, small branches, tridents, andOther combinations of lines. Nearly all the blocks are marked ;some of the marks are shown in Fig:. X. I shall not describe the palace—it is too vast—but will onlytake the reader to visit a private apartment, of which I givethe plan. The porticoes, which are a characteristic of the courtyards ofthe Renascence, are here of less majestic type, as the constructionof the arch and of the vault was still unknown ; nevertheless, thenumber of these loggias excites our astonishment. Descending Dr. Pcrnier counted each of these marks thirty or forty times on theblocks of the palace of Phajstos. THE PALACE OF PHyESTOS 63 from the upper portico we reach the toot of the stairs seen inFig. 24. The room we enter has benches of alabaster round thewalls, and the ceiling was supported by two columns, of whichthe circular bases still remain. fX/. 20 ?S mefri FIG. 23.—A PRIVATE APARTMENT IX THE PALACE OF PH^STOS. The pavement is in good preservation, also the slabs ofalabaster with which the walls are panelled. This room waslighted from a small interior court, which was open to the few steps further down another portico is reached, also lightedfrom an interior court, for which space has been excavated from 64 PALACES OF CRETE AND THEIR BUILDERS the hillside. The room designated vestibule is 6 metres square,and has four doors opening under the portico to the north andfour more under the eastern portico. This room commands themagnificent view of Mount Ida and the valley. No finer or more convenient plan for a house on this sitecould be imagined by a modern architect. The small size of the sacred monuments is a characteristic ofMinoan civilisation. There were at this period in Egypt grandtemples like that of Karnac, but in Crete and Mycenas and inGreece up to the time of Homer ther
Size: 1805px × 1384px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublishe, booksubjectpalaces
