Τhis website usually directs you to sites relatively close to Gavalochori, but Knossos (Κνωσσός) has to be included in the Cretan archaeological sites you can visit simply because it is the most famous of them. A distance of 117 kilometers (72 miles) from Gavalochori, Knossos is located near Heraklion (Ηράκλειο) and is the site of the ancient Minoan civilization that is considered the oldest city in Europe. It was occupied from the Neolithic period (7000-6500 BC) until it was destroyed around 1300 BC. Its most prominent feature is a building that may have been a palace, an administrative center, a religious center, or a combination. The site was excavated by British archaeologist Arthur Evans in the early 20th century, although some of Evans’s reconstruction work is now considered questionable and even inappropriate. The site is definitely worth seeing, but be prepared for crowds and hot sun if you go in the summer. If you visit Knossos, don’t miss the Heraklion Archaeological Museum located in the center of Heraklion just 5.6 kilometers (3½ miles) from the Knossos site. There you can see many artifacts from Minoan to Roman times excavated from Knossos and other archaeological sites on Crete. More information is available here.
