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All Minoan palaces were built around a central courtyard. This would have been the hub of the complex and would probably have been used for ceremonial purposes and for royal audiences. The courtyard of Knosos has a commanding view of the valley.

Evans dubbed this expansive room on the upper floor of the palace building the “noble hall”, believing that it might have been the audience hall of the ancient Minoan kings. Its walls are decorated with copies of the fabulous frescoes of agile, leaping bull dancers – the most famous images of Knosos.

The queen’s rooms were lavishly decorated with frescoes of leaping dolphins and well equipped with a bath and even a flush lavatory.

The storehouses or “magazines” contain giant earthenware jars called pithoi , which the Minoans used to store olive oil, olives, grain and other supplies. Such jars, with a capacity of up to 200 litres, were used by later Greeks over the next four millennia, and are still made today.

The imposing south gateway to the palace complex has been partially restored, and is decorated with copies of the flowing Procession fresco, the original of which (like the other dazzling finds from Knosos) may be seen in the Irakleio Archaeological Museum. The roof of this porch was originally supported by four tapering wooden columns.

Three smaller stairways and a maze of corridors would once have led off the five broad, shallow stone steps of the grand staircase. Four of these wide steps survive, and a copy of the original Shield fresco which was found here decorates this part of the palace complex.

The hallway leading to the King’s chamber is named after the double-bladed axe symbols carved into its walls and columns. The double axe was a characteristic symbol of Knosos and its empire.

A fresco of a charging bull, one of the enduring symbols of Knosos, adorns the entrance to this passage. Either side of the entrance are ruined chambers and deep stone storage pits. Images of sacred bulls outlasted the enigmatic Minoan civilization and helped foster the legend of the Minotaur.

Here, a stone throne – supposedly that of King Minos – stands next to a basin. The basin is believed to have been used for ritual purification, perhaps before sacrifices were made to honour the gods.

A bust of Evans stands at the site entrance, honouring the man who first traced the legendary palace of King Minos to this hillside above Irakleio. His broad reconstructions of the ancient palace owe much to his imagination.