Editing Minoan civilization (section)

== Architecture ==
[[File:Clay house model from Archanes, 1700 BC, AMH, 19410, 145004.jpg|thumb|Restored model of a Minoan house found in Archanes]]
[[File:Knossos Fresko Dreigliedriger Schrein 01.jpg|thumb|Fresco from the temple of the Palace of [[Knossos]],<ref>{{cite book |author=B.P. Mihailov |author2=S.B. Bezsonov |author3=B.D. Blavatski |author4=S.A. Kaufman |author5=I.L. Matsa |author6=A.M. Pribâtkova |author7=M.I. Rzianin |author8=I.I. Savitski |author9=A.G. Tsires |author10=E.G. Cernov |author11=I.S. Iaralov|title=Istoria Generală a Arhitecturii|date=1961|publisher=Editura Tehnică|isbn=|page=88|url=|language=ro}}</ref> showing Minoan architecture]]

Minoan cities were connected by narrow roads paved with blocks cut with bronze saws. Streets were drained, and water and [[sanitary sewer|sewage]] facilities were available to the upper class through [[clay]] pipes.<ref>Ian Douglas, ''Cities: An Environmental History,'' p. 16, [[I.B. Tauris: London and New York]] (2013)</ref>

Minoan buildings often had flat, tiled roofs; [[plaster]], wood or [[flagstone]] floors; and stood two to three stories high. Lower [[wall]]s were typically constructed of stone and [[rubble]], and the upper walls of [[mudbrick]]. Ceiling timbers held up the roofs.

Construction materials for villas and palaces varied, and included sandstone, [[gypsum]] and limestone. Building techniques also varied, with some palaces using [[ashlar]] masonry and others roughly-hewn, megalithic blocks.

In north-central Crete [[Blueschist|blue]]-[[greenschist]] was used to pave floors of streets and [[courtyard]]s between 1650 and 1600{{nbsp}}BC. These rocks were likely quarried in [[Agia Pelagia]] on the north coast of central Crete.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tziligkaki |first1=Eleni K. |date=2010 |title=Types of schist used in buildings of Minoan Crete |url=http://www.hellenjgeosci.geol.uoa.gr/45/Tziligkaki.pdf |journal=[[Hellenic Journal of Geosciences]] |volume=45 |pages=317–322 |access-date=December 1, 2018 }}</ref>

=== Palaces ===
[[File:Pithoi storage jars at Knossos.jpg|thumb|alt=Three large, clay storage jars|Storage jars (pithoi, πίθοι) at Knossos]]
[[File:Reconstruccio Knossos.jpg|thumb|Reconstruction of the Palace of [[Knossos]]]]
[[File:Knossos sewers PA067399.JPG|thumb|Sewers of the Palace of Knossos]]

The Minoans famously built large complexes referred to as palaces. However, despite their name, it is generally agreed that they did not primarily serve as royal residences. The best known of them are at [[Knossos]], [[Phaistos]], [[Zakros]], and [[Malia (archaeological site)|Malia]].

Minoan palaces consist of wings arranged around an open rectangular court. The wings are often multi-story, with interior and exterior [[staircase]]s, [[lightwell]]s, massive [[column]]s, and large storage chambers. The various palaces have a fairly uniform style, though each has unique features. They are typically aligned with their surrounding topography, in particular with nearby sacred mountains. For instance, the palace at Phaistos appears to align with [[Mount Ida (Crete)|Mount Ida]] and Knossos is aligned with [[Mount Juktas]],<ref>Preziosi, D. & Hitchcock, L.A. (1999) p. 86</ref> both on a north–south axis.

The first palaces are generally dated to the MM IB period. However, they were not a spontaneous development but rather the culmination of a longer architectural tradition. The palace style has precedents in Early Minoan construction styles and earlier buildings were sometimes incorporated in the later palaces. The palace at Malia is sometimes regarded as having achieved palacehood at the end of the Early Minoan period.<ref>D. Preziosi and L.A. Hitchcock ''Aegean Art and Architecture'' pp. 48–49, [[Oxford University Press]] (1999)</ref><ref name="Moore2015">{{cite book|author=Dudley J. Moore|title=In Search of the Classical World: An Introduction to the Ancient Aegean|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=53vWCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA12|year=2015|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=978-1-4438-8145-6|page=12}}</ref> Palaces were continually renovated and altered, with their style changing over time. For instance, early palaces had a square-within-a-square layout, while later renovations introduced more internal divisions and corridors.<ref>Preziosi, D. & Hitchcock, L.A. (1999) p. 121</ref>

The function of the palaces is a matter of debate, though it is known that they included administrative offices, [[shrine]]s, workshops and storage spaces.<ref name="Perry2012">{{cite book|author=Marvin Perry|title=Western Civilization: A Brief History, Volume I: To 1789|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YxpuCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA37|year=2012|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=978-1-133-71418-7|page=37}}</ref>

=== Plumbing ===

During the Minoan Era extensive waterways were built in order to protect the growing population. This system had two primary functions, first providing and distributing water, and secondly relocating sewage and stormwater.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Evolution of Sanitation and Wastewater Technologies through the Centuries|last1=J.B|first1=Rose|last2=A.N|first2=Angelakis|publisher=IWA Publishing|year=2014|location=London|page=2}}</ref> One of the defining aspects of the Minoan Era was the architectural feats of their waste management. The Minoans used technologies such as wells, cisterns, and [[aqueduct (water supply)|aqueduct]]s to manage their water supplies. Structural aspects of their buildings even played a part. Flat roofs and plentiful open courtyards were used for collecting water to be stored in cisterns.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Evolution of Sanitation and Wastewater Technologies Through the Centuries|last1=J.B|first1=Rose|last2=A.N|first2=Angelakis|publisher=IWA Publishing|year=2014|location=London|page=5}}</ref> Significantly, the Minoans had water treatment devices. One such device seems to have been a porous clay pipe through which water was allowed to flow until clean.

=== Columns ===
[[File:Knossos Großes Treppenhaus 04.jpg|thumb|alt=Minoan columns, wider at the top than the base|The Hall of Columns at [[Knossos]]]]

For sustaining of the roof, some higher houses, especially the palaces, used columns made usually of [[Mediterranean cypress|''Cupressus sempervirens'']], and sometimes of stone. One of the most notable Minoan contributions to architecture is their inverted column, wider at the top than the base (unlike most Greek columns, which are wider at the bottom to give an impression of height). The columns were made of wood (not stone) and were generally painted red. Mounted on a simple stone base, they were topped with a pillow-like, round [[Capital (architecture)|capital]].<ref>Benton and DiYanni 1998, p. 67.</ref><ref>Bourbon 1998, p 34</ref>

=== Villas ===

A number of compounds known as "villas" have been excavated on Crete, mostly near palaces, especially Knossos. These structures share features of neopalatial palaces: a conspicuous western facade, storage facilities and a three-part Minoan Hall.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/3801242|last=Letesson|first=Quentin|title=Minoan Halls: A Syntactical Genealogy|journal=American Journal of Archaeology |date=January 2013 |volume=117 |issue=3 |pages=303–351 |doi=10.3764/aja.117.3.0303 |s2cid=191259609 |access-date=7 April 2017}}</ref> These features may indicate a similar role or that the structures were artistic imitations, suggesting that their occupants were familiar with palatial culture. The villas were often richly decorated, as evidenced by the frescos of [[Hagia Triada]] Villa A.

A common characteristic of the Minoan villas was having flat roofs. Their rooms did not have windows to the streets, the light arriving from [[courtyards]], a common feature of larger Mediterranean in much later periods. In the [[2nd millennium BC]], the villas had one or two floors, and the palaces even three.