Crete: the Minotaur's labyrinth at Knossos

The Palace of Knossos, capital of Minoan civilization, remains the most important archaeological site in Crete, with reconstructed frescoes and the famous throne of Minos.

A few minutes away, the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion displays the most precious Minoan finds of the island, including the famous Phaistos disk with its still-deciphered writing.

Continuing toward the coast, you reach Samaria Gorge, one of Europe's longest canyons, walkable in a full day of trekking.

Toward evening, the pink beach of Elafonissi, colored by coral shell fragments, offers one of the island's most photographed sunsets.

The Phaistos Disc, a clay tablet discovered on Crete and dated to the second millennium BC, remains one of the few artifacts in the world with writing still completely undeciphered by modern scholars.

The myth of the Minotaur's labyrinth likely originates from the architectural complexity of Knossos Palace itself, with hundreds of interconnected rooms that confused the first archaeologists who discovered it.