Editing Knossos (section)

===Location===
[[File:Armon Knossos P1060104.JPG|thumb|View to the east from the northwest corner, in the foreground is the west wall of the [[lustral basin|Lustral Basin]]]]
[[File:Knossos - 03.jpg|thumb|View to the south, the hill in the background is Gypsades, between it and Knossos is the Vlychia and the South Entrance is on the left]]
[[File:KnossosCourt.jpg|thumb|Reception courtyard in the palace of Knossos, the royal family would entertain guests here, members of the court would stand on the tiered platforms in the background]]

The palace was built on [[Kephala|''Kephala Hill'']], {{convert|5|km|mi|abbr=on}} south of the coast. The site is located at the confluence of two streams called the Vlychia and the [[Kairatos]], which would have provided drinking water to the ancient inhabitants. Looming over the right bank of the Vlychia, on the opposite shore from Knossos, is Gypsades Hill, on whose eastern side the Minoans quarried their gypsum.

Though it was surrounded by the town of Knossos, this hill was never an [[acropolis]] in the Greek sense. It had no steep heights, remained unfortified, and was not very high off the surrounding ground.<ref>{{cite journal | first=HR | last=Hall | title=The Mycenaean Discoveries in Crete | journal=Nature | volume=67 | number=1725 | date=November 20, 1902 | page=58 | doi=10.1038/067057a0| bibcode=1902Natur..67...57H | s2cid=4005358 | url=https://zenodo.org/record/1429412 | doi-access=free }}</ref>

The Royal Road is the last vestige of a Minoan road that connected the port to the palace complex. Today a modern road, Leoforos Knosou, built over or replacing the ancient roadway, serves that function and continues south.