The Labyrinth that imprisoned the mighty Minotaur was located within the palace of the legendary king Minos. This palace was at Knossos.

Knossos is located in north central Crete, approximately five kilometers from the coast. The site is situated on a small hill in the interior of a fertile, high walled valley. It had been occupied as early as 6000 BC. By 2400 BC, the city began to take shape. It became the center of Aegean civilization during the Bronze Age.

It was from this growth that the first palace at Knossos emerged, around 1900 BC. It was a single structure built around a central court with another court on its west side. The palace functioned as the administrative and economic heart of the city. There were work areas, storage areas, as well as religious shrines within its walls. This first palace was destroyed by an earthquake in 1700 BC.

The builders of the second palace leveled off the palace platform and built the new one on the Neolithic remains. Then, around 1450 BC, the Minoan sites suffered a series of fires, most likely the result of warfare with the Mycenaeans. The palace escaped harm at this point, but its final destruction came in 1375 BC. Knossos, from then on, remained unoccupied.

The site at Knossos was first excavated by Sir Arthur Evans around 1900 AD.