Polythyrone
As polythyron (Greek: "multi-door"), an architectural element from the Minoan culture of the Greek Bronze Age is referred to in architectural-historical research . Inner walls of larger buildings were designed as rows of ceiling-high, double-leaf doors between wooden pillars. Two or more rooms could be connected by opening one or all of the doors.
Polythyra were first found by Arthur Evans while excavating the Palace of Knossos in Crete . More were found in other Minoan buildings on Crete, including the oldest finds so far in Monastiraki and in the Minoan-influenced city of Akrotiri on the Cycladic island of Santorini .
In the “Hall of the Double Axes” in the Palace of Knossos, three walls in the form of polythyra with a total of eleven doors were reconstructed, in Akrotiri the building “Xeste 4” also has a room with three walls made of polythyra. These parts of the building are interpreted as places for public or semi-public events.
literature
- Nanno Marinatos: On the Ceremonial Function of the Minoan Polythyron . In: Opuscula Atheniensia . Vol. 16, 1986, pp. 57-73