On the island of Crete stands Knossos, the labyrinthine palace of the Minoans — Europe’s first civilization. With its bull frescoes, oldest throne in Europe, and running water, it is the real place behind the legend of the Minotaur.

Inventors of democracy, philosophy, and rational inquiry, heirs of Byzantium and survivors of Ottoman rule, the Greeks carry one of humanity longest and greatest stories across three thousand years.