The Villa Ariadne

Book excerpt: The Villa Ariadne was built at Knossos, Crete, by Sir Arthur Evans soon after he discovered the Minoan palace, when the site was his own private property. The villa became home, in turn, to John Pendlebury, who used it as a base for his excavations at Knossos and his explorations of the island.After Pendlebury's death at the hands of invading German paratroopers, the Villa Ariadne was taken over by General Karl Kreipe, who was living there when he was kidnapped by Patrick Leigh Fermor and marched across the island to captivity, an episode immortalized in the film Ill Met by Moonlight.Dilys Powell, who knew Crete and the Villa Ariadne for over 40 years, weaves her own memories of Evans and Pendlebury together with recollections of the Cretan people. Her classic account, first published in 1973, is at once a chapter of autobiography and a portrait of a mythical island which captured her heart. It should appeal to all those who share her love for Greece and especially Crete.