Founders of the first European civilization on the island of Crete in 3000 BC, Minoans (noted for their palaces) were taken over by Mycenaean Greeks from the mainland in around 1450 BC. The Mycenaeans were the ancestors of the Greeks of the classical age. Traders and warriors, their deeds are the basis of the legend of the Trojan War, led by the Greeks against the city of Troy.
