It is referred to as Ko-no-so in the texts of the linear writing B΄ (Mycenaean) of the 14th century BC.
Knossos was located in 1878 by Minos Kalokairinos. Arthur Evans began systematic excavations in 1900, which continued until 1931 with the discovery of the palace, a large part of the Minoan city and cemeteries. Since then, excavations continue in the wider area of Knossos by the English School of Archeology and the KGI Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities.