The discovery of the West Wing of the Palace of Knossos by Minos Kalokairinos in 1878 created intense interest until 1898, when a law on archaeology was drafted by the newly-founded Cretan State. This created the right conditions for systematic excavations by Arthur Evans. His most important colleagues were the archaeologist D. Mackenzie, known for his excavations in Melos, who undertook to keep the excavation journal, and the architect Th. Fyfe of the British School of Archaeology. Other collaborators included the architects C. Doll, F.G. Newton and Piet de Jong, the artists Gillieron pere et fils and the archaeologists D. G. Hogarth, A. Wace, E.J. Forsdyke and J. Pendlebury.

Evans and his staff were originally based in the house of a Turkish bay near the Palace, while the Villa Ariadne was built in 1906 according to Doll's plans.
After the 2nd World War excavations were continued by the British School of Archaeology, while additional research and mainly large scale restoration work was undertaken under the directions of Herakleion Museum N. Platon and S. Alexiou.