Crete lies deep in the Mediterranean; from the island, it is a short boat ride to mainland Europe, Asia or Africa. Crete is also home to one of the oldest civilisations in Europe, and probably the oldest city, Knossos, situated at the edge of modern Heraklion. Minoan culture, trade and technology influenced much of the region from 3500 BC until the arrival of the Romans, and at later times Heraklion was part of the Byzantine, Venetian or Ottoman empires, surviving invasions, battles, an epic siege in 1648, and an earthquake in 1856 that destroyed all but 18 homes in the city. The island boasts beautiful blue waters and a mountainous interior, and the city has been home to famous artists, politicians and thinkers – from El Greco to Nikos Kazantzakis and Vitsentzos Kornaros, to name just some personal idols. Through the vagaries of history in a markedly volatile region, the city of Heraklion has endured, and today it is the fourth-largest city in Greece with 200,000 inhabitants and 8 million annual tourist arrivals. Many cities can claim to straddle continents or historical eras, but none of them encapsulate the crossroads of east and west, north and south, ancient and modern quite like Heraklion.
Ode on a cretan metropolis : Continuously inhabited for over 10,000 years, Heraklion is the former seat of the ancient Minoan civilisation and a bustling modern city
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Elite + Editorial Team 574 Posts
Editorial Team
