Everything about Iraklion totally explained
Heraklion or
Iraklion (
Greek:
Ηράκλειο, ; Venetian:
Candia), is the largest city and
capital of
Crete. It is also the fourth largest city in
Greece. Its name is also spelled
Herakleion (transliteration of ancient/
Katharevousa name), or
Iraklio, with other variants. For centuries it was known as
Candia, a Venetian adaptation of the Latin word "Candida" or "Candidus" referring to whiteland (Greek: Χάνδαξ or Χάνδακας, ). In local colloquial, it's often called "
Kastro" (castle) and its inhabitants "
Kastrinoi" (castlefolk).
Heraklion is the capital of
Heraklion Prefecture, with an
international airport named after the writer
Nikos Kazantzakis. The ruins of
Knossos, which were excavated and restored by
Arthur Evans, are nearby.
History
Heraklion is close to the ruins of the palace of
Knossos, which in
Minoan times was the largest centre of population on
Crete. This
Bronze Age palace and
human settlement has yielded significant
archaeological finds that have given insights to the
Minoan civilisation. It is likely that there was a port at Heraklion as long ago as
2000 BC, although no archaeological recovery has been made of the port itself.
Founding
The present city of Heraklion was founded in
824 AD by the
Saracens who had been expelled from
Al-Andalus by Emir
Al-Hakam I and had taken over the island from the
Byzantine Empire. They built a
moat around the city for protection, and named the city ربض الخندق
rabḍ al-ḫandaq 'Castle of the Moat'. The Saracens allowed the port to be used as a safe haven for pirates who operated against Byzantine shipping and raided Byzantine territory around the Aegaean.
Byzantine Era
In
961, the Byzantines, under the command of
Nikephoros Phokas, later to become
Byzantine Emperor, landed in Crete and attacked the city. After a prolonged
siege, the city fell. The Saracen inhabitants were slaughtered, the city looted and burned to the ground. Soon rebuilt, the town of Chandax remained under Byzantine control for the next 243 years.
Venetian Era
In 1204, the city was bought by the
Republic of Venice as part of a complicated political deal which involved among other things, the Crusaders of the
Fourth Crusade restoring the deposed
Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angelus to his throne. The Venetians improved on the ditch by building enormous fortifications, most of which are still in place, including a giant wall, in places up to 40 m thick, with 7 bastions, and a fortress in the harbour. Chandax was renamed to
Candia in Italian and became the seat of the Duke of Candia. As a result, the Venetian administrative district of Crete became known as "Regno di Candia" (Kingdom of Candia). The city retained the name of Candia for centuries and the same name was often used to refer to the whole
island of Crete as well. To secure their rule, Venetians began in 1212 to resettle families from
Venice on Crete. The coexistence of two different cultures and the influence of
Italian Renaissance lead to a flourishing of letters and the arts in Candia and Crete in general, that's today known as the
Cretan Renaissance.
Ottoman Era
After the Venetians came the
Ottoman Empire. During the
Cretan War (1645–1669), the Ottomans
besieged the city for 22 years, from 1648 to 1669, the second-longest siege in history. In its final phase, which lasted for 22 months, 70,000 Turks, 38,000 Cretans and slaves and 29,088 of the city's Christian defenders perished. Under the Ottomans, the city was known officially as
Kandiye (again also applied to the whole island of Crete) but informally in Greek as
Megalo Kastro ("Big Castle"). During the Ottoman period, the
harbour silted up, so most shipping shifted to
Hania in the west of the island.
Modern Era
In 1897, the autonomous
Republic of Crete was created, under Ottoman suzerainty, with a Greek prince as its head and under international supervision. During the period of direct occupation of the island by the Great Powers (1898-1908), Candia was part of the
British zone. With the rest of
Crete, it was incorporated into the
Kingdom of Greece in 1913. Upon its union with Greece it was renamed "Heraklion", after the
Roman port of Heracleum ("
Heracles' city"), whose exact location is unknown. The biggest monument of the city is the Venetian medieval fortress
Rocca al Mare (also known as
Koules, Turkish for "tower") located at the port.
Transportation
Port
Heraklion is an important shipping port and ferry dock. The public can take ferries and boats from Heraklion to a multitude of destinations including
Thira,
Rhodes,
Egypt,
Haifa and mainland
Greece.
Airport
Heraklion International Airport, or Nikos Kazantzakis Airport is located about 5km east of the city. The airport is named after Herkalion native
Nikos Kazantzakis, a Greek writer and philosopher. It is the second busiest airport of Greece, mostly due to the fact that Crete is a major destination for tourists during summer. There are regular domestic flights to and from Athens, Thessaloniki and Rhodes with
Aegean Airlines and
Olympic Airlines.
Cyprus Airlines flies to Larnaca via Rhodes. Furthermore,
Sky Express operates direct flights to Aegean islands such as Rhodes, Santorini, Samos, Kos, Mytilini and Ikaria. During the summer period, traffic is intense and the flight destinations are from all over Europe (mostly Germany, UK, Italy and Russia). The airfield is shared with the 126 Combat Group of the
Hellenic Air Force. The take off in western direction leads directly over the town of Heraklion, which makes it a very noisy city.
Highway Network
European route
E75 runs through the city and connects Heraklion with the three other major cities of Crete:
Agios Nikolaos,
Chania, and
Rethymno.
Public transit
There are a number of buses serving the city and connecting it to many major destinations in Crete.
Climate
Crete has a warm
Mediterranean climate. Summers in the lowlands, are hot and dry with clear skies. Dry hot days are often relieved by a system of seasonal breezes. The mountain areas are much cooler, with considerable rain. Winters are mild in the lowlands with rare frost and snow. To obtain the latest conditions, consult the
national observatory weather station
of Heraklion.
| Month |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| Average High °C | 15 |
16 |
17 |
20 |
23 |
27 |
29 |
28 |
27 |
23 |
20 |
17
|
| Average Low °C | 9 |
9 |
10 |
12 |
15 |
19 |
22 |
22 |
19 |
17 |
13 |
11
|
| Precip (cm) | 91.4 |
76.2 |
58.4 |
30.5 |
15.2 |
2.5 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
20.3 |
68.6 |
58.4 |
76.2
|
| Source: www.weather.com |
Colleges and Universities
Culture
Sports
The city hosts
three football clubs:
OFI Crete in Heraklion, plays in the first division.
Ergotelis FC - in Heraklion, plays in the first division.
Both OFI and Ergotelis FC use the Pankritiko Stadium, which was built for the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics.
Atsalenios - Football Club of Heraklion which plays in the third division.
Famous natives
Heraklion has been the home town of some of Greece's most significant spirits, including the novelist Nikos Kazantzakis, the poet and Nobel Prize winner Odysseas Elytis and the world-famous Greek painter Domenicos Theotokopoulos (El Greco).
Literature
Vitsentzos Kornaros (1553-1613) author
Nikos Kazantzakis (1883-1957) author
Elli Alexiou (1894-1988) author
Odysseas Elytis (1911-1996) Nobel awarded poet
Lili Zografou (1922-1998) author
Rea Galanaki (1947) author
Scientists and Scholars
Peter Phillarges (ca. 1339-1410) (also Pietro Di Candia, later Pope Alexander V)
Francesco Barozzi (1537-1604) mathematician and astronomer
Maximos (Emmanuel) Margounios (1549–1602) scholar, theologian, poet and writer, titular bishop of Kythira
Nikolaos Panagiotakis (1935-1997) byzantinologist
Fotis Kafatos biologist, President of the European Research Council
Joseph Sifakis (1946) computer scientist, co-recipient of the 2007 Turing Award
Painting
Andreas Ritzos (1422-1492) painter of icons
Theophanes (ca.1500-1559) painter of icons
Michael Damaskenos (1530/35-1592/93) painter of icons
Georgios Klontzas (1540-1607) painter of icons
El Greco (1541-1614) mannerist painter, sculpturer and architect
Emmanuel Tzanes (1610-1690) painter of icons
Theodoros Poulakis (1622-1692) painter of icons
Konstantinos Volanakis (1837-1907) painter
Aristidis Vlassis (*1955) painter
Film industry
Sapfo Notara (1907-1985) actress
Rika Diallina (1934) actress and model, Miss Hellas
Yannis Smaragdis (1946) film director
Music
Fragiskos Leontaritis (Francesco Londarit) (1518-1572) composer
Rena Kyriakou (1918-1994) pianist
Giannis Markopoulos (1939) composer
Christos Leontis (1940) composer
Manolis Rasoulis (1945) lyrics writer
Notis Sfakianakis (1959) singer
Sports
Nikos Machlas (1973) footballer
Georgios Samaras (1985) footballer
Business
Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki (1955) business woman and politician
Politics
Georgios Voulgarakis (1959) politician
Law
Romilos Kedikoglou (1940) President of the Court of Cassation of Greece
Clergy
Kyrillos Loukaris (1572–1637) theologian, Patriarch of Alexandria as Cyril III and Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople as Cyril I
Theodore II (1954) Patriarch of Alexandria
Fashion
Maria Spiridaki (1984) fashion model and television presenter
Sister cities
Constanţa, RomaniaFurther Information
Get more info on 'Iraklion'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://heraklion.totallyexplained.com">Heraklion Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
