Heraklion

Heraklion or Iraklion (Greek Ιρακλιον) is the major city and capital of the island of Crete. It is also the capital of the prefecture of the same name. It has an international airport named after the writer Nikos Kazantzakis. The ruins of Knossos, which were excavated and restored by Evans, are nearby.

History

As mentioned above, Iraklion is close to the ruins of the palace of Knossos, which in Minoan times was the biggest centre of population on Crete. So it is very likely that there was a port here as long ago as 2000 BC. There is however no archaeological evidence for such a port.

The present city of Iraklion was founded in 824 AD by the Saracens (an Arabic Muslim people). They built a giant ditch around the city for protection. They named the city Khandak, meaning 'moat', after the ditch. The Saracens allowed the port to be used as a safe haven for pirates, much to the annoyance of the nearby Byzantine Empire.

In 961, the Byzantines attacked and defeated the city, slaughtered all the Saracens, looted the city and burned it to the ground. They remained in control of the rebuilt Khandak for about the next 150 years.

In 1204, the city was bought by the Venetians as part of a complicated political deal which involved among other things, the Crusaders restoring a deposed Byzantine emperor 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 40m thick, with 7 bastions, and a fortress in the harbour. The name Khandak became Candia in Italian. The city retained the name of Candia for centuries, and the whole island of Crete was often called Candia as a result.

After the Venetians came the Turks. They besieged the city for 22 years in a bloody war in which 30,000 Cretans and 120,000 Turks died. The Venetians eventually handed it over in 1669. The Turks renamed the city Megalokastro (big castle). During their occupation, the harbour silted up, so they moved most of their business to Khania in the west of the island.

The city only became truly Greek with the withdrawal of the Turks in 1898. At this stage, the Greeks decided to rename the city to something Greek, so they chose the name Iraklion, meaning City of Iraklis (Hercules), after the port of Heracleum which had existed somewhere in the locality in Roman times.