Heraklion, Crete (Ηράκλειο)
The allure of Crete. I have many happy memories of Greece and can now add more from Crete.
The old Venetian walls of Heraklion.
However, DO NOT drink the tap water💧 in Heraklion. This was a big change since I was last there. I’ve been to more than 60 countries, and a ‘less than clean’ hotel with no notice about the water took me down. I arrived late in the evening, there was no bottle of water in my room - and I had been traveling for over 30 hours, and was thirsty, so I downed several glasses of tap water before I passed out on the bed. I had booked the room with two single beds - and it had 4. I think that should have been a warning. This was likely a hotel frequented by young tourists who come by droves to the island to party - and that is why perhaps the hotel had such a high score on booking.com. The rating was definitely over-inflated. When I was woken up with the severe need to run to the washroom to throw up - I then noticed the strong smell of mold. Between the bad tap-water and the mold I was taken out of commission for four solid days. I could barely manage a short walk to get water, an adapter and some yogurt. I had a strong asthma attack but was lucky to get to a pharmacy to get an inhaler - and then moved hotels. The second hotel was exceptional (Aegean Lotus Sea View Apartments) and I was on the road to recovery.
Caroline joined me after a few days, and we went on to see some lovely things in Heraklion, Knossos and Chania.
We had both been to Koules (the Venetian fortress) in Heraklion before, but it was nice to get reacquainted with the harbour. Following are some of my photos from the waterfront.
Following is the description about the shipyards from the public placards.[1]
“The first port facilities in the Heraklion area date from the ancient times. The first serious attempt to create an organized harbor in the bay of ‘Candia’ took place in the period of Arab rule (9th century AD). With the recovery of Crete in the period of the Byzantine Empire in 961 AD, the ‘Candia’ gradually evolves into a thriving city.
When the island came under the Venetian rule, ‘Candia’ (as Heraklion, and the whole of Crete was named by the Venetians - became the ‘Venice of the East’). From the port develops a unique scale export trade with Egypt, Syria, Armenia, Cyprus, the islands of Rhodes, Chios, etc., with the main export products to be wine, honey, cheese, was/candles, silk, raisins, cotton, olive oil and salt, which was a Venetian monopoly. At the same time the port becomes a major naval base of the Venetians for the entire Eastern Mediterranean.
In the 17th century, the port took its final form and was able to dock 50 galleys. In the old ‘Venetian harbor’ parts of the Venetian shipyards still remain. That is the places where ships were manufactured, repaired or kept (galleys marsilianes, karamousalia, palantres, seines, skiratsa, galleons, naves, shuttles) by the Venetians. The docks are vaulted elongated structures south of the Venetian harbour that were used as ‘arsenals’.
In their original form the dockyards were open to the sea side, which seeped inside them to a point so that the ships were able to be hauled. They had a length of 50 meters and a width of 9 meters and a height of 10 meters.
The Venetians constructed a total of 19 shipyards in different time periods, divided into three groups: the Arsenali Antichi, Vechi & Arsenali Nuovi. Next to the Nuovi was a large salt storage facility and a large water tank with a capacity of 20,000 barrels, which is used to this day for watering the green areas of the port (70,000 lt/day).
Later, the opening of the promenade, and the expansion of the port ‘imposed’ the demolition of many shipyards. Today, only the sections Vechi (4 places in half length) southwest of the port and Nuovi (originally 5 rooms, today 1), southeast of the port exist, ‘giving’ the port its present form.”
Koules / Venetian Fortress [2]
View of Koules (facing South) from the modern sea walk.
“Koules (Su Kulesi: in Turkish maritime fortress and the Venetian: Castelo deMolo / Rocca a Mare [3]
It is arguably the city’s emblem. The name Koules prevailed through the period of Turkish rule, while in the Venetian period it was known as Castello del Molo and Rocca a Mare. Built with boulders, it took its final form between 1523-1540 and played an important role in protecting the harbor.
The fort has two floors with 26 apartments and on its final form occupied 3600 m2. On the ground floor there were originally five areas for cannons. Excluding the cannon corridors in the halls of the ground floor, it housed captains’ houses, warehouses, or served as a prison and torture chambers. The rest was used for storage of food and ammunition. On the first floor, which formed a large square, was the the lighthouse tower on the North side. There were also quarters for the soldiers, the officers and the governor. A mill, a bakery and a church, providing autonomy to the forts guard were among the facilities of the fort.
In 1630 there were 18 cannons on the ground floor and 25 on the first floor and where used for the protection of the fort. At the same time the fort was equipped with 300 boxes and 6,144 cannon balls of various sizes. An inside ramp was used to transport the cannons to the roof. In the NE, W and S side of the exterior of the fort, the winged lion of Venice was located and its marble reliefs survive up to today.
A detail worth noting is that during the Turkish occupation another ‘small Koules’ was built opposite the original to strengthen the protection of the harbor, but this was demolished in 1936.”
Other Points of Interest in Heraklion
Sunrise view of Mount Stroumboulas (the pyramid of Heraklion)
While I had planned to revisit the Heraklion Archaeological Museum, I wasn’t physically up to it, so unfortunately I don’t have any photos from there. I recall it being a great museum, and would recommend it, along with the Historical Museum of Crete. Both I had previously visited in 2008.
[1] I have copied the text here as the placards near the shipyard were in pretty bad condition, and covered in graffiti so the photos alone were not acceptable.
[2] See some of my previous photos of the interior of the fortress from 2008 - Minoan Adventures.
[3] Description of the fortress from the public placards, as [1] above.
