We left Toronto on Monday May 5 at 4:45 p.m. and had an uneventful flight to Amsterdam, arriving on-time at 6:00 a.m. A very short turnaround time to our next flight-- just a quick run through the airport to catch our 7:10 a.m. flight to Heraklion, Crete. We arrived just before noon. There is a seven hour time difference between Toronto and Heraklion. Beautiful weather on our arrival-- sunny and 27C. We caught the bus (just 1.20 euros) from the airport to the city centre. Just a five minute walk to our AirBnb.
We are on the first floor (second floor in Canada) of a small apartment building which has an elevator. We have a very nice light-filled bedroom with a small outdoor eating area and a small, efficient kitchen and bathroom.
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Airy bedroom
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Kitchen (also has a washing machine)
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Deck off the bedroom
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| The apartment building is on the left with the blue balconies |
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Bathroom
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We decided to go for a coffee and a bite to eat in a nearby square. Frankly Cafe was on a recommended list.
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| Allan outside of Frankly Cafe - large outdoor patio |
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| Inside-- Frankly, I don't Give a Damm |
We sat outside and Allan had a flat white and I had a Freddo Espresso (Greek Iced Coffee-- double shot of espresso shaken with ice to get a nice foam). We shared a falafel bowl.
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| With my Espresso Freddo |
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| Relaxing after a long trip |
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| View from the coffee shop- back of the Saint Catherine Church |
The Saint Catherine Church now houses a Museum of Christian Art with ecclesiastical art developed in Crete from the 14th to 19th century. It was established during the second Byzantine period. It operated as a school from the 15th century onwards. During the Ottoman rule it was converted into a Mosque.
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| Front of Saint Catherine Church |
Around the corner was the Cathedral of Saint Minas. It was built next to the small Chapel of St. Minas. The main church was built between 1862 and 1895.
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| Cathedral of Saint Minas |
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| Beautiful ceiling with gorgeous colours |
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| Inside the Cathedral |
We headed back to the apartment and then met our Free Tour at 5:00 p.m. at the Dermatas Gate, just two minutes from our place. The Dermatas Gate is situated approximately in the middle of the coastal Venetian wall. Our guide, Georgios, is from mainland Greece, but is studying medicine in Heraklion and is in his fourth year. There were only three other people on our tour. A young couple from Mexico who are presently living in Germany and a young woman from the Czech Republic.
We stopped in a few locations where Georgios outlined the history of Crete. Crete was the centre of Europe's most ancient civilization, the Minoans, a Bronze Age culture (c.3100-1100 BC). However, recent findings of stone tools at least 130,000 years old suggests that the island may have been visited by archaic humans during the Middle Pleistocene. Georgios focused on the early Greek period, the capture by the Romans (first Byzantine Empire). In 820, Crete fell into the hands of Andalusian Muslims which established a piratical emirate on the island. The pirates attacked ships in the vicinity of the island. Successive campaigns by the Byzantine Empire to recapture the island failed until 961 AD, when Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas defeated and expelled the Muslim Arabs from Crete.
The second Byzantine period lasted until the Fourth Crusade (1204). The island was fought over by the Republics of Genoa and Venice until the Venetians gained control by 1212. They retained the island until 1669. Venetian Crete was known as Candia after its capital, Candia or Chandax (now Heraklion) and was known as a "Golden Period". There was a thriving literature in the Cretan dialect of Greek developed on the island. The painter El Greco was born in Crete in 1541 and trained in Byzantine iconography before moving to Italy and later, Spain.
The Ottomans took over Crete after the longest siege of Candia (1648-1669). Crete was part of the Ottoman Empire until 1898. There was then an autonomous Cretan State. It was not until 1913 that Crete was officially unified with mainland Greece. During World War II, Crete fell to the Germans after an airborne invasion in May 1941. Due to the heavy losses of the German paratroopers, Hitler forbade further airborne operations of such large scale for the rest of the war. There was a strong resistance movement and many German reprisals. Even the smallest villages in Crete today contain a memorial to those killed in the war.
In 1967, there was a successful coup d'état led by a group of colonels in Greece. The Military dictatorship lasted until 1974, when democracy was restored.
We then walked to the Venetian Port and the Venetian Fortress Rocca a Mare or Koules built by the Venetians to protect the pier and the port. It assumed its final form during the period between 1523 and 1540.
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| Walking to the Fortress |
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| Port and lots of boats |
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| Another view |
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The other side of the Fortress
Lion with wings and open book (meaning the Fortress was built during a time of peace)
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We walked to the Church of Saint Titus, the first bishop of Crete. During the second Byzantine period, (started in 961), the Church was built. Under the Venetians, a Roman Catholic archbishop was installed in the church. The first building was destroyed before the middle of the 15th century and then rebuilt. After the fall of Candia to the Ottoman Turks in 1669, the church was converted into a Muslim mosque, which was destroyed by the earthquake of 1856. The current building was constructed in 1869. It is now a Greek Orthodox Church.
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Saint Titus Cathedral
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| Beautiful inside of the Cathedral |
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| Stained glass |
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| Titus |
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| Sitting near the site of the Cathedral |
We then went to the Heraklion Town Hall. It is housed in the reconstructed building of the Venetian Loggia (officers and merchants' club) built in approximately 1628.
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| Loggia- Heraklion Town Hall |
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| Inside the courtyard of the Town Hall |
We then headed down a graffitied part of town to another section of the Venetian Walls.
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| Lots of interesting graffiti |
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| A Tiger |
We climbed up some steep stairs to get to the Wall.
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| Flowers in bloom |
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| A view of the city from the walls- sea in the distance |
That is where our tour ended at 7:00 p.m. Our guide recommended a nearby restaurant where locals eat.
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| Passing some cat graffiti |
We stopped for an early dinner at O Lakkos. The restaurant had three sections, the last section added about four years ago. As Cretans eat late, there were not many people when we were seated. By the time we left at around 9:00 p.m., the place was full of locals. We were the only tourists there.
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| Allan waving from our table on one of the patios |
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| The section of O Lakkos across from where we were sitting |
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| A newer section on the square |
We had a very generous beet and goat cheese salad and a mixed kebob dish that came with some fries and sheep yogurt. Allan had a draft local beer and I had a small carafe of raki.
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| One of the many cats in town---definitely a fan of the restaurant |
After our meal, we were given a plate of sweets and another small carafe of raki-- a Greek tradition we could easily get used to. The total for our meal only came to 23 euros.
How sweet it is!- after dinner treats
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| Leaving the restaurant |
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| Graffiti on the way back to the apartment |
It was a wonderful first day in Heraklion. We powered through the jet lag and were glad to get back to the apartment at around 9:30 p.m. for a good night's sleep.
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