Friday May 9 was a very hot 32C. It will drop to the mid 20s tomorrow. We had our usual breakfast on the deck (a bit earlier than usual). We had decided to visit the Historical Museum of Crete just a few minutes from our apartment.
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| Outside of the Museum |
The Historical Museum of Crete was founded in 1953 by the Society of Cretan Historical Studies, which had been established two years earlier. Its building was donated by the estate of Andreas Kalakairinos, who built it in 1903 and whose expressed desire was to see his home turned into a museum. The Museum has been expanded with a modern wing. The permanent collection highlights the history of Crete from the 4th century AD through the Second World War. The collections are ordered chronologically and are combined with visual material and multimedia. In a way, it can be seen as a "sequel" to the Archaeological Museum, whose collection covers the period up to the 4th century AD.
The Historical Museum also filled in the history of Crete, which Georgio had related in our Free Tour. It is such a layered history. The First Byzantine period (330-827/8).
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| Map of the Byzantine Empire- |
The Arab occupation from 827/8 until 961 AD. Heraklion was known as Chandax during this period.
The Second Byzantine Period (961-1204).
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| Crete is the tiny island in red in the middle of the map |
In 1204, after the siege of Constantinople by the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade, the Byzantine Empire was dissolved. Crete fell to Venetian rule which remained until its conquest by the Ottomans in 1669.
There was a 4 x 4 metre mock-up of 17th century Heraklion (called Candia during the Venetian period) at the time when the city reached its peak under Venetian rule.
There were separate rooms with pottery from the various eras of Cretan history.
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| View of Mount Sinai (1570-1572) |
There was a section on the men who took part in the 1821 Uprising.
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| Michael's Mavroyiannis or "Melitakas", rebel leader of Mylopotamos during the 1821 Uprising. |
There was also a section on WWII, addressing the failed 1940 Italian invasion of Crete, and the successful German invasion in 1941. There was information on the German reprisals taken against innocent people including the execution of civilians and the razing of the village of Kandanos in Chania to the ground.
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| Civillian Executions--Father and son facing the German firing squad (Perivolia, Chania, 1941) and signage after the burning of the village of Kandanos saying that the Germans had done so as "exemplary punishment". |
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| Information on the resistance groups |
Finally there was the story of the
Tanais Tragedy. On the night of June 8, 1944, the Germans herded the members of the Cretan Jewish community, together with Christian resistance fighters and Italian prisoners on board of a requisitioned commercial steamer named the
Tanais. While sailing in convoy for Piraeus, about 33 miles northeast of Heraklion, the
Tanais was torpedoed and sunk by a British submarine. More than one hundred of the victims were children. A horrible tragedy.
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| On May 9, 1945, the Germans surrendered. |
There is also a section of the Museum devoted to the Cretan author Nikos Kazantzakis (author of Zorba the Greek, The Last Temptation of Christ and many other books). It features the study and library from the author's home in Antibes, France, personal effects, manuscripts of his works and first editions of books in various languages.
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| Kazantzakis was born in Heraklion in 1883 during the dying days of the Ottoman rule of Greece. He studied Law in Athens and then embarked on his literary career. He settled permanently in France in 1947, first in Paris and then in Antibes. His works have been translated into over thirty languages. Kazantzakis died in October 1957. His grave is located in Heraklion. |
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| Portrait of Kazantzakis |
Recreated study and library (from his home in Antibes (1954-57)
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| Drawing of his Library |
There were also a number of rooms dedicated to temporary exhibitions. The temporary exhibit on display was entitled "The viewer and the viewed, small retrospective" . It highlights paintings by Yannis Tsarouchis (1910-1989), with works from 1940 to 1986.
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| Portrait of a Young Man, 1986 |
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| David, 1974 |
After the exhibit, we went back to the apartment for lunch and a brief rest. We wanted to go to Knossos to see the ruins of the Minoan Palace later in the afternoon, as it was a very hot day. We took the #2 bus to Knossos which is located about five km south of Heraklion.
There were a number of plaques throughout the ruins explaining the buildings and features that had been part of the Palace. It was a very hot and windy day, but we were able to get a sense of the grandeur of the Palace. It was also in a beautiful location in a valley among the hills. We were very glad that we had visited the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion first, as most of the ceramics and frescoes found at Knossos are housed in the Museum. There are only some replicas at the Palace site.
Knossos' first palace (1900 BC) was destroyed by an earthquake around 1700 BC and rebuilt with a grander and more sophisticated design. It was then partially levelled again between 1550-1450 BC. It was then inhabited until its final destruction around 1350 BC.
The Palace site was first excavated by Minos Kalokairinos in 1877. In 1900, British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans undertook more extensive excavations which unearthed most of the palace and many of the now-famous artefacts which are found in the Archaeological Museum. While Evans is often credited for discovering the Minoan Civilization, his reconstruction remains controversial, with many modern archaeologists believing that Evans sacrificed accuracy to his overly vivid imagination.
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| Minos Kalokairinos, 1843-1907 |
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| Sir Arthur Evans (1851-1941) |
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| Three large pits, known as "Kouloures" (rings) with stone-lined walls were built in the west Court during the Old Palace period (1900-1700 BC). The function of the pits is not clear but they may have been rubbish dumps or used for storing grain. In the New Palace period (1700-1450 BC), the Kouloures were covered over and went out of use. |
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| West facade |
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| West Porch |
After a rest at the apartment, we headed out for dinner at Peskesi, a highly recommended "farm to table" restaurant only about a seven minute walk from our apartment. The alleyway leading to the restaurant had beautiful flowers and plants.
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| In the ally leading to the restaurant |
The venue was spectacular. The inside of the restaurant is in a restored historical mansion. There were flowers and vines hanging from the roof over the large outdoor section. We sat outdoors, as it was still very warm out. A lot of the produce was from the restaurant's farm. Each item on the menu gave details on where the produce came from and how many km away. The menu was very innovative featuring a number of historical ingredients and recipes. We had two appetizers (which were very generous) and one main course.
The first dish we shared was "Palikaria" salad- used as an offering to the gods, from Minoan times.
Chickpeas, manarolia (a Cretan legume), beans and wheat cooked in a pot with spring onions,
petimezi (a traditional Greek grape syrup), parsley and lemon (85 km).
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Cheers! The Paikaria Salad-- Amazing flavours!
Our second dish was "Boubouristoi" snails, another Cretan dish (32 km). The snails (Chochlioi) are cooked "boubourista" (upside down) in the pan, with rosemary and extra virgin olive oil. I missed taking a photo. The snails were quite large and delicious. They have been a signature dish on Crete since Minoan times. I hadn't had snails in years, as they are usually cooked in butter. These had no dairy and were superb.
Our shared main course was "Kreokakavos" (110 km), an ancient recipe of pork slow roasted for a number of hours with honey and thyme from the farm, served with carrot and legume puree. We also had two glasses of a lovely local red wine.
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| Amazing flavours and very large portion of the slow cooked pork with the puree. |
The Cretan custom is to provide a dessert and raki at the end of the meal. We each had a lovely glass of a rose flavoured raki and a dessert of semolina flour with honey.
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| Semolina flour and honey dessert and two glasses of raki |
(on the house). It was only a thin layer of the dessert which we ate with spoons.
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| One last photo of part of the outside eating area as we were leaving. |
The meal and the location were spectacular. We note that in 2023, UNESCO recognized Heraklion as one of seven World Cities of Gastronomy. Heraklion has a focus on traditional gastronomy and the region has a rich production of agro-products. There are 30 million olive trees in the region, with 150 species of edible greens, as well as many local cheeses and wines.
Peskesi was a fabulous example of traditional local Cretan cuisine. The restaurant has as its goal the preservation, revival, and promotion of the gastronomic, cultural heritage of Crete. One of the best meals we have had in our travels. Portions were large and the price was very reasonable.
A very full day. On Saturday we head to Chania, about a three hour bus ride to the west of Heraklion. We will be there for five nights and then head back to Heraklion for one night before heading to the island of Paros.
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