Explore Crete island

Heraklion - Crete, GREECE

The city of Heraklion named after the Greek Hero Herakles (Hercules) , lies midway along the northern coast of Crete and is not only the islands capital city, but is a commercial and cultural centre. Heraklion city houses around 130,000 inhabitants, making it a busy and bustling city. The Archaeological Museum has been claimed to be one of the best in Europe, housing many important Minoan artifacts recovered from the across crete island, including original fresco's found at the Palace of Knossos, discovered by Sir Aurthur Evens in the early 20th century.

There is a magnificent Venetian fortress on the waters edge along the break water   which is open to visitors daily. The tall walls are metres thick and are built from blocks of yellow stone, weathered by centuries of age and attack. The Venetian name for this fortress was Rocca al Mere, meaning The Rock in the Sea. The Saracen's originally built a small fort here and in the 13th  century, the Venetians constructed the larger fortification that can be seen today on this site. Around the East side of Heraklion Harbour can be found a number of large hollow stone arches. These were used for the construction and preparation of ships in the 16th century. These arsenali, built by the Venetians, are now in the process of being renovated to reflect their original grandeur.

Heraklion houses a large daily market, selling fruit and vegetables, meat and many crafts and souvenirs and is always a hub of activity harking back to the days when it was the Turkish bazzar. The port of Heraklion is the main import / export centre of the island and ferries connect the island with the main land and other islands with regular scheduled services. The airport, Nikos Kazantzakis (HER) lies to the East of the city and is the major airport of Crete, with domestic, international and charter flights arriving there.