History

According to ancient Greek mythology Crete is the mythical land of King Minos. The legend is that the king refused to sacrifice a bull to the gods and Poseidon punished him by making his wife fall in love with a bull. From this union the Minotaur was born and was hid in a labyrinth.

Crete is the place where the Minoan civilization, (2600-1150 BC), started.

Huge palace-states were built, such as the famous palaces of Knossos, Phaistos, Malia and Zakros, and the Minoans established a naval empire in the Mediterranean. This great civilization was stopped by the huge waves caused by the eruption of the volcano of Santorini Greece (in 1450 BC) and by the invasion of the achaeans and the Dorians.

The Roman occupation came in 69 AC and lasted until 330 AC, followed by the Byzantine era during which the wealth of Crete is still visible in the beautiful mosaic floor of the basilicas that were built during these times.

Crete later fell under the domination of the Arabs, in 824, and stayed under it for 137 years.

During those years the city of Heraklion was founded, first called Handak.

In 1204, the Venetians conquered the island of Crete. They fortified the old castles built by the Arabs, built new ones, and founded new fortified cities such as Chania and Rethymno. The city of Rethymno is the only one that remains intact from the Renaissance, with its beautifully decorated piazzas, its fountains and its fine churches and palaces

During those years, the arts flourished such as painting and literature. The famous painter El Greco (Domenicos Theotocopoulos) started is carrier in this epoch, and other artists and scholars from Constantinople and other parts of the old Byzantine Empire came to Crete.

In 1669 the island fell under the Ottoman rule which lasted until about 1900. Then Crete was declared an autonomous state and, in 1913, was united with the newly built independent Greek State. Today Crete is an Island of the Hellenic Democracy and the EU.