Why go
The city grew as a fortified port. Arab founders established a moated settlement in the ninth century; the Byzantines retook it in 961, and Venice later made Candia its Cretan capital. Venetian walls and the harbour fortress are the most visible reminders of that long period.
The full story
The nearby palace of Knossos belongs to Crete’s Minoan story, but the documented city of Heraklion took shape much later. Arab settlers founded a moated town here in the ninth century. Byzantine forces captured it in 961, and the settlement was rebuilt under the name Chandax. Venetian rule began in the early thirteenth century, when the city became Candia and the administrative centre of Venetian Crete. The Venetians strengthened its defences with massive walls and a harbour fortress; those structures remain the clearest physical link to that era. Candia also became a centre of the arts and letters associated with the Cretan Renaissance. The Ottomans took the city in 1669 after a long siege. Heraklion later passed through the autonomous Cretan State before joining Greece with the rest of Crete in 1913. A walk by the walls and harbour follows the city’s later history; visit Knossos separately for the earlier chapter.
Your next visit
Estimated · Declared scenario and planning estimates; no live opening, weather, queue or booking service.
Outdoor visit · 30–45 min
World planning estimate; admission, opening, visit duration and access need checking.