Heraklio City in Heraklio | Cretan Locations

Heraklio is a modern city, one of the very few cities in Crete, the capital of the prefecture of Heraklio and since 1972 of the whole of Crete. It is also the commercial, industrial and agricultural centre of eastern Crete and the ecclesiastical capital of the island.

Heraklio was build in 824 A.D. During the Arab occupation great walls were built and the city was named Rampnth el Hantak and later on Handakas.

During the Venetian times Heraklio was named Candia and was an important trading and cultural center. It fell in the hands of Turks in 1669 and

only after the city was in a state of siege for 21 years. Since 1913 , when Crete was annexed to the rest of Greece, Heraklio developed once again to become the center for most of the trading and cultural activities of the island.

It has produced important figures in painting and literature such as the famous D.Theotokopoulos ('El Greco') and the great novelist N.Kazantzakis.

Great interest has its archaeological museum with wonderful collections of antiquities.

Beaches in Heraklio