Héraklion (of the old Greek Ἡράκλειον / Hêrákleion ), or rather Iráklio (of the modern Greek Ηράκλειο / Iráklio ), also called Crystallized or Megálo Kástro, is a Greek city located on the northern coast, in the center of the island of Crete.

Indentity card

  • Population: 300.000 inhabitants (agglomeration); 142.112 inhabitants with the census of 2001 (city)
  • Coordinated: 35°33' 30 North; 25°13' 30 Is;
  • Altitude: varied - from 0 m with 811m (on the Mount Iouchtas in the south of the city). In the center town strictly speaking average altitude is of 40m;
  • Surface: 120km ²
  • Capital of the administrative area Crete ( Periféria Krítis , Περιφέρεια Κρήτης )
  • Préfecture of names of Héraklion ( Nomos Irakliou , Νομός Ηρακλείου )
  • place Chief of the éparchie of Temenos ( Eparchia Temenous , επαρχία Τεμένου )
  • Mayor: Giannis Kourakis (left PASOK)

History

Times antiquated, traditional and hellenistic

The town of Héraklion was founded with the antiquated time, it draws its name from the Greek hero Héraclès, to which Crétois had dedicated a worship in this place. If the site of the sanctuary of Héraclès is to us, today, unknown we know, by various excavations, that the city at the time antiquated was not very wide: one found traces of occupation going back to this time in the district of the city surrounding the archaeological museum. The ancient texts evoking Héraklion are very few:

  • Strabon ( Geography X, 476,7) known as this: “Knossos has as a port Héraklion”
  • Pline Old the ( Natural history IV, 12,59) evokes to him also the city like the maritime extension of Knossos.
  • Claude Ptolémée ( Geography III, 15,4,5) when it enumerates the cities of the north of Crete speaks about Héraklion.
  • Under the reign of Dèce (249-251 after J. - C.), one of the ten saints martyrs of the Church of Crete, answering in the name of Euarèstos, has as a birthplace the town of Héraklion.
The territory of the city has seems it far from advanced during the traditional and hellenistic time. Cnossos remains the largest city of the northern center of Crete until the end of the Roman epoch.

Roman occupation

Byzantine periods and Arab occupation

First Byzantine period (from 395 to 824)

Even if there is no political discontinuity between the Roman Empire and the Empire says Byzantine one speaks today for the period going about 395 with 824 about first Byzantine period. It is at that time that the end of the christianization of the island takes place. Héraklion, then named Kastro (the castle, in Greek modern: Κάστρο ), plays during this first Byzantine period that a very secondary role; on the island, political truths centers and monks are, as at the time Roman, Cnossos and Gortyne. For this first Byzantine period, Héraklion, like other towns of Crete, is regularly plundered by the Pirate S.

Arab occupation (from 824 to 961)

Founded in 824 by rebels Moors expelled initially of the emirate of Cordoue by Al-Hakam Ier in, then of Alexandria, whom they had conquered in 818, El Khandak (in Arabic, خندق), which means “ditch”, held its name of a defensive ditch dug to defend it.

Until 961, the city developed thanks to the Piraterie against the Byzantine Empire, because the Arabs who occupied it did not depend on any other faction of the Muslim world and consequently were not concerned with diplomacy.

This activity cost them nevertheless independence and much more, since after eleven months of seat, in 961, the Byzantine general Nicéphore Phocas, future emperor, reconquered the city, plundered it, massacred the whole of the Arab , and reduced it in ashes.

Second Byzantine period (from 961 to 1204)

Venetian occupation

In 1204, the Vénitiens bought to the Byzantines the island of Crete and they modified the Arab noun of the capital crétoise El Khandak in Candie ( Candia in Italian), name which it preserved in the European diplomacy until 1898. The Venetian ones improved its fortifications largely, and nowadays, one can still see the large wall, which makes by places forty meters thickness.

Othoman occupation

September 27th, 1669, after twenty-two years of the seat , probably longest of all the History, which cost the life 30.000 Crétois and 120.000 Turks, the Venetian admiral Francesco Morosini went to the Othoman Ahmed Koprolu, and the city passed under Othoman domination.

Until 1898, it was especially a fortified town (the Othomans named it Kandiye , the Greeks Megálo Kástro it large fortress ) and its economic activity declined, with the profit of Caned the. It was thus necessary to await the independence of Crete under the aegis of the international community to start again the whole.

Autonomy with today

After the fastening of Crete in Greece, in 1913, the population crétoise composed, mainly, Turks and Greeks hardly changed until 1922. After the Great Catastrophe, in minor Asia, in 1922, was decided the exchange of population between Greeks of Asia and Turks (mainly turco-crétois). The Muslim population of the island was thus obliged to leave, emptying Héraklion and her area of about half of her population. The installation of the Micrasiates, Greeks of Anatolia, however posed many problems of integration - Crétois of stock badly accepting the arrival of this population to manners different as of theirs. According to the registers of the city 17463 refugees of Asia Mineure were recorded in Héraklion between December 12th, 1922 and on October 31st, 1923. With this important population that come from the Pont Euxin is added, evaluated for the municipality of Héraklion with 2550 people.

  • Invasion (code name Operation Merkur) by the airborne troops (Falschirmjaëger) of the German army during the Second world war.

Administrations

Héraklion accommodates ENISA (English acronym of European Network and Information Security Agency is the European Agency in charge of the safety of the networks and information).

Culture, curiosities tourist

The town planning of Héraklion diverts somewhat. In the center of the city are côtoient Byzantine churches, Venetian palates, Turkish fountains, neo-classic and real buildings of concrete built in the years 1950. Destroyed on several occasions, in particular in August 1898 and during the second world war, Héraklion have the worst difficulties in manage its development. During the military junta of the Venetian buildings, however in a perfect state, were shaven. The concept of architectural heritage entered only very recently mentality hérakliote. The preparation of the Olympic Games in 2004 and the accession with the town hall of Giannis Kourakis enormously made evolve/move the urban landscape of Héraklion. Part of the downtown area is from now on pedestrian, the electric cables and telephone are systematically buried. An considerable effort was provided to improve the town framework of life.

Monuments and sites protohistoric

Byzantine monuments

  • Church of Aghia Aikaterini

Venetian monuments

  • Old port where some elements of the Venetian arsenal remain
  • Église Saint-Marc (being used today as municipal art gallery)
  • Monastère Saint-Pierre-and-Saint-Paul (of the 13th century)
  • Église Saint-Tite (built at the time Byzantine then deeply altered at the 15th century by the Venetian ones)
  • Venetian Loggia (four loggias is succeeded the same place. That which accommodates, today, the municipal council goes back to 1628)
  • the Crystallized Venetian one was famous for its system of water provision (aqueducts) and the many fountains set up by the aristocratic families of the city

    • the fountain Bébo ( Krini Bebo , Κρίνη Μπέμπο )

    • the fountain Morosini ( Krini Morozini , Κρίνη Μοροζίνη )
    • the fountain Sagredo ( Krini Sagredo , Κρίνη Σαγρέντο )
    • the fountain Priuli ( Krini Priouli , Κρίνη Πριούλι )

Modern monuments

  • Place of Freedom ( Platia Eleftherias , Πλατεία Ελευθερίας ), center of the life of Hérakliotes.

Museums

  • archaeological Museum of Héraklion (Archeologiko Moussio, Αρχαιολογικό μουσείο ). Rebuilt after the earthquake of 1951, the archaeological museum of Héraklion shelters the most important collection in the world of Minoan objects. Most of the frescos of Knossos is preserved there (another part being with the archaeological National museum of Athens). One can see artefacts there, coming from all Crete, dating from the Neolithic time at the time Roman. The museum currently functions with the idle because of important maintenance work.
  • Museum of natural history (Moussio fysikis istorias, Μουσείο φυσικής ιστορίας) on the fauna and the flora of Crete.
  • historical Museum (Istoriko Moussio Kritis, Ιστορικό Μουσείο Κρήτης ). This museum supplements the archaeological museum historically. It accommodates objects of Crete of the late Roman epoch at the 20th century. One can in particular see there the last traces of the Synagog of the city and admire there the important collection of icons of the school crétoise like two works allotted to El Greco.

Archaeological institutes

  • 23e éphorie of the prehistoric antiquities and traditional ( ΚΓ' εφορεία πρωϊστορικών και κλασικών αρχαιοτήτων )
  • 13th éphorie of Byzantine antiquities ( ΙΓ' εφορεία βυζαντινών αρχαιοτήτων )
  • 7th éphorie of the modern monuments ( 7η εφορεία νεότερων μνημείων )
  • archaeological Institute of Crete, Archaiologiko institouto Kritis ( Αρχαιολογικό ινστιτούτο Κρήτης )
  • an antenna of the Italian archaeological school of Athens ( Scuola archeologica italiana di Atene )

Sports equipment

  • Olympic stadium Pankrition
  • Stage Th. Vardinogiannis
  • closed Room of the Lido
  • closed Stage of tennis shoe of the T.E.I

Population

Population of the east city, today, estimated at 150.000 inhabitants.

Economy

Primary sector

The strong growth of exports of the agricultural produce of Héraklion is the combination of two phenomena:
  • the deposit of labels of origin protected near the European Union for the olive oil, the wine and the various agricultural produce of the area of Héraklion.
  • publicity by the dieticians of the whole world of the Mode crétois.

Secondary industry

The secondary industry, because of the weak investments, slightly remains represented in the economy hérakliote. Certain industries of Héraklion, however, are among most important of Greece. The company Plastika Kritis ( Πλαστικά Κρήτης ), plastics of Crete east one of the Balkan leaders of the manufacture of plastic.

Tertiary sector

The economy of the town of Héraklion is mainly turned towards tourism (hotel trade, restoration, leisures) and the services (maritime transport, Internet).

Airports

The Aéroport Nikos Kazantzakis is, in terms of passengers, the second airport of Greece. It occupies the first place of many charters. This airport is located in the municipality of Nea Alikarnassos, with four kilometers in the east of Héraklion. Noise pollutions, the exponential increase in the traffic of the charters brought the authorities crétoises has to think of alternative solutions to decrease the embarrassment caused by the planes. The first advanced idea was to build an additional landing strip on the sea. The project, a long time studied, was abandoned. The second advanced idea is the construction of another airport to thirty kilometers of the city, with Kasteli. This second project is always, currently, with the state of study. The idea although joke does not delight all Hérakliotes which will have to make half an hour of way to take the plane.

Education

In Héraklion is the schools of the exact sciences and the health of the Université of Crete. The campus of the city counts 8000 students. Héraklion also shelters the ITE-FORTH ( Ίδρυμα Τεχνολογίας και Έρευνας ), namely, the Institute of technology and research, one of the greatest research centres of Greece, as well as the technical teaching Institute of Crete (with 6500 students).

Famous characters

  • Francesco Barozzi (1537-1604), humanistic Venetian
  • Dhomínikos Theotokópoulos, (1541-1614), known as Greco , painter
  • Níkos Kazantzákis, (1883-1957), writer
  • Odysséas Elýtis, (1911-1996), poet, Nobel Prize of literature
  • Giorgos Klontzas, (1540-1607), hagiographal
  • Vicenzos Kornaros, (1553-1613), writer
  • Théodoros Poulakis (1622-1692), hagiographal
  • Andreas Ritsos (1422-1492), hagiographal
  • Emmanuel Tzanes, (1610-1690), hagiographal
  • Yánna Angelopoúlou-Daskaláki, (1955-), politicking and businesswoman

Climate

Source Weather France

External bond

  • http://www.la-grece.com/video3.htm
  • http://www.heraklion-city.gr/

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