Heraklion

The area around Heraklion has been inhabited since at least 7000 BC, and Knossos, on the city's outskirts, was a major centre of the Minoan civilisation from about 2000 to 1350 BC. The city takes its name from Heracleium, the ancient harbour of Knossos. The city itself was founded in 824, when Arab exiles from al-Andalus who had conquered Crete built a fortress with a moat here, rabḍ al-ḫandaq, the "castle of the moat", and made it the capital of their emirate. Hellenised as Chandax, it was retaken by Byzantium in 961.

Venice bought the city in 1204 and renamed it Candia, a name that came to stand for the whole island. The Venetians built enormous walls, in places 40 metres thick, with seven bastions, and the mix of Greek and Italian culture produced the Cretan Renaissance. In the Cretan War the Ottomans besieged the city for 21 years, from 1648 to 1669; in the last 22 months alone 70,000 Turks and more than 29,000 Christian defenders died. As Kandiye it was the capital of Ottoman Crete until 1849, but its harbour silted up and shipping moved to Chania.

An earthquake in 1856 destroyed most of the city's houses. During the Great Powers' occupation from 1898 the city lay in the British zone and revived its ancient name, and it joined Greece with the rest of Crete in 1913. Bombing in the Battle of Crete in May 1941 badly damaged it, and German rule lasted until 1945. Heraklion became the capital of Crete again in 1971, replacing Chania, and from the 1980s it grew into a major tourist destination.

Heraklion is proud of its writers and painters. Nikos Kazantzakis, author of Zorba the Greek, was born here; his grave on the Martinengo Bastion bears the words "I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free." The Cretan Renaissance painters El Greco, Theophanes and Michael Damaskinos are among the notable figures linked to the city, and statues and busts of El Greco, Vitsentzos Kornaros and Kazantzakis stand in its streets.

The Venetian city is still visible. The Morosini Fountain on Lions Square, the Bembo, Priuli and Sagredo fountains, the Renaissance loggia of 1626–28 and Saint Mark's Basilica all survive, and the Koules guards the harbour. The Orthodox cathedrals of Saint Titus, built as a mosque in 1869, and Agios Minas, dedicated to the city's patron saint, show the 19th-century city.

Cultural life centres on the Cultural and Conference Center of Heraklion and the Summer Arts Festival, held from June to September. Raki, called tsikoudia, is the trademark of Cretan days and nights, and restaurants often serve a free glass with dessert.

Heraklion is the largest city in the Greek islands, with 179,302 people in its municipality in 2021; its wider metropolitan area had 211,370 in 2011. As capital of Crete and of its regional unit, it is the island's commercial and administrative centre, and the University of Crete, the Hellenic Mediterranean University and the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas give it a large student and research population.

Tourism drives much of the economy. The city welcomed 3.2 million visitors in 2017, when it was rated Europe's fastest-growing tourist destination, and the airport is the busiest in Greece after Athens, first for charter flights. The port, completed in 1928, handles ferries and freight. The present airport has reached capacity and is to close when a new airport at Kasteli takes over, expected in 2028.

Modern growth has spread the city far beyond its historic centre, and much of the population lives in the newer districts and suburbs outside the walls, such as Nea Alikarnassos. In 2025 farmers protesting against delayed EU subsidy payments occupied the airport apron, disrupting flights.

Heraklion eats the food of Crete, rich in olive oil, greens, pulses and cheese. Dakos, a barley rusk soaked in water or olive oil and topped with chopped tomatoes, crumbled feta or mizithra and olive oil, is a familiar starter; kalitsounia are small cheese or herb pies. Chochlioi boubouristi, snails fried with rosemary and vinegar, and apaki, smoked pork, are island specialities, and graviera of Crete is a hard, slightly sweet sheep's-milk cheese.

Crete's wine appellations include Peza, Archanes, Dafnes and Sitia, and its native grapes include the white Vidiano and the red Liatiko. Raki, also called tsikoudia, is usually 40 per cent and sometimes much stronger, and yoghurt and fresh fruit were long the island's most common dessert.

The central open market near Meidani Square sells mountain herbs, spices and folk remedies alongside food, and the cafés around Lions Square are the city's meeting place. In summer the tavernas and bars of the Amoudara beach strip are busy into the night.