Crete: Heraklion and Knossos

July 27, 2023

A few days followed my last trip, during which the weather became obscenely hot and my search for apartments in Geneva became obscenely intense. As the heat subsided and I secured a place to stay, it was time to travel again. For our last trip around Crete, my mum, my sister, and I visited the city Heraklion. This sonorous name did not always belong to the city; rather, it was borrowed from the name of a nearby village as the Cretan Greeks went through a process of removing Arabic influences from their daily lives.

We began our excursion at the Rocca a Mare Fortress, having left our car at a packed parking lot in the city centre. There are two gates to the fortress, one from the side nearest to the land and one facing out to sea. It is the farther one that has the better-preserved statue of a lion, the symbol of the Venetians. The fortification also offers nice views of the Venetian Port with its large old warehouses.

Crossing back into the city, we walked past the Church of Agios Titos and the Venetian Loggia to the Morosini Fountain. All these sights are connected by the 25^th of August Road, which seems to be the main tourist artery of the city. Once we reached the Morosini Fountain, our group split up to pursue our respective agendas. While my mum and my sister stayed on Dedalou Street for shopping, I continued to the Heraklion Archaeological Museum. The museum was very impressive. Mapping out Crete’s history from the stone age, it contains a number of iconic, recognisable works, particularly from the Palace of Knossos.

After reconvening, we visited Bembo Fountain and Agios Minas Church. However, this was not until my sister bought two pairs of shoes, to which my mum added another seven in the evening. We left Heraklion around five and soon arrived at the Palace of Knossos. To be honest, it was a little underwhelming. I had already seen the major frescoes at the museum, and the pillars look much bigger in the pictures than they are in reality. Still, it was exciting to be in a place that many consider to be the birthplace of European civilisation.