Cities
Other destinations
Understand
Tourism is the basis of the Cretan economy.
The island is partly very green despite only having around 60 days of rain per year.
There are many contrasts in this region, you can go from incredible beaches to impressive mountains, from big (and chaotic) cities to really small picturesque villages, from very dry, almost desert areas to very green zones like the springs in the center.
History
Crete was the centre of the Minoan civilisation, a literate and highly artistic Bronze Age culture, the island bearing witness to their achievements in the form of palaces, tombs and sacred sites. Towards the end of the Late Bronze Age, the Minoans were superseded by Mycenaeans from the Greek mainland. Thereafter, Crete very much followed in the classical slipstream of Greece and - much later - Rome.
Crete was the site of an airborne invasion by German troops, and a spirited resistance by Allied (mainly British and Australian) troops and the People of Crete during the 1941 Nazi invasion of Greece.
Talk
The language used in Crete is Greek, although in main cities and touristic areas people have no problem understanding English. Even in small villages you usually have no problem for basic things like shopping or eating.
The spoken dialect of Greek in Crete is similar to the one of the mainland Greece but it might have some small differences.
Get in
By plane
The island has three significant airports, Nikos Kazantzakis at Heraklion, the military airport Daskalogiannis at Chania and a new public airport in Sitia. Chania airport is much smaller and far less busy than Heraklion airport. Sitia airport serves currenly only a small number of domestic flights, mainly to/from Athens. Crete flight schedules.
There are long term plans to replace Heraklion airport, which is too close to the city, by a new inland airport at Kasteli, southeast of Heraklion.
By boat
Ferry services from Athens (Piraeus) to Iraklion, Rethimno and Hania and from Thessaloninki and the Cyclades to Heraklion.
Visit Greek Travel Pages and search through all ferry schedules to/from Crete and the rest of the Greek islands.
Get around
By car
Hiring a car is easy, as long as you have your driving licence with you. Check, though, that the insurance is comprehensive, and make sure when you take the car that all previous marks on it are recorded so that you don't get charged for these! Insurance on hire cars doesn't usually cover the underside of the car, or damage to tires. Petrol stations often close around 7 pm, particularly in villages. Most petrol stations expect you to pay cash - they serve you, so you can choose for them to fill the tank or put in petrol to a cash value. On the National Highway, there are service stations, but they are often 30 miles or so apart - make sure you fill up with petrol before bank holidays and Sundays when you may have more difficulty finding an open petrol station.
By bus
Public transportation is fairly frequent and timetables quite trustworthy. Bus drivers usually divert from their marked routes to enter little villages if asked to do so. Bus services along the north coast and towards the south coast are excellent, reliable, frequent and cheap.
By ferry
Crete has many ferry connections for example:
You can go from Pireaus to Heraklion with Minoan Lines, to Chania with ANEK Lines or Hellenic Seaways, to Ayios Nikolaos and Sitia with LANE Lines.
LANE also operates routes from Ayios Nikolaos/Sitia to Rhodes and other greek islands.
In the summer, there are daily catmarans (hydrofoils) from Heraklion to Santorini. The trip takes about 2.5 hours. Hellenic Seaways and SeaJets offer these sailings.
You can also go to Crete by ferry from the Peloponnese (Gytheio) and Kythira island. This ferry lands on the west part of Crete, in Kissamos port. The ferry timetables.
Along the road free southwest coast operates a ferry line, with connections between Paleochora, Sougia, Agia Roumeli, Loutro and Hora Sfakion (Sfakia). There is also a connection with the islet of Gavdos, Europe's southernmost point (Cape Tripiti). Here you find the timetable.
See
Do
Eat
Crete is the most delicatessen place of Greece, famous for its tasty and healthy cuisine.
The Cretan Diet was the subject of study that revealed its great health benefits and nutritional value.
A good tip is to join any of the hundreds of traditional fiestas in villages having great food,
wine and live folk music.
Cheese
Unlike most regions in Greece, Feta is not produced and is not very popular in Crete.
However you will find a very good variety of delicious locally produced Cretan cheeses, such as:
Meat
Snails cooked in various ways (one of the most traditional dishes of Crete), Smoked ham (apaki) and smoked sausages (loukaniko), traditional mountain goat or lamb cooked in various ways, cretan pilaf (chicken risotto), souvlaki (pork meat or fish on skewers).
Fish and seafood
Sardines (Greek: σαρδέλες) , barbounia (Greek: μπαρμπούνια - red mullets), kalamarakia (Greek: καλαμαράκια - fried squids), atherina (Greek: Αθερίνα - fried tiny fishes), Octopus (Greek: Χταπόδι - sundried or drunken)
Side dishes
Tzatziki (dip made of garlic, oliveoil, greek yogurt and dill), taramosalata (Caviar dip), melitzanosalata (eggplant and garlic dip),kopanisti or tyrokafteri (cheese dip).
Dakos (Greek: Ντάκος - Cretan rusk with tomato, feta cheese, olives, oregano and olive oil), Horta vrasta (boiled greens with olive oil and lemon juice), Greek salad (Greek: Χωριάτικη) (cucumber, tomatoes, onion, feta cheese and olives), kolokithakia tiganita (fried courgettes), melitzanes tiganites (fried eggplants), kolokythokeftedes (courgette crockets).
Desserts
Amigdaloto (made with almonds), sfakianopita, tyropitakia, spanakopitakia, kaltsouni, Greek yogurt with honey.
Restaurants
The Cretans themselves eat out late, after 10 or 11 PM, and often in a group. They prefer dinner in a good taverna, a small local restaurant offering the local cuisine. Most dishes are fresh from that day. The menu is only for tourists, Cretans ask the waiter for specialities, and have a look in the kitchen or in a 'vitrine', glass display case. Dinner is usually outside. Fresh fish becomes more and more rare, and is expensive, priced by the weight. Restaurants and tavernas by law have to display if they offer fresh, or frozen, fish.
Greek people seldom have breakfast. They do enjoy a copious lunch.
Heraklion Sailing Club (Greek: Ιστιοπλοϊκός Όμιλος Ηρακλείου)
''Heraklion Harbour.
Simple and cute restaurant with fresh and quality seafood in relatively low prices.
Specialities: grilled sardines, Octopus salad, clam and mussel risottos.
"Pagopieion" (Ice-Factory)is a "quirky", very different restaurant and cafe/bar, at St Titus square, by the church. You can sit outside and enjoy the setting or - you might be tempted by the dramatic decor to sit inside. Either way, the food is excellent, the menu different and interesting - Mediterranean with a twist. Good fish too.
Drink
Sleep
Mike Hotel & Apartments located in Chania Crete . just visit
Get out
If there was a beauty contest for Greek islands, Crete would surely be among the favourites. Indeed, some say there is no place on earth like Crete. This view is strongly supported by those fortunate enough to have visited the island. Crete, with a population of approximately 500,000, is not just sun, sea and sand; it is a quite distinct place full of vitality, warmth, hospitality, culture and of course an excellent infrastructure.
:For the famous World War II battle, see: Battle of Crete
Crete (Greek Κρήτη Kríti; Ottoman Turkish گريد (Girit); Latin Candia, Creta) is the largest of the Greek islands at 3220 sq. miles and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located at approximately .
Crete is a popular tourist destination; its attractions include the Minoan sites of Knossos and Phaistos, the classical site of Gortys, the Venetian castle in Rethymno, and the Samaria Gorge, as well as many other natural sites, monuments, and beaches.
Crete was the center of the Minoan civilization (ca. 2600–1400 BCE), the oldest civilization in Europe.
History
Crete was the centre of Europe's most ancient civilization, the Minoan. Referred to often as the 'cradle' of European civilization. Little is known about the rise of ancient Cretan society, because very few written records remain, and many of them are written in the undeciphered script known as Linear A. This contrasts with the superb palaces, houses, roads, paintings and sculptures that do remain. Though early Cretan history is surrounded by legends (such as those of King Minos; Theseus and the Minotaur; and Daedalus and Icarus) that have been passed to us via Greek historians/poets (such as Homer), it is known that the first human settlement in Crete, dating to the aceramic Neolithic, introduced cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, and dogs, as well as domesticated cereals and legumes.
In Ancient Roman times, Crete was involved in the Mithridatic Wars as Rome suspected them of backing Mithridates VI of Pontus. Marcus Antonius Creticus attacked Crete in 71 BCE and was repelled. Rome sent Quintus Caecilius Metellus with three legions to the island. After a ferocious three-year campaign Crete was conquered for Rome in 69 BCE, earning this Metellus the agnomen "Creticus." The result was Gortyn being made the capital of a province that at times joined Cyrenaica to Crete. Crete continued to be part of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine empire, a quiet cultural backwater, until it fell into the hands of Arabs (see Al-Hakam I) in 824, who established an emirate on the island. In 960 Nicephorus Phocas reconquered Crete for the Byzantines, who held it until 1204, when it fell into the hands of the Venetians at the time of the Fourth Crusade. The Venetians retained the island until 1669, when the Ottoman Turks took possession of it.
In the partition of the Byzantine empire after the capture of Constantinople by the armies of the Fourth Crusade in 1204, Crete was eventually acquired by Venice, which held it for more than four centuries. During Venetian rule, the Greek population of Crete was exposed to Renaissance culture. During the 17th century, Venice was pushed out of Crete by the Ottoman Empire, with most of the island lost after the siege of Candia (1648–1669), possibly the longest siege in history.
The Greek War of Independence began in 1821 and Cretan participation was extensive. An uprising by Christians met with a fierce response from the Ottoman authorities and the execution of several bishops, regarded as ringleaders. Between 1821 and 1828, the island was the scene of repeated hostilities. Contemporary estimates vary, but on the eve of the Greek War of Independence as much as 45% of the population of the island may have been Muslim. Some of them were crypto-Christians who converted back to Christianity; many others fled Crete because of the unrest. By the 1900, only 11% of the population was Muslim -- they were usually called "Turks" regardless of language, culture, and ancestry. Those remaining were forced to leave in 1924 in the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey. (See Cretan Muslims and Cretan Turks for fuller discussion and documentation.)
In World War II, Crete provided the setting for the Battle of Crete (May 1941), wherein German invaders, especially paratroops, drove out a British Empire force commanded by General Sir Bernard Freyberg.
Geography
Crete is one of the 13 regions into which Greece is divided. It is the largest island in Greece and the second largest (after Cyprus) of the East Mediterranean. Crete has an elongated shape - 260 km from east to west and 60 km at its widest, although the island is narrower at certain points, such as in the region close to Ierapetra where it has a width of only 12 km. It covers an area of 8,336 km² and has a coastline of 1046 km. To the north Crete borders with the Sea of Crete (Greek: Κρητικό Πέλαγος), to the south it is bordered by the Libyan Sea (Greek: Λιβυκό Πέλαγος), to the west the Myrtoon Sea, to the east the Karpathion Sea. Its population is 650,000 people (as of 2005). The island lies approximately 160 km south of the Greek mainland.
Crete is extremely mountainous and is defined by a high mountain range crossing it from West to East, formed by three different groups of mountains. These are:
These mountains gifted Crete with fertile plateaus like Lasithi, Omalos and Nidha, caves like Diktaion and Idaion cave, and gorges like the famous Gorge of Samaria. The protected area of the Samaria Gorge is the home of kri-kri. Cretan mountains and gorges are refuges of the endangered spieces of Lammergeier (Gypaetus barbatus).
Climate
Crete straddles two climatic zones, the Mediterranean and the North African, mainly falling within the former. As such, the climate in Crete is primarily temperate. The atmosphere can be quite humid, depending on the proximity to the sea. The winter is fairly mild. Snowfall is common on the mountains between November and May, but rare at the low lying areas. Especially near the coast when there is now falling it only stays on the ground for a few minutes/hours. However a truly exceptional cold snap happened in February 2004, during which the whole island was blanketed with snow. During summer, average temperatures are in the high 20's-low 30's (Celsius).
The south coast, including the Messara plain and Asterousia mountains, falls in the North African climatic zone and thus enjoys significantly more sunny days and high temperatures throughout the year; consequently in southern Crete date palms bear fruit and swallows stay year-long, instead of migrating to Africa.
Economy
The economy of Crete, which was mainly based on farming, started changing visibly during the 1970s. While there is still an emphasis on farming and stock breeding, due to the climate and the terrain of the island, there is a drop in manufacturing and a big increase on the services industry (mainly tourism related). All three sectors of the Cretan economy (agriculture, processing-packaging, services), are directly connected and interdependent. Crete has an average per capita income which is close to 100% of the Greek average. Unemployment is at approximately 4%, half of that of Greece. As in other regions of Greece, olive growing is also a significant industry.
The island has three significant airports, Nikos Kazantzakis at Heraklion, the Daskalogiannis airport at Chania and a smaller in Sitia. The first two are
international serving as the main gates to the island for thousands of tourists.
Famous Cretans
Cities
Crete's principal cities are:
Political organization
The island of Crete is a periphery of Greece, consisting of four prefectures (Greek: νομοί):
For amateur radio purposes it is considered to be a separate "entity," ITU prefix SV9.
Tourism
Crete is one of the most popular holiday destinations in Greece. Fifteen percent of all arrivals in Greece come through the city of Heraklion (port and airport), while charter flights to Iraklion were last year 20% of the total of charter flights in Greece. In sum more than two million tourists visited Crete last year. This increase in tourism is reflected on the number of hotel beds, which increased in Crete by 53% from 1986 to 1991 while in the rest of Greece the increase was 25%. Today the tourism infrastructure in Crete caters to all tastes. There is accommodation of every possible category, from large luxury hotels with all the facilities (swimming pools, sports and recreation facilities etc.), to smaller family owned apartments, to camping facilities. Visitors can arrive at the island through two international airports in Heraklion and Hania, or by boat to the ports of Heraklion, Hania, Rethimno and Agios Nikolaos.
Plans for a container port in southern Crete
Newspapers have reported that the Ministry of Mercantile Marine is ready to support the agreement between Greece, South Korea, Dubai Ports World and China for the construction of a large international container port and free trade zone in southern Crete near Tympaki. The plan is to expropriate 850 ha of land. The port would handle 2 million containers per year. As of 2007, there has been no official announcement of a project that is not universally welcomed due to its environmental, economic and cultural impact.
Expatriate E.U. Communities on Crete
Crete's mild climate is attracting growing interest from Northern Europeans to have a holiday home or residence on the island. E.U. citizens have the right to freely buy property and reside with little formality. A growing number of real estate companies cater to mainly British expatriates, followed by German, Dutch, Scandinavian and other European nationalities wishing to own a home in the sun.
The British expatriates are concentrated in the western prefectures of Chania and Rethymnon and to a lesser extent in Heraklion and Lassithi. Some 40 per cent of Britons in late 2006 said they were planning to live outside the United Kingdom or retire abroad due to socio-economic changes in the country. One in ten Britons do so already. There are several informative sources of information for intending British expatriate residents in Crete.
See also
External links
