1800 AD – today
In 1821, Greece raised arms against the Turks, after 400 years of slavery and was closely followed by Crete. The Sfakians were the first to join the uprising, which then expanded throughout Crete. The battle was savage on both sides. It was however unequal. The Turks were continuously boosted with forces, they brought Egyptian soldiers and Albanian mercenaries to bolster their own forces. The war lasted ten years with epic sacrifices, impossible to describe in such a text. Finally came the time (1830 – London’s protocol) when a part of Greece was at last declared to be a completely free state but, unfortunately for Crete, the Mighty Forces (England, France, Russia) did not include the island. Not only that but it was also agreed to sell the island from the Turks to the Egyptians for a certain sum of money. Finally after 10 years of Egyptian rule the island came back into the hands of the Turks. New battles “until the end” awaited the Cretans, who once again drowned in blood from the massacres, hangings and disgraces of the Turks against the non-combatant population. The savagery prompted the English war correspondent, Skinner, to write “I have seen many battles in Europe…they are civilised…their children and women safeguarded, the wounded attended to…. Here the war is a complete catastrophe and women and children are being exterminated by the Turks…. Here they don’t have uniforms and shiny helmets…the battle is terrifying…Cretan children, poorly dressed, hungry and without shelter, bravely fight for the divine gift of freedom…”. At this time (1866) one of the best actions of the Cretan fight occurred; the sacrifice in the Holy Monastery Arkádi (in the province of Réthymno). 300 Cretan warriors and 643 civilian women and children locked themselves into the Monastery and stood their ground against 28,000 men of the Turkish army with artillery. Finally, almost all were blown up, so as not to fall into the hands of the Turks, as fires sprung up in the powder-kegs.
1897 saw the final revolution of the Cretan people, when a part (1,500 men) of the Hellenic Army co-operated with a squadron of the Hellenic Navy from the free part of the state, in order to conquer the island in the name of the Greek King. The four Forces (England, France, Russia, and Italy) raised their own flags as they captured the three largest cities and did not allow any of the other forces from the opposing sides to enter. The Revolutionary Assembly of Crete voted the great Elefthérios Venizélos as its president, who later became Head of the Hellenic Nation. The Protective Forces reacted by bombing the town of Akrotíri with their war-ships and proposed that Crete should become an autonomous state under the suzerainty of the Sultan and that it should not unite with the rest of Greece, as the Cretans so desired. Finally one event hastened all the others. The English, who held Irákleio, tried to let a subdivision of the Cretan Government enter the city, when suddenly the Turks attacked and a fight pursued (August 1898). Thousands of armed Turks slaughtered the Christians and burned their houses. In all were slain a total of 700 Greeks, 17 English soldiers, the English Consul and the staff of the building, which was burned. This convinced the Protective Forces and they expelled the whole Turkish army from the island (end of 1898). Again the “Protective Forces” forbade the unification of the island with the rest of Mother Greece, but they appointed Prince George as the first governor of Crete. Finally, Crete was legally reunited with the rest of Greece during the Balkan wars of 1912 – 1913. During World War II the island stood firm once again and the Japanese were the ones to propose the foundation of the order of the “Knights of Crete”, to honour every man, woman and child as well as every Greek and British soldier that took part in the most peculiar and glorious battle in world’s history.
Irákleio: The town was first inhabited during the Neolithic age and later became the sea port of Knossós. The name “Irákleio” was taken from the temple of Iráklis (Hercules) that stood here. The Saracens, who conquered the island in the 9th century AD, destroyed Górtina, the capital during the Roman rule and the Byzantine era. They choose Irákleio for their capital instead and they enclosed it with a wall and dug a moat around it (Khandak) and called it Khándax. When the city was freed by Byzantine forces 1.5 centuries later, Khándakas continued to be the capital. The Venetian rule that followed (13th – 17th century) kept Khándakas as the capital, first naming it Kándika, a corrupted version of its original name, and finally Candia. The Venetians built many beautiful buildings but their most important work was the large wall which surrounded the town, making the town the most fortified stronghold of the east (It was built over a period of 108 years). They also built the harbour (today’s marina) on the site of the old Minoan harbour. From 1869 the town regained its old name and since then was known as Irákleio. Today it remains the capital of Megalónisos (Large Island) and is a bustling, vibrant city. Its tourist attractions hold visitors’ interest for many days, among which are; the harbour and the Arsenali built by the Venetians, ruins of the Byzantine walls and most certainly the imposing Venetian walls, the impressive Metropolis church of Ágios Minás (19th century) in the square of Agía Aikateríni, in which also stands the Venetian church of Agía Aikateríni (16th century) that today houses the Museum of Religious Art etc.
Réthymno: The area has been inhabited from pre-historic times. The modern town was built on the site of the ancient RITHYMNÍAS or RITHÝMNIS. It prospered greatly during the Venetian rule, and was also the place where revolts against the conquerers were prepared. The town was also the literary and artistic centre of the island and today it is the cultural centre of Crete. During the second half of the 16th century the town suffered devastation 4 times from pirate raids. In the middle of the 17th century it came under the rule of the Turks. The town revolted many times against its conquerer. The French philhellene Valéstos, captain of Napolean’s grenadiers, fell here in the murderous battle of Réthymno in 1822.
