This glorious island is a mythical land with a history that never seems to end. It has evolved over millennium and today has remnants of that history from the amazing archaeological finds to the culture and tradition we know today. A reflection of both past and present can be seen in the great products crafted and grown on the island.
The Treasures of Crete
It is thought that Crete was inhabited from about 130,000 years ago, in the Lower Paleolithic Age, from the 7th millennium BC onward. A very thorough delineation of this history can be read on Wikipedia without all the pop-up advertising (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crete). We will continue to show some of the significant points of interest in this section.
Morozini Fountain aka Fountain of the Lions
Morozini Fountain is located in Eleftheriou Venizelou Square (Πλατεία Ελευθερίου Βενιζέλου) in the city of Heraklion. The square is named after the Cretan statesman Eleftherios Venizelos, but the fountain dates back to the Venetian era and is more commonly known as Lions Square (Πλατεία Λεόντων). The famous fountain of the lions, was commissioned in 1627 by Francesco Morosini, the Proveditore Generale during the Venetian rule and is the work of engineers Zorzi Corner, Raffaello Monnani and Francesco Basilicata. The fountain was constructed to bring unlimited drinking water to the town. Heraklion had no springs, and its inhabitants used wells and rainwater cisterns.
Thanks to Morosini, however, water from Archanes on Mt Juktas reached Heraklion along a 15-kilometre-long aqueduct. The work took 14 months to complete and the fountain was inaugurated on 25 April 1628, the feast of St Mark, patron saint of Venice
Chania
Chania is one of the more unique cities on the island with a documented history of more than 50 centuries. Referred to as Kydonia in Homers Odyssey, it is thought to have been named after Kydonas, the son of Hermes (or Apollo) and Akakallida, daughter of King Minos.
Today, the city is a blend of “Old Town” with its marvelous shops and restaurants leading down to the beautiful harbor and a metropolitan mecca serving the western portion of the island. You can catch a nice view of Eleytherias Square and The Venetian Port here: