Heraklion

Heraklion (/hᵻˈrækliən/, Greek: Ηράκλειο, Irákleio, pronounced [iˈracʎo]) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete, Greece. It is one of the largest cities in Greece. According to the results of the 2011 census, the population of the city was 173,993 inhabitants while the Heraklion urban area has a population of 225,574 and it extends over an area of 684.3 km² (264.2 sq mi).

Heraklion is the capital of Heraklion regional unit.

The Bronze Age palace of Knossos, also known as the Palace of Minos, is located nearby.

Names

The Arab raiders from Andalusia (Iberia) who founded the Emirate of Crete moved the island's capital from Gortyna to a new castle they called ربض الخندق rabḍ al-ḫandaq 'Castle of the Moat' in the 820s. This was hellenized as Χάνδαξ (Khándax) or Χάνδακας (Khándakas) and Latinized as Candia, which was taken into other European languages: in Italian and Latin as Candia, in French as Candie, in English as Candy, all of which could refer to the island of Crete as a whole as well as to the city alone; the Ottoman name was Kandiye.

Crete

Crete (Greek: Κρήτη, Kríti ['kriti]; Ancient Greek: Κρήτη, Krḗtē) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, and the fifth-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and Corsica. Crete and a number of surrounding islands and islets constitute the region of Crete (Greek: Περιφέρεια Κρήτης), one of the 13 top-level administrative units of Greece. The capital and the largest city is Heraklion. As of 2011, the region had a population of 623,065.

Crete forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece, while retaining its own local cultural traits (such as its own poetry and music). It was once the center of the Minoan civilization (c. 2700–1420 BC), which is currently regarded as the earliest recorded civilization in Europe.

Name

The island is first referred to as Kaptara in texts from the Syrian city of Mari dating from the 18th century BC, repeated later in Neo-Assyrian records and the Bible (Caphtor). It was also known in ancient Egyptian as Keftiu, strongly suggesting a similar Minoan name for the island.

Cretan wine

Cretan wine is wine from the Greek island of Crete. It has a long history since wine was certainly being made by the Minoans since the Bronze Age. Wines from Crete are not listed among those specially prized in classical Greece, but under the Roman Empire in the 2nd century AD Crete was known for a sweet wine, protropos, which was exported to Italy. In late medieval Europe, in the 14th to 16th centuries, vino di Candia (Candia is modern Heraklion) and Crete are wine names listed as highly valued in several sources from western and northern Europe; they were sweet and "hot" wines (hot in a dietary sense). Within the current classification of Greek wine there are several Cretan appellations, including Peza, Archanes, Dafnes and Sitia.

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Crete (mythology)

In Greek mythology, the name Crete (Κρήτη) may refer to several figures, all of whom are associated with the homonymous island of Crete, and may have been considered its eponyms:

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