Crete
| Periphery of Crete Περιφέρεια Κρήτης |
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| Country: |  Greece |
| Capital: | Heraklion |
| Prefectures: | Chania Heraklion Lasithi Rethymno |
| Secretary-General: | Athanasios Karountzos |
| Population: | 623,666 (2005) |
| Area: | 8,336 km² (3,219 sq.mi.) |
| Density: | 75/km² (194/sq.mi.) |
| ISO 3166-2: | NA |
| Website: | http://www.crete-region.gr |
Crete (Greek: Κρήτη, transliteration: Krētē, modern transliteration Kriti) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km2 (3,219 sq mi). Crete is one of the 13 peripheries of Greece and covers the same area as the Greek region of Crete from before the 1987 administrative reform.[1] It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece; while it retains its own local cultural traits (such as its own music and dialect), Cretans identify themselves as Greeks. Heraklion is the largest city and capital of Crete.
Crete was the center of the Minoan civilization (circa 2700–1420 BCE), the first advanced civilization in Europe.
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Names
From Renaissance, Crete was known by its Italian name Candia (Anglicized: Candy), from the medieval name of Heraklion, Chandax (Greek: Χάνδαξ or Χάνδακας, "moat", Turkish: Kandiye). In Classical Latin it was called Creta and in Turkish Girit.
History
The first human settlements on the island, dating to the aceramic Neolithic, used cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and dogs as well as domesticated cereals and legumes; ancient Knossos was the site of one of these major Neolithic (then later Minoan) sites.[2] Crete was the center of Europe's first advanced civilization, the Minoan (c. 2700-1420 BC).[3] This civilization wrote in the undeciphered script known as Linear A. Early Cretan history is replete with legends such as those of King Minos, Theseus, Minotaur, Daedalus and Icarus passed on orally via poets such as Homer. Beginning in 1420 BC, the Minoan civilization was overrun by the Mycenean civilization from mainland Greece. The oldest samples of writing in the Greek language is the Linear B archive from Knossos, dated approximately to 1425-1375 BC.[4]
Crete was involved in the Mithridatic Wars, initially repelling an attack by Roman general Marcus Antonius Creticus in 71 BCE. Nevertheless, a ferocious three-year campaign soon followed under Quintus Caecilius Metellus, equipped with three legions and Crete was finally conquered by Rome in 69 BCE, earning for Metellus the title "Creticus". Gortyn was made capital of the island, and Crete became a Roman province, along with Cyrenaica.
Crete was part of the Byzantine Empire, but then was captured by Iberian Muslims led by Abu Hafs[5] who established a piratical emirate on the island. In 960 Nicephorus Phocas reconquered the island, which remained under Byzantine control until 1204, when it fell into the hands of the Venetians at the time of the Fourth Crusade. During Venice's rule, which lasted more than four centuries, a Renaissance swept through the island as is evident from the plethora of artistic works dating to that period. The most notable representatives of this Cretan renaissance were the painter El Greco and the writers Nicholas Kalliakis[6] (1645–1707) and Vitsentzos Kornaros.
The Black Death of 1348 hit Crete particularly hard. Plagues followed in 1398, 1419, 1456, 1523, 1580, 1592, 1678, 1689, 1703 and 1816, and some of these were credited with killing one-third of the population.[7] Many Cretans migrated overseas during difficult periods on the island, some even seeking great fortune abroad, such as Constantine Corniaktos[8] (c. 1517 - 1603) who became one of the richest people in Eastern Europe.[9]
Under the rule of Christian Venetians, the city of Candia was reputed to be the best fortified city of the Eastern Mediterranean.[10] In 1492, Jews expelled from Spain settled on the island.[11] In 1627, there were 800 Jews in the city of Candia, about seven percent of the city's population.[12] In 1574–77, Crete was under the rule of Giacomo Foscarini as Proveditor General, Sindace and Inquistor. According to Starr (1942), the rule of Giacomo Foscarini was the dark age for Jews and Greeks. Under his rule, non-Catholics had to pay high taxes with no allowances. This practice ended when the Ottomans conquered Crete in 1669, after a 21-year siege of the capital, Candia.
During Ottoman rule, many churches and monasteries were converted to mosques. However, limited freedoms and rights were still provided. Church attendance was permitted. Still, many Christians converted to Islam. The city was surrounded by high walls and bastions and extended westward and southward by the 17th century. The most opulent area of the city was the northeastern quadrant where all the elite were gathered together. The city had received another name under the rule of the Ottomans, the deserted city.[10] The urban policy that the Ottoman applied to Candia was a two-pronged approach.[10] The first was the religious endowments. It made the Ottoman elite contribute to building and rehabilitating the ruined city. The other method was to boost the population and the urban revenue by selling off urban properties. According to Molly Greene (2001) there were numerous records of real-estate transactions during the Ottoman rule. In the deserted city, minorities received equal rights in purchasing property. Christians and Jews were also able to buy and sell in the real-estate market.
Muslim presence on the island started with the Arab occupation but was cemented by the Ottoman conquest. Most Cretan Muslims were local Greek converts who spoke Cretan Greek, but in the island's 19th century political context they came to be viewed by the Christian population as Turks.[13] 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.[14] A number of Sufi orders were widespread throughout the island, the Bektashi order being the most prevalent, possessing at least five tekkes. Many amongst them were crypto-Christians who converted back to Christianity in subsequent years, while many others fled Crete because of the unrest, settling in Turkey, Rhodes, Syria and elsewhere. By 1900, 11% of the population was Muslim. Those remaining were forced to leave in 1924 in the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey.
Uprisings by Christians were met with a fierce response from the Ottoman authorities who executed bishops, regarded as ringleaders on several occasions.. Crete was left out of the modern Greek state by the London Protocol of 1830, and soon it was yielded to Egypt by the Ottoman sultan. Egyptian rule was short-lived and sovereignty was returned to the Ottoman Empire by the Convention of London on July 3, 1840.
Between 1833 and 1897, several more Christian uprisings took place, and in 1898, Crete, a complex autonomous Cretan State under Ottoman suzerainty, was nevertheless garrisoned by an international military force, with a High Commissioner (Armostis), chosen by Greece . Finally, Crete was joined with Greece on 1 December 1913.
During World War II, the island was the scene of the famous Battle of Crete where, in May 1941, German paratroopers sustained almost 7,000 casualties, meeting fierce resistance from both locals and the British Commonwealth force, commanded by General Sir Bernard Freyberg. As a result, Adolf Hitler forbade further large scale airborne operations.
Geography
| Crete Κρήτη |
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 Ruins of the Minoan Palace in Knossos. |
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| Geography | |
| Total isles: | 25 |
| Area: | 8,336 km² (3,219 sq.mi.) |
| Highest mountain: | Mt. Psiloreitis (2,456 m (8,058 ft)) |
| Government | |
| Greece |
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| Periphery: | Crete |
| Prefecture: | Chania Heraklion Lasithi Rethymno |
| Capital: | Heraklion |
| Statistics | |
| Population: | 623,666 (as of 2005) |
| Density: | 75 /km² (194 /sq.mi.) |
| Postal code: | 72x xx, 70x xx, 71x xx, 73x xx, 740 55, 74x xx |
| Area code: | 284 x0, 2810, 289x0, 282x0, 28310, 283x0 |
| License code: | AN, HK, HP, XN, PE |
| Website | |
| www.crete-region.gr | |
Crete, with a population of 650,000 in year 2005, is one of the 13 regions into which Greece is divided. It forms the largest island in Greece and the second largest (after Cyprus) in the eastern Mediterranean. The island has an elongated shape: it spans 260 km from east to west, is 60 km at its widest point, and narrows to as little as 12 km (close to Ierapetra). Crete covers an area of 8,336 km², with a coastline of 1046 km ; to the north it broaches the Sea of Crete (Greek: Κρητικό Πέλαγος); to the south the Libyan Sea (Greek: Λιβυκό Πέλαγος); in the west the Myrtoan Sea, and toward the east the Karpathion Sea. It lies approximately 160 km south of the Greek mainland.
Crete is extremely mountainous, and its character is defined by a high mountain range crossing from west to east, formed by three different groups of mountains. These are:
- the White Mountains or Lefka Ori (2,452 m);
- the Idi Range (Psiloritis () 2,456 m);
- the Dikti Mountains (2,148 m);
- Kedros (1,777 m);
- Thripti (1,489 m)
These mountains gifted Crete with fertile plateaux, such as Lasithi, Omalos and Nidha; caves, such as Diktaion and Idaion; and gorges, such as the famous gorge of Samaria. The protected area of the Samaria Gorge is the home of kri-kri, while Cretan mountains and gorges are refuges for the endangered vulture Lammergeier (Gypaetus barbatus).
There are a number of rivers on Crete, including the Ieropotamos River on the southern part of the island.
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, while winter is fairly mild. Snowfall is common on the mountains between November and May, but rare in the low lying areas, especially near the coast when it only stays on the ground for a few minutes or hours. However, a truly exceptional cold snap swept the island in February 2004, during which period the whole island was blanketed with snow. During the Cretan summer, average temperatures reach the high 20s-low 30s Celsius (mid 80s to mid 90s Fahrenheit), with maxima touching the upper 30s to mid 40s (above 110 °F / 43.3 °C).
The south coast, including the Mesara Plain and Asterousia Mountains, falls in the North African climatic zone, and thus enjoys significantly more sunny days and high temperatures throughout the year. In southern Crete date palms bear fruit and swallows remain year around, not migrating to Africa.
| Climate data for Heraklion, capital of Crete | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Source: Hong Kong Observatory[15] | |||||||||||||
Cities
Crete's principal cities are:
- Heraklion (Iraklion or Candia) (137,711 inhabitants)
- Chania (Haniá) (53,373 inhabitants)
- Rethymno (31,687 inhabitants)
- Ierapetra (23,707 inhabitants)
- Agios Nikolaos (19,462 inhabitants)
- Sitia (14,338 inhabitants)
Administrative divisions
The island of Crete is a Region ("periphereia") of Greece, consisting of four prefectures (Greek: νομοί):
- Chania
- Heraklion
- Lasithi
- Rethymno
For amateur radio purposes Crete is considered to be a separate "entity," ITU prefix SV9.
Demographics
Population genetics
A recent analysis of Y-chromosome haplogroups determined that Crete shows affinity with central/Mediterranean Anatolia[16]. Y-Dna haplogroups were found at the following frequencies : J (38.9% including 8.3% J1), R1 (25.8%), I (13.0%), G (10.9%), E1b1b (8.8%), T (2.1%), L (0.5%). J, G and E1b1b haplogroups consist of lineages with differential distribution within Middle East, North Africa and Europe while R1 and I are typical in West European populations.
Expatriate EU communities
Crete's mild climate attracts interest from Northern Europeans to have a holiday home or residence on the island. EU citizens have the right to freely buy property and reside with little formality.[17] 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 Crete.
The British expatriates are concentrated in the western prefectures of Chania and Rethymno and to a lesser extent in Heraklion and Lasithi.
Culture
Crete has been able to preserve much of its culture. Cretan Greek has been maintained as the spoken dialect, and Cretan wine is a traditional drink. The island is known for its music (typically performed with the lyre) and has many indigenous dances, the most noted of which is probably the Pentozali. Cretan authors have made important contributions to Greek Literature throughout the modern period; major names include Vikentios Kornaros, creator of the 17th century epic romance Erotokritos (Greek Ερωτόκριτος), and in the 20th century Nikos Kazantzakis In the Renaissance, Crete was the home of the Cretan School of icon painting, which influenced El Greco and through him subsequent European painting.
Economy
The economy of Crete, which was mainly based on farming, and fishing, began to change visibly during the 1970s. While an emphasis remains on farming and stock breeding, due to the climate and terrain of the island, there has been a drop in manufacturing and an observable expansion in its service industries (mainly tourism-related). All three sectors of the Cretan economy (agriculture, processing-packaging, services), are directly connected and interdependent. The island has a per capita income close to 100% of the Greek average, while unemployment is at approximately 4%, half of that of the country overall. As in other regions of Greece, olive growing is also a significant industry; a small amount of citrons are still cultivated on the island.
The island has three significant airports, Nikos Kazantzakis at Heraklion, the Daskalogiannis airport at Chania and a smaller one in Sitia. The first two serve international routes, as the main gateways to the island for travellers.
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 journeys to Heraklion last year made up 20% of all charter flights in Greece. Overall, more than two million tourists visited Crete last year, and this increase in tourism is reflected on the number of hotel beds, rising by 53% in the period between 1986 to 1991, when the rest of Greece saw increases of only 25%. Today, the island's tourism infrastructure caters to all tastes, including a very wide range of accommodation; the island's facilities take in large luxury hotels with their complete facilities, swimming pools, sports and recreation, smaller family-owned apartments, camping facilities and others. Visitors reach the island via two international airports in Heraklion and Chania, or by boat to the main ports of Heraklion, Chania, Rethimno and Agios Nikolaos. Some of the most famous tourist attractions include the Minoan sites of Knossos and Phaistos, the classical site of Gortys, the Venetian old city and port of Chania, the Venetian castle at Rethymno and the Samaria Gorge.
Plans for a container port
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, while as of 2007, there has been no official announcement of a project not universally welcomed due to its environmental, economic and cultural impact.[18] As of January 2009, it appears the project has been canceled, in part due to the strong opposition from the local population, mostly on environmental grounds.[19]
See also
- Cretan Turks
- History of Crete
- List of Cretans
- List of Greek islands
- List of novels set in Crete
- Music of Crete
References
- Notes
- ↑ Π.Δ. 51/87 “Καθορισμός των Περιφερειών της Χώρας για το σχεδιασμό κ.λ.π. της Περιφερειακής Ανάπτυξης” (Determination of the Peripheries of the Country for the planning etc. of the development of the Region, Efimeris tis Kyverniseos ΦΕΚ A 26/06.03.1987
- ↑ C. Michael Hogan. 2007 Knossos fieldnotes, The Modern Antiquarian
- ↑ See entry on "Ancient Crete" in Oxford Bibliographies Online: Classics, for a scholarly guide to the academic literature on this topic.
- ↑ Shelmerdine, Cynthia. "Where Do We Go From Here? And How Can the Linear B Tablets Help Us Get There?" (PDF). http://www2.ulg.ac.be/archgrec/IMG/aegeum/aegaeum18(pdf)/34%20Shelmerdine.pdf. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
- ↑ Reinhart Dozy, Histoire des Mussulmans d'Espagne: jusqu'à la conquéte de l'Andalousie par les Almoravides (French) pg. 711–1110, Leiden, 1861 & 1881, 2nd edition
- ↑ Tiepolo, Maria Francesca; Tonetti, Eurigio (2002). I greci a Venezia. Istituto veneto di scienze. p. 201. ISBN 8888143076, 9788888143071. "Cretese Nikolaos Kalliakis"
- ↑ The making of the Cretan landscape. Manchester University Press. 1996. p. 98. ISBN 9780719036477.
- ↑ Vasylʹ Mudryĭ, Naukove tovarystvo im. Shevchenka, Shevchenko Scientific Society (U.S.) (1962). Lviv: a symposium on its 700th anniversary. New York. p. 175. OCLC 3999247. "Foreign merchants who chose Lviv as their second home, repaid the city a hundredfold: the Greek from Crete, called Koreto de Candia, whose name was popularly abbreviated into Korniakt , was the most prominent Ukrainian patrician leader in Lviv in the late 16th and early 17th century, erected a beautiful bell-tower on the pattern of Renaissance campaniles attached to the church of Assumption."
- ↑ I︠A︡roslav Dmytrovych Isai︠e︡vych (2006). Voluntary brotherhood: confraternities of laymen in early modern Ukraine. Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press. p. 47. ISBN 1894865030. "…the Greek merchants Constantine Korniakt and Manolis Arphanes Marinetos are added. This second redaction appeared no earlier than 1589, as wealthy Greeks began to join the confraternity at a later date, once it had expanded its activities. Korniakt was actually the wealthiest man in Lviv: he traded in Eastern, Western, and local goods, collected customs duty on behalf of the king, and owned a number of villages."
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 M. Greene. 2001. Ruling an island without a navy. A comparative view of Venetian and Ottoman Crete. Oriente moderno, 20(81), 193–207
- ↑ A.J. Schoenfeld. 2007. Immigration and Assimilation in the Jewish Community of Late Venetian Crete (15th–17th Centuries). Journal of Modern Greek Studies, 25(1), 1–15
- ↑ Starr,J. (1942). Jewish Life in Crete Under The Rule Of Venice.Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research, Vol. 12, pp. 59–114.
- ↑ Demetres Tziovas, Greece and the Balkans: Identities, Perceptions and Cultural Encounters Since the Enlightenment; William Yale, The Near East: A modern history Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1958)
- ↑ William Yale, The Near East: A modern history by (Ann Arbor, The University of Michigan Press, 1958)
- ↑ "Climatological Information for Iraklion, Greece" - Hong Kong Observatory
- ↑ (n=193), Differential Y-chromosome Anatolian Influences on the Greek and Cretan Neolithic, King et al. 2008
- ↑ On the Rights of Citizens of the Union, EC Directive 2004/58 EC (2004) Eur-lex.europa.eu
- ↑ "No Container Transshipment Hub in Timbaki", retrieved 27 May 2007.
- ↑ No-container-port-in-timabik.net
External links
- "Ancient Crete." Oxford Bibliographies Online: Classics.
- Crete travel guide from Wikitravel
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