Ahlada is a small village located 24 kms west of Iraklion at an altitude of 300 meters a.s.l.
It is close to the tourist resorts
of Agia Pelagia and Ligaria, and it has approximately 500 inhabitants, most of them farmers and stock breeders.
The name of the village comes from the Greek word "Ahlada" meaning wild pear tree and is probably due to a huge wild pear tree that was at the village.
According to the records kept during the Venetian occupation, Ahlada was a feud belonging to two brothers (Georgios and Fragiskos Modinos) and had at the time 35 houses and 2 churches.
Northeast of the village lie the ruins of another village, that used to belong to these brothers also, Kantinou. The inhabitants of that village together with other from neighboring settlements, were moved to Ahlada after the destruction of their villages from the Turks during the war of 1645- 1669)
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