History of Iraklion
Iraklion was build by the Arab Saracens in 824 A.D.. At the time it was called Chandax, a name adapted from the Arab word "kandak" that means moat , due to the moat that the Saracens dug all around the city. Iraklion was built on the location where the old harbour of Knossos used to stand. The name survived during the second Byzantine period as Chandakas, and during the Venetian occupation as Candia. In fact during the Venetian occupation , the whole island was named Candia after the city.
The Saracens occupation lasted 140 years (824 -961 A.D). During that time Chandax was the safe harbour of the pirates that ravaged and looted the easterm Mediterranean.Immeasurable wealth was concentrated in Chandax, loot from the islands sacked and ships sunk by the pirates.
 The Byzantines tried quite a few times to liberate Chandax, with Nikiforos Fokas finally succeeding in 961 A.D. After a long and bloody siege that lasted almost a year. The fort and the walls surrouding the city were totally demolished, and the city burned down. Most of the Saracens were slaughtered, with the rest of them taken prisoners to Konstantinoupolis.
All the valuable possesions of the Saracens were taken also to Konstantinoupolis. According to the historians of the era it took 300 ships to move all that to the capital of Byzantium.Some of these treasures survided through the ages and are on display on the monastery of Megistis Layras at mount Athos.
The sack of Chandax by the Byzantines, marks the beginning of the second Byzantine era which lasted until 1204.
At that time Alexios the 4th heir to the emperor of Byzantium Isaakios the 2nd, who was dethroned by his brother Alexios the 3rd, asked the Pope to help him get back his throne.He was referred to the Crusaders who at the time were starting the Fourth Crusade, and agreed to give Crete to them once they reestablished him to the throne of Byzantium.
Eventually , the Venetians were established in Chandax in 1210. They rebuilted the walls of the fort in order to protect themselves from the rebellions of the locals, the most important being that of the Kallergis in 1367.
Although the Venetians were hated by the locals , and the whole of the island suffered under their yoke, Chandax became probably the most important cultural center in the East Mediterranean during the Renaissance. Many Cretans studied in the island and abroad in Italy, and became famous ( the painter El Greco , Dominicos Theotokopoulos, who was born in Fodele - Iraklion being the best known) .Chandax was a shining light that kept Hellenism alive during these dark times.
After the crashing of the revolution in 1367 the danger from the Cretans had passed. But a new enemy was rising across the sea, the Turks. So in 1462 the rulers of the city decided to rebuilt and strengthen the walls again. The new wall was designed by one of the most famous military engineers of Venice, Michele Sammicheli. The construction lasted 100 years. This huge project was funded by extra taxation of the Cretan people, and carried out by the locals who were practically conscripted to work on it. Every Cretan from 14 to 60 years old was forced to work a week every year on the construction.
These walls are tremendous. At some points they are 60 meters thick.
There perimeter is 4.5 km and there are 12 bastions and forts all around. The best known is the Martinengo Bastion, were currently the grave of the great Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis is located.
And yet, for all there size and splendour, these walls fell . The Turks managed to occupy Chandax in 1669 , after a siege that lasted 22 years!!. But the cost in human life was appaling. After these 22 years 30.000 Christians were dead and 120.000 Turks.
 The Turks occupied Crete untill 1897. During that time numerous rebellions by the Cretans were crashed. On August 25 ,1897 Cretans were slaughtered on the main road to the harbour from the city.
This road is still named after the event , 25th of August Street. After that, and following negotiations with the Ottomans, Crete was granted autonomy. During these negotiations, the political star of a great statesman appeared that influenced politics not only for Crete and Greece, but for the whole of Balcans, Eleftherios Venizelos.
 Crete was an independent state from 1897 to 1913. During that time the longing of the Cretans to unite with their brothers in Greece remained. Venizelos became the Prime Minister of Greece in 1909 and continued his efforts to unite Crete with Greece. Eventually , and as a result of the Balkan wars of 1912-13, he succeeded.
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