After visiting the Palace of Knossos and the Heraklion Archaelogical Museum on Day 10, in late afternoon I toured the downtown part of the city,
including the old port, the Koules Fortress, 25 Avgustou pedestrian street, the Church of Agios Titos and the Morosini Fountain.
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Above: The Koules Fortress (or Castello a Mare) by the old port in Heraklion (once named Candia). It was thought to have been
fortified by the Arabs in the 9th or 10th centuries AD.
A tower known as Castellum Comunis stood on the site, but was destroyed in an earthquake in 1303, but repaired soon after.
Eventually, the tower was demolished in 1523,
and the Venetian Castello a Mare began to be built, completed in 1540. The Ottomans (Turks) took back
the city and the fortress by 1669 after the 21-year long Siege of Candia by the Turks.
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1 is a typical apartment building in Heraklion.
2 and 3 are one of the few Catholic churches on the island, the Ecclisia Catholica Sancti Ioanni Baptistae.
4 and 5 show the old port in Heraklion.
6 is a view of the Mediterranean Sea from the castle.
7 is a visual representation of the original Venetian castle in the 16th century.
8 and 9 are on the lower floor inside the Koules Fortress.
10 and 11 describe the Cretan War and the Siege of Candia from 1648 to 1669 by the Ottomans before the city surrendered in 1669.
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