The fortifications of Heraklion are a series of

defensive wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as curtain walls with t ...

s and other

fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

s which surround the city of

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

(formerly Candia) in

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. The first city walls were built in the Middle Ages, but they were completely rebuilt by the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

.Cosmescu, D.
Venetian Renaissance Fortifications in the Mediterranean
', McFarland, 2005. . The fortifications managed to withstand the second longest siege in history for 21 years, before the city fell to the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

in 1669. Heraklion's fortifications have made it one of the best fortified cities in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

. The walls remain largely intact to this day, and they are considered to be among the best preserved Venetian fortifications in Europe.

History

Byzantine and Arab walls

The first fortifications in what is now Heraklion were built by the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

. The city was captured by Arabs in 824, and it became the capital of the

Emirate of Crete The Emirate of Crete ( or , ; ) was an Arab Islamic state that existed on the Mediterranean island of Crete from the late 820s to Siege of Chandax, the reconquest of the island by the Byzantine Empire in 961. Although the emirate recognized the ...

. At this point, they built a wall of unbaked bricks around the city, and surrounded it by a

ditch A ditch is a small to moderate trench created to channel water. A ditch can be used for drainage, to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside roadways or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant irrigation. Ditches ...

. The new capital became known as ''Rabdh al-Khandaq'' (Trench Castle). Meanwhile, the Byzantines tried to recapture Crete from the Arabs because of its strategic importance. After several unsuccessful attempts,

Nikephoros II Phokas Nikephoros II Phokas (; – 11 December 969), Latinized Nicephorus II Phocas, was Byzantine emperor from 963 to 969. His career, not uniformly successful in matters of statecraft or of war, nonetheless greatly contributed to the resurgence of t ...

managed to take the island in 961. The Arab fortifications were razed, and a new fort known as Rokka was constructed instead. Eventually, the settlement grew, and the Byzantines built new walls on the site of the Arab walls. Some remains of the Byzantine walls still exist near Heraklion's harbour.

Venetian walls

In the early 13th century, Candia (modern Heraklion) and the rest of Crete fell under the control of the

. Initially the Byzantine walls remained in use, and they underwent various modifications. Following the

fall of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 55-da ...

in 1453, the expanding

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

became a major threat for the Venetians. Due to this threat and the discovery of

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...

, they decided to build new fortifications around Candia. Construction began in 1462, and the walls took over a century to be built. Their construction was based on designs by prominent military architects

Michele Sanmicheli Michele Sanmicheli, sometimes also transcribed as Sammicheli, Sanmichele or Sammichele (Verona, 1484There is no certainty about the date of his birth. Vasari reports 1484, while architectural historian Giulio Sancassani, through a study of his fat ...

and Giulio Savorgnan ( it).It has been proposed that their initial layout was based on a circle with a diameter of exactly 1,000 Venetian ''passi'' (ca. 1,740 m), defined by the headpoints of the three outer bastions (Sabbionara, Martinengo, St. Andrea). Over the years, the fortifications were strengthened with the construction of various

outwork An outwork is a minor fortification built or established outside the principal fortification limits, detached or semidetached. Outworks such as ravelins, lunettes (demilunes), flèches and caponier A caponier is a type of defensive structur ...

s, while the ''Rocca al Mare'' (now known as the

Koules Fortress The Koules () or Castello a Mare ("Fort on the Sea" in Italian) is a fortress located at the entrance of the old port of Heraklion, Crete, Greece. It was built by the Republic of Venice in the early 16th century, and is still in good condition ...

) was built to protect the harbour entrance.

Ottoman rule and recent history

The fifth Ottoman–Venetian War broke out when the

Ottoman Navy The Ottoman Navy () or the Imperial Navy (), also known as the Ottoman Fleet, was the naval warfare arm of the Ottoman Empire. It was established after the Ottomans first reached the sea in 1323 by capturing Praenetos (later called Karamürsel ...

arrived off Crete on 23 June 1645. By August, Canea fell to the Ottomans, while the

Fortezza of Rethymno The Fortezza (; from ) is the citadel of the city of Rethymno in Crete, Greece. It was built by the Venetians in the 16th century, and was captured by the Ottomans in 1646. By the early 20th century, many houses were built within the citadel. ...

fell in 1646. However, the Venetian garrison in Candia managed to hold out for 21 years, and the

Siege of Candia The siege of Candia (now Heraklion, Crete) was a military conflict in which Ottoman forces besieged the Venetian-ruled capital city of the Kingdom of Candia. It lasted from 1648 to 1669 (a total of 21 years) and is one of the longest sieges in ...

remains the second longest siege in history. The city surrendered in 1669, and the Venetians and most of the population were allowed to leave peacefully, sparing the city from being sacked. After occupying the city, the Ottomans repaired and maintained its fortifications. The bastions were given Turkish names, for example Martinengo Bastion became Giouksek Tabia. The Ottomans also built a small fort known as Little Koules on the landward side close to the Rocca al Mare. This was demolished in 1936 while the city was being modernized. The walls were damaged by German aerial bombardment during the

Battle of Crete The Battle of Crete (, ), codenamed Operation Mercury (), was a major Axis Powers, Axis Airborne forces, airborne and amphibious assault, amphibious operation during World War II to capture the island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, but the damage was repaired. After the war, some of the outworks were demolished to make way for modern buildings, and suggestions were also made to demolish the entire city walls. The demolition was never carried out, and the walls remain largely intact, being among the best preserved Venetian fortifications in Europe.

Layout

The Venetian fortifications of Heraklion consist of a roughly triangular

enceinte Enceinte (from Latin ''incinctus'' "girdled, surrounded") is a French term that refers to the "main defensive enclosure of a fortification". For a castle, this is the main defensive line of wall towers and curtain walls enclosing the positio ...

. The land front has seven

bastion A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the ...

s: *St. Andrew Bastion *Pantocrator Bastion *Bethlehem Bastion *Martinengo Bastion *Jesus Bastion *Vitturi Bastion *Sampionara Bastion

Cavaliers The term ''Cavalier'' () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of Charles I of England and his son Charles II of England, Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum (England), Int ...

were built on some of the bastions, and the walls had four main gates and three military gates. The entire enceinte was surrounded by a deep

and various

s, including several

ravelin A ravelin is a triangular fortification or detached outwork, located in front of the innerworks of a fortress (the curtain walls and bastions). Originally called a ''demi-lune'', after the ''lunette'', the ravelin is placed outside a castle a ...

s, three

hornwork A hornwork is an element of the Italian bastion system of fortification. Its face is flanked with a pair of half-bastions. It is distinguished from a crownwork, because crownworks contain full bastions at their centers. They are both outwork ...

s and a

crownwork A crownwork is an element of the trace italienne system of fortification and is effectively an expanded hornwork (a type of outwork). It consists of a full bastion A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a for ...

. The Fort of St. Demetrius, consisting of a small bastion and two demi-bastions, was built on the hill to the east of the city. Another enceinte was built along the city's harbour, facing the sea. The harbour entrance was protected by the

(originally known as ''Rocca al Mare''). Today, only the Koules Fortress remains of the seaward enceinte. The land front is intact, but the outworks and the Fort of St. Demetrius have been destroyed. Two of the four main gates remain intact.

References

Sources

* {{Castles in Greece Buildings and structures in Heraklion