HERAKLION – another museum – more incredible history

Tuesday – a day for exploring.  A nice breakfast after a sound night’s sleep is always a great way to start the day.  Gathering cameras, water, etc I head back downstairs only to be told by reception that my tour to Knossos tomorrow has been cancelled. Well, colour me so surprised, what a great welcome to Crete but I must say it doesn’t come as a shock.  The lovely lady says she can organise a tour for me and will let me know this arvo.  Cost will be around Euro 35 but hopefully I will get credits back on the no go tours and everything will work out fine and anyway you cannot come to Crete and not go to Knossos.

Time to walk down to the harbour and soak up all those happy endorfins near the water.  There will be loads of walking and lots to see – especially the Archeological Museum of Heraklion and I know how pleased you are to know that!

A five minute walk and I am standing looking out over the Gulf of Heraklion in the Cretan Sea.  That’s it in the photo at the top of the post. So relaxing. Close by are some ruins of the Monastery of St Peter and St Paul.  It was one of the most important and biggest Catholic monasteries of the city but the earthquake of 1508 caused a lot of damage.

It is so nice at the harbour – definitely a fishing hub and if I had a kitchen I would have grabbed some of the local produce but after a closer look – maybe not.

This is a great harbour – with a wonderful statue of those happy happy dolphins.

In mythology dolphins were the messengers of the god Poseidon. They were also sacred to both Apollo and Aphrodite.

In the background you can also see the Rocca a Mare Fortress.  The Koules or Castello a Mare is a fortress located at the entrance of the old port of Heraklion. It was built by the Republic of Venice in the early 16th century, and is still in good condition today.  Time to head up the street – this is the Agios Titos Church and also the Venetian Loggia.

The original church of Agios Titos on this location was probably built in 961 A.D. by the Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus Phokas, who liberated Crete from the Arabs and made it again part of the Byzantine Empire.

To strengthen the Christian faith in Crete, that had been weakened by the Arabs, the emperor constructed this Orthodox church and dedicated it to Agios Titos, a disciple of Apostle Paul and first Bishop of Crete.  The first church dedicated to Agios Titos had been built in Gortyn, the first capital town of Crete, before it was destroyed by an earthquake and the capital was transferred to its present location Heraklion, by the Arabs in 828 A.D. In this new church, the skull of Agios Titos was transferred as well as a miracle-working icon of Virgin Mary and other relics from Gortyn.

Right – the Loggia that survives today was built in 1620 by the Venetian Morozini, an architect who had also constructed many other public works in the town. According to historical accounts, there were other three previous loggias before this one, but for various occasions, they were not functional until this last was constructed.

The Loggia was a place for the Venetian noblemen to gather and discuss the local economic and social issues.The ground floor was built following the Doric style, that is austere and severe, and the upper floors had a more Ionian style, with ornaments and nice decorations.  Today, the Loggia has been fully renovated and houses the Town Hall.

Continuing up the hill – at the top and in the square is the Morozini Fountain.

Built in 1629 during the Venetian Period under the care of Fransesco Morosini, Water issues from the mouths of four lions, dating from the 14th century, the decor of the eight troughs of the fountain consist of reliefs from scenes in Greek mythology on top of which was a gigantic statue of Poseidon holding his trident which unfortunately was destroyed during Turkish rule.

The fountain was connected to the aquaduct (also constructed by Morozini) transporting waters from the Yuchta slopes to Heraklion.

Close by are two items of interest – although there are no details – internet surfing coming up!

The Ottomans built in various parts of the Grand Castle several charitable fountains or sebilis for passers by to cool themselves and also to meet their religious needs.

The sebil of Kornarou Square, which now houses a municipal coffee shop, was built in 1776 by Hadji Ibrahim Aga who spent his entire fortune on its maintenance. It is a polygonal building with arched windows. Under each window there was a tap and a stone trough.

Left – on the north side of Kornarou square is the Venetian Bembo Fountain. The fountain was constructed between 1552-1554 during the rule of Captain Gian Matteo Bembo, who first watered Candia with spring water via aqueduct.

The fountain bears Gothic and Renaissance samples and the coats of arms of the Duke Gritti and Tiepolo, Emo and Marino.

There was a marble basin for collecting water, which originally must have been a Roman sarcophagus, now the happy bathing ground of pigeons. The fountain was topped by pediment that was removed later. In the middle of the fountain stands a large headless Roman statue from Ierapytna. It is documented that during the last years of the Ottoman rule, the statue was painted black and worshiped by the black residents of Grand Castle.  During works in 1938 the tank for the collection of water was removed, upon which the fountain was embedded.

Next stop on our agenda is the Heraklion Archeological Museum – hooray I hear you cheer.

This is going to be fabulous as it houses a lot of treasures from the Palace of Knossos. I can hardly wait!!!