Since 2002, the legendary “ring of king Minos” is kept in the Archeological Museum of Heraklion. Do you remember its story belonging to the myth of Theseus, who went to Crete to defeat the Minotaur? “…If you are the son of the god Poseidon, then prove it and get a ring from the depths of […]

War of Candia In the middle of the XVII century the island of Crete was the largest and richest overseas possession of the Republic of Venice. It was located almost in the center of the Ottoman Empire’s interests: at that time, it reached the highest point of its influence. But Crete was of considerable strategic […]

You, of course, remember the Homer’s story of Odysseus and the Cyclops Polyphemus. It happened when the people of the king of Ithaca was returning home after the Trojan War. 12 ships landed at night … According to a version—it was the southern coast of Crete. “A fertile island lies slantwise outside the Cyclopes’ harbour, […]

Pseira is a small uninhabited island, a couple kilometers off the coast of Crete: opposite Tholos Beach and close to another Minoan center—Mochlos. Translated from Greek, Pseira (Ψείρα) means “louse”: apparently, the outlines of the island reminded this name’s inventors of it. Administratively, Pseira belongs to the community of Sitia in the peripheral unit of […]

The blue and white Greek flag was first flown over Crete on December 1, 1913 in the Firkas fortress in Chania. This celebration was attended by the Greek King Constantine I (who was a cousin of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II and the British King George V on his paternal side) and Prime Minister Eleftherios […]

According to a recent statement by archaeologists, the ancient Greeks took care of citizens with disabilities around 2,400 years ago and created ramps in temples. The sanctuaries of Asclepius, which can be reached by entrance ramps, are the most ancient monuments of architecture, built taking into account the needs of disabled persons. Focusing on the […]

Crete is surrounded by myths and legends like by the four seas washing it; and there are special places here: for example, the village of Azogyres is full of legends and secrets. The tiny Azogyres, lost in the Cretan mountains somewhere between Sougia and Paleochora, seems ordinary, but they say that you can’t come here […]

The Grand Duke of Kiev Svyatoslav Igorevich became famous as a warlord. He was the father of St. Vladimir, the Red Sun by whom was Christianized the Kievan Rus’. The historian Karamzin called Svyatoslav “the Macedonian of Ancient Russia”. This story, the ending of which is the defeat of the Rus’ people* near the city […]

Roman legionnaires knew a lot about wines, and it is believed that thanks to the legion camps that guarded the border along the Rhine from German barbarians, the famous Rhine wines appeared, as there was a steady solvent demand for wine from the legionnaires. In 1985, Markus Junkelmann with 11 reenactors undertook a 22-day long […]