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Venetian Harbor – Start your day at the old port, where you'll
want to walk around the Venetian Harbor to the seaside fortress, Castello
del Molo. At the entrance to the fort, built by the Venetians in the
16th century, don't miss the Lion of St. Mark, symbol of Venice. Inside
the fort, it's largely empty except for a few cannons, but climb up on
the ramparts for a wonderful view of the harbor, Iraklion and the Sea
of Crete. (Castle is closed on Mondays.) Or just relax and watch the fishing
boats in the harbor. |
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 Right
next to the harbor are the Venetian ship sheds, the Arsenali,
now just the ruins. In the Arsenali, huge ships were constructed or repaired. |
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Archeological Museum – The museum houses the exquisite
archeological goodies from all over Crete – reconstructed frescoes
from Knossos, figurines of the snake goddess, waving her snakes in the air,
drinking vessel in shape of bull's head with golden horns, wild and wonderful
pottery (get some ideas for clay class), little tiny carved cameos and gold
jewelry. |
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Morosini Fountain – No visit to Iraklion is complete
without a visit to Platia Veneziou, an old plaza with a charming Venetian
fountain in the center. Engineered in the 17th century, pipes brought water
from a spring outside of town to this fountain, decorated with lions and
dolphins. |
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Stop
into the café to try bougatsa, custard or cheese phyllo. Bougatsa,
a specialty of Crete, is the perfect snack. |
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Palace of Knossos – The Minoans built the first
spiffy palace in 1900 BC. When an earthquake knocked it down in 1700 BC,
the Minoans built an even more magnificent multi-storied palace complex,
with lavish living quarters, spacious courtyards, huge storage areas, pools,
waterfalls, even bathrooms with running water. The palace was decorated
with lively bright colored murals. |
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Today, the ruins of the Palace of Knossos is its own labyrinth
– passageways, rooms, courtyards to explore, stairways to run up and
down. Be sure to visit the Throne Room, with a kid's size throne
and "griffin" frescoes on the wall. |
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In the Queen's Megaron,
the dolphin murals are exquisite. And check out the rows of huge storage
jars – how many bottles of olive oil from the supermarket it would
take to fill one of these storage jars? |
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Tip: Don't go in the middle of the day, when it's the
hottest. Bring your imagination. Although parts of the ruins have been restored,
you'll have to fill in the rest. |
