Heraklion - Archaeological Museum

Crete, the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, is located about 100 km south of the Peloponnese. Crete was the center of Europe's first advanced civilization, the Minoans, from 3000 to 1400 BC. The Minoan civilization was overrun by the Mycenaean civilization from mainland Greece. Crete was later ruled by Rome, then successively by the Byzantine Empire, Andalusian Arabs, the Byzantine Empire again, the Venetian Republic, and the Ottoman Empire. In 1898 Crete, whose people had for some time wanted to join the Greek state, achieved independence from the Ottomans, formally becoming the Cretan State. Crete became part of Greece in December 1913.

Heraklion is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete. With a municipal population of about 180.000 it is the fourth largest city in Greece. The greater area of Heraklion has been continuously inhabited since at least 7000 BCE, making it one of the oldest inhabited regions in Europe. As a major center of the Minoan civilization it often considered Europe's oldest city.


In the first century BC, the Romans began to take more serious action against the pirates in the Aegean. In 69 BC, Quintus Caecilius Metellus was commissioned by the Senate to conquer Crete. He successfully conquered one Cretan city after another, while Pompey fought the pirates at sea.

The Cretans accepted Roman rule without resistance. The island became one of the most peaceful provinces in the entire empire. Under Emperor Augustus, it was united with areas in Libya to form the province of Creta et Cyrenaica. Emperor Diocletian separated the two areas in 298 AD and formed a separate province of Crete. Christianity spread to the island in the 3rd and 4th centuries.

Pan, god of shepherds, playing the syrinx, an instrument made of reed.

2nd century AD