Jaap van 't Veen's photos with the keyword: Heraklion

Agios Dimitrios is a small Orthodox church. It is a real hidden gem, located a little bit out of the way. I tried to find any further information, but didn’t succeed; even the tourist information centre of Heraklion couldn’t tell anything about the church.

The first attempt to create a harbour in the bay of Heraklion (in that time called Chandax) took place during the Arab period (9th-10th century). Following the restoration of Crete to the Byzantine Empire in the year of 961, Chandax developed into a thriving city and its harbour was consequently fortified and improved. When the island fell into the hands of the Venetians (1204), Candia (as the Venetians called both Heraklion and the whole island) became "the other Venice of the East". Especially during the last two centuries of Venetian rule, it was the greatest harbour in the Eastern Mediterranean. Very few modifications were carried out to the harbour during the Turkish period (17th-19th century). In the 20th century the construction of a coast road demolished much of the Venetian harbour installations. Nowadays the old Venetian harbour is used by fishing boats and yachts. In the background of the image stands the Venetian fortress of Koules (Rocca al Mare), dominating the entrance to the old harbour. The PiP shows a Venetian lion above the entrance of the fortress.

The church of Agios Titos (Saint Titus Church) is one of the most important monuments in Crete. It can be found on a lovely square in the city centre of Heraklion. The original church of Agios Titos on this location was built in the 10th century by the Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, who liberated Crete from the Arabs. During the Turkish occupation of Crete, the church of Agios Titos was turned into a mosque, named Vezir mosque. During its many historical phases the church suffered substantial damages, and renovations - including major alterations by the Venetians in the 16th century - and was used as the metropolitan church by the Catholics. The severe earthquake of 1856 totally destroyed the church, which was rebuilt in 1872 on its own foundations. The minaret was demolished in 1920, when the last Ottomans left the island. In 1925 the church was renovated and nowadays the cathedral still works as an Orthodox church, dedicated to St. Titus, St. Paul’s disciple and the first bishop on Crete and guardian of the island.

The Agios Minas Cathedral is a Greek Orthodox Cathedral, serving as the seat of the Archbishop of Crete. It was built over the time period of 1862-1895. The outbreak of the Cretan revolution in 1866 demanded the stopping of its construction, which continued in 1883. It is one of the most magnificent and impressive churches in Greece, with a capacity of 8.000 people. The church is of a cruciform type with a dome base, while internally there are also elements of a three aisle basilica. The inside of the church has gone through many changes with new additions. The religious painting of the church was assigned to St. Kartakis, who followed faithfully the principles and the models of the Byzantine icon painting. The The church is dedicated to Saint Minas, the patron saint of Heraklion during the Turkish period. Foundations of the imposing cathedral of Saint Minas were laid in 1862 as a token of gratitude by the citizens of Heraklion for the saint's protection of the city. Although Crete was still under Turkish rule the cathedral was inaugurated in 1895. To the left of the cathedral stands the original little church of Saint Minas (‘mikros Agios Minas’ as the locals say), which was built in 1735 and housed the Metropolis of Crete for the first time after the Turkish occupation. (see PiP 1).