1.
Eyalet
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Eyalets, also known as beylerbeyliks or pashaliks, were a primary administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. From 1453 to the beginning of the century the Ottoman local government was loosely structured. The Empire was at first divided into provinces called eyalets, presided over by a Pasha of three tails, the Grand Vizier was responsible for nominating all the high officers of State, both in the capital and the provinces. Between 1861 and 1866, these Eyalets were abolished, and the territory was divided for administrative purposes into Vilayets. The eyalets were subdivided into districts called livas or sanjaks, each of which was under the charge of a Pasha of one tail, with the title of Mira-lira and these provinces were usually called pashalics by Europeans. The pasha was invested with powers of government within his province. The term eyalet is sometimes translated province or governorate, depending on the rank of the governor, they were also sometimes known as pashaliks, beylerbeyliks, and kapudanliks. Pashaluk or Pashalik is the word derived from pasha, denoting the quality. In European sources, the word pashalic generally referred to the eyalets, the term eyalet began to be applied to the largest administrative unit of the Ottoman Empire instead of beglerbegilik from the 1590s onward, and it continued to be used until 1867. Murad I instituted the great division of the sultanate into two beylerbeyiliks of Rumelia and Anatolia, in circa 1365, with the eastward expansion of Bayezid’s realms in the 1390s, a third eyalet, Rûm Eyalet, came into existence, with Amasya its chief town. This became the seat of government of Bayezid’s youngest son, Mehmed I, in 1395, Bayezid I executed the last Shishmanid Tsar of Bulgaria, and annexed his realm to Rumelia Eyalet. In 1461, Mehmed II expelled the last of the Isfendyarid dynasty from Sinop, the Isfendyarid principality became a district of Anatolia Eyalet. A list dated 1527 shows eight eyalets, with Egypt, Damascus, Diyarbekir, the last eyalet, however, did not survive as an administrative entity. Süleyman’s conquests in eastern Turkey, Iraq and Hungary also resulted in the creation of new eyalets, the former principality of Dulkadir became the Dulkadir Eyalet at some time after its annexation in 1522. After the Iranian campaign of 1533–6, the new eyalets of Erzurum, Van, Sharazor, in 1541 came the creation of Budin Eyalet from part of the old Kingdom of Hungary. In 1580 Bosnia, previously a district of Rumelia, became an eyalet in its own right, similar considerations led to the creation of the Kanije Eyalet from the districts adjoining this border fortress, which had fallen to the Ottomans in 1600. At the same time, on the shore of the Black Sea. The purpose of this reorganisation, and especially the creation of the eyalet of Özi was presumably to improve the defences of the Black Sea ports against the Cossacks, by 1609, according to the list of Ayn Ali, there were 32 eyalets
2.
Vilayet
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The Vilayets of the Ottoman Empire were the first-order administrative division, or provinces, of the later empire, introduced with the promulgation of the Vilayet Law of 21 January 1867. The reform was part of the administrative reforms that were being enacted throughout the empire. The reform was at first implemented experimentally in the Danube Vilayet, specially formed in 1864, the reform was gradually implemented, and not until 1884 was it applied to the entirety of the Empires provinces. The term vilayet is derived from the Arabic word wilayah or wilaya, while in Arabic, the word wilaya is used to denote a province or region or district without any specific administrative connotation, the Ottomans used it to denote a specific administrative division. The vali was the representative of the Sultan in the vilayet and he was assisted by secretaries in charge of finances, correspondence and archives, dealings with foreigners, public works, agriculture and commerce, nominated by the respective ministers. Along with the justice, these officials formed the vilayets executive council. In addition, there was a provincial council of four members. The governor of the sanjak, where the vilayets capital was located, deputized for the vali in the latters absence. Provinces of Turkey Six vilayets, the Armenian vilayets of the empire Vilayet Law Vilayet Law of 1864, official translation to French pp. 36–45 Vilayet Law of 1867, in French
3.
Ottoman Empire
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After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans the Ottoman Beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror, at the beginning of the 17th century the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries. With Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, while the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic historians. The empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy, society, however, during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768, the Ottoman military system fell behind that of their European rivals, the Habsburg and Russian Empires. While the Empire was able to hold its own during the conflict, it was struggling with internal dissent. Starting before World War I, but growing increasingly common and violent during it, major atrocities were committed by the Ottoman government against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. The word Ottoman is an anglicisation of the name of Osman I. Osmans name in turn was the Turkish form of the Arabic name ʿUthmān, in Ottoman Turkish, the empire was referred to as Devlet-i ʿAlīye-yi ʿOsmānīye, or alternatively ʿOsmānlı Devleti. In Modern Turkish, it is known as Osmanlı İmparatorluğu or Osmanlı Devleti, the Turkish word for Ottoman originally referred to the tribal followers of Osman in the fourteenth century, and subsequently came to be used to refer to the empires military-administrative elite. In contrast, the term Turk was used to refer to the Anatolian peasant and tribal population, the term Rūmī was also used to refer to Turkish-speakers by the other Muslim peoples of the empire and beyond. In Western Europe, the two names Ottoman Empire and Turkey were often used interchangeably, with Turkey being increasingly favored both in formal and informal situations and this dichotomy was officially ended in 1920–23, when the newly established Ankara-based Turkish government chose Turkey as the sole official name. Most scholarly historians avoid the terms Turkey, Turks, and Turkish when referring to the Ottomans, as the power of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum declined in the 13th century, Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of independent Turkish principalities known as the Anatolian Beyliks. One of these beyliks, in the region of Bithynia on the frontier of the Byzantine Empire, was led by the Turkish tribal leader Osman, osmans early followers consisted both of Turkish tribal groups and Byzantine renegades, many but not all converts to Islam. Osman extended the control of his principality by conquering Byzantine towns along the Sakarya River and it is not well understood how the early Ottomans came to dominate their neighbours, due to the scarcity of the sources which survive from this period. One school of thought which was popular during the twentieth century argued that the Ottomans achieved success by rallying religious warriors to fight for them in the name of Islam, in the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began to extend over Anatolia and the Balkans. Osmans son, Orhan, captured the northwestern Anatolian city of Bursa in 1326 and this conquest meant the loss of Byzantine control over northwestern Anatolia. The important city of Thessaloniki was captured from the Venetians in 1387, the Ottoman victory at Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into Europe
4.
Kingdom of Candia
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The island was at the time and up to the early modern era commonly known as Candia after its capital, Candia or Chandax. In modern Greek historiography, the period is known as the Venetocracy, the island of Crete had formed part of the Byzantine Empire until 1204, when the Fourth Crusade dissolved the empire and divided its territories amongst the crusader leaders. Crete was initially allotted to Boniface of Montferrat, but, unable to enforce his control over the island, Venetian troops first occupied the island in 1205, but it took until 1212 for it to be secured, especially against the opposition of Venices rival Genoa. The islands of Tinos and Cythera, also under Venetian control, in the early 14th century, this division was replaced by four provinces, almost identical to the four modern prefectures. During the first two centuries of Venetian rule, revolts by the native Orthodox Greek population against the Roman Catholic Venetians were frequent, thereafter, and despite occasional revolts and Turkish raids, the island largely prospered, and Venetian rule opened up a window into the ongoing Italian Renaissance. After the Ottoman conquest of Cyprus in 1571, Crete was Venices last major overseas possession, only the three island fortresses of Souda, Gramvousa and Spinalonga remained in Venetian hands. Attempts to recover Candia during the Morean War failed, and these last Venetian outposts were taken by the Turks in 1715. Finally, on 12 August 1204, the Venetians preempted their traditional rivals, Venices gains were formalized in the Partitio Romaniae a few weeks later. To enforce their claim, the Venetians landed a force in Spinalonga. A first Venetian attack in summer 1207 was driven off, Pescatore even appealed to the Pope, and attempted to have himself confirmed as the islands king. It took the Venetians another five years of warfare to force him to surrender. Giacomo Tiepolo became the first governor of the new colony, with the title of duke of Crete, the duke usually held office for two years, assisted by two deputies and two councils. Venetians used Crete as a center for their profitable eastern trade, furthermore, they established a feudal state and administered a strict capitalist system for exploiting the islands agricultural produce. Exported products consisted primarily of wheat and sweet wine, and to a lesser extend of timber, Venetian rule over Crete proved troubled from the beginning, as it encountered the hostility of the local populace. In the words of the medievalist Kenneth Setton, it required an unceasing vigilance, already in 1212, the Hagiostephanitai brothers rose in revolt, which was only suppressed through the intervention of Marco I Sanudo, the Duke of Naxos. Sanudo then attempted to conquer the island for himself, relying on local support and he seized Candia, while Tiepolo escaped to the nearby fortress of Temenos disguised as a woman. Subsequently, the Cretans looked to the Greek Empire of Nicaea for aid in 1229, a Nicaean fleet arrived on the island, and in the 1230s the Nicaeans were able to challenge Venetian control over much of Crete and maintain troops there. It was only with the aid of the Greek lord of Rhodes, Leo Gabalas, Venetian rule over Crete was finally and formally recognised by the restored Byzantine Empire in treaties concluded in 1268 and 1277
5.
Cretan State
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The Cretan State, was established in 1898, following the intervention by the Great Powers on the island of Crete. It was the prelude of the final annexation to the Kingdom of Greece. The island of Crete, an Ottoman possession since the end of the Cretan War, was inhabited by a mostly Greek-speaking population, during and after the Greek War of Independence, the Christians of the island rebelled several times against external Ottoman rule, pursuing union with Greece. These were brutally subdued, but secured some concessions from the Ottoman government under the pressure of European public opinion, in 1878, the Pact of Halepa established the island as an autonomous state under Ottoman suzerainty, until the Ottomans reneged on that agreement in 1889. The collapse of the Pact heightened tensions in the island, leading to another rebellion in 1895, nationalist secret societies and a fervently irredentist public opinion forced the Greek government to send military forces to the island, provoking a war with the Ottoman Empire. Although most of Crete came under the control of the Greek forces, the unprepared Greek Army was crushed by the Ottomans, who occupied Thessaly. The war was ended by the intervention of the Great Powers, who forced the Greek contingent to withdraw from Crete, in the Treaty of Constantinople the Ottoman Government promised to implement the provisions of the Halepa Pact. On 25 August 1898, a Turkish mob massacred hundreds of Cretan Greeks, national Bank of Greece established a bank, the Bank of Crete, which had a 40-year monopoly on note issuance. The Cretan state also established a force, the Cretan Gendarmerie, modeled on the Italian Carabinieri. The Cretan Gendarmerie incorporated the four small gendarmerie units the four occupying powers had created, on 13 December 1898, George of Greece arrived as High Commissioner for a three-year tenure. On 27 April 1899, an Executive Committee was created, in which a young, Athens-trained lawyer from Chania, Eleftherios Venizelos, by 1900, Venizelos and the Prince had developed differences over domestic policies, as well as the issue of Enosis, the union with Greece. On 15 August, the Cretan Assembly voted for the proposals of Venizelos, and the Great Powers brokered an agreement, whereby Prince George would resign and a new constitution created. In addition, Greek officers came to replace the Italians in the organization of the Gendarmerie, and the withdrawal of the foreign troops began, leaving Crete de facto under Greek control. The flag of the Cretan State was replaced by the Greek flag, all public servants took an oath to King George I of Greece, and this act was not recognized internationally, including by Greece, where Eleftherios Venizelos was elected Prime Minister in 1910. In May 1912, the Cretan deputies travelled to Athens and tried to enter the Greek Parliament, upon the outbreak of the First Balkan War, Greece finally recognized the union and sent Stephanos Dragoumis as the islands governor-general. On 1 December, the ceremony of union took place. The total population in 1911 was 336,151,307,812 Christians,27,852 Muslims and 487 Jews. Eleftherios Venizelos Ottoman Crete Cretan Gendarmerie List of Greek countries and regions Enosis, The Union of Crete with Greece http, //rethemnosnews
6.
Chania
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Chania is the second largest city of Crete and the capital of the Chania regional unit. It lies along the north coast of the island, about 70 km west of Rethymno and 145 km west of Heraklion, the official population of the municipal unit is 53,910, while the municipality has 108,642 inhabitants. This consists of the city of Chania and several towns and villages, including Kounoupidiana, Mournies, Souda, Nerokouros, Daratsos, Perivolia, Galatas. Chania is the site of the Minoan settlement the Greeks called Kydonia and it appears on Linear B as ku-do-ni-ja. Some notable archaeological evidence for the existence of this Minoan city below some parts of todays Chania was found by excavations in the district of Kasteli in the Old Town and this area appears to have been inhabited since the Neolithic era. The city reemerged after the end of the Minoan period as an important city-state in Classical Greece, the first major wave of settlers from mainland Greece was by the Dorian Greeks who came around 1100 BC. Kydonia was constantly at war with other Cretan city-states such as Aptera, Phalasarna, in 69 BC, the Roman consul Caecilius Metellus defeated the Cretans and conquered Kydonia to which he granted the privileges of an independent city-state. Kydonia reserved the right to mint its own coins until the 3rd century AD, the early Christian period under Byzantine rule and the rule of the Arabs, who called the settlement Al Hanim, are not well documented. Under the Arabs, the Christian population was persecuted and moved to the mountains, the Byzantine Empire retook the city in 961 AD. In this period the Arabic name of the city was changed into Greek Chania, byzantines began to strongly fortify the city in order to prevent another Arab invasion, using materials from the ancient buildings of the area. By this time Chania was the seat of a bishopric, which would be known under Venetian rule as Roman Catholic Diocese of La Canea, after the Fourth Crusade and the fall of Byzantium in the Hellenic area, Crete was given to Bonifacio, Marquess of Montferrat. He in turn chose to sell it to the Venetians for 100 silver marks, Chania was chosen as the seat of the Rector of the region and flourished as a significant commercial centre of a fertile agricultural region. The Venetian rule was strict and oppressive but slowly the relations between the two parts improved. Contact with Venice led to close intertwining of Cretan and Venetian cultures, without, however, the citys name became La Canea and its fortifications were strengthened, giving Chania the form that it still has today. On the other hand, after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, many priests, monks and artists took refuge in Crete and reinforced the Byzantine religion, the city of Chania during the period that followed was a blend of Byzantine, Venetian, and Classical Greek cultural elements. Many of the important buildings of the town were built during this era, however, the walls did not prevent the Ottoman army from overrunning the city in 1645 after just two months siege. The Ottomans landed near the Monastery of Gonia in Kissamos, which they plundered and they seized Chania itself on 2 August 1645. Huge numbers died in the siege, later, most churches were turned into mosques
7.
Greece
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Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, historically also known as Hellas, is a country in southeastern Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2015. Athens is the capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki. Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. Greece consists of nine regions, Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands, Thrace, Crete. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km in length, featuring a vast number of islands, eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as polis, which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming a part of the Roman Empire and its successor. The Greek Orthodox Church also shaped modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox World, falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence. Greeces rich historical legacy is reflected by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most in Europe, Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, a high quality of life, and a very high standard of living. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the member to join the European Communities and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. Greeces unique cultural heritage, large industry, prominent shipping sector. It is the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor, the names for the nation of Greece and the Greek people differ from the names used in other languages, locations and cultures. The earliest evidence of the presence of human ancestors in the southern Balkans, dated to 270,000 BC, is to be found in the Petralona cave, all three stages of the stone age are represented in Greece, for example in the Franchthi Cave. Neolithic settlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium BC, are the oldest in Europe by several centuries and these civilizations possessed writing, the Minoans writing in an undeciphered script known as Linear A, and the Mycenaeans in Linear B, an early form of Greek. The Mycenaeans gradually absorbed the Minoans, but collapsed violently around 1200 BC and this ushered in a period known as the Greek Dark Ages, from which written records are absent. The end of the Dark Ages is traditionally dated to 776 BC, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the foundational texts of Western literature, are believed to have been composed by Homer in the 7th or 8th centuries BC. With the end of the Dark Ages, there emerged various kingdoms and city-states across the Greek peninsula, in 508 BC, Cleisthenes instituted the worlds first democratic system of government in Athens
8.
Rethymno
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Rethymno is a city of approximately 40,000 people in Greece, the capital of Rethymno regional unit on the island of Crete, a former Latin Catholic bishopric as Retimo and former Latin titular see. It was originally built during the Minoan civilization, but was never a competitive Minoan centre and it was, however, strong enough to mint its own coins and maintain urban growth. One of these coins is depicted as the crest of the town. This region as a whole is rich with ancient history, most notably through the Minoan civilisation centred at Kydonia east of Rethymno, todays old town is almost entirely built by the Republic of Venice. It is one of the old towns in Crete. The Venetian Loggia houses the office of the Ministry of Culture. A Wine Festival is held annually at the beginning of July. Another festival, in memory of the destruction of the Arkadi Monastery, is held on 7–8 November, the citys Venetian-era citadel, the Fortezza of Rethymno, is one of the best-preserved castles in Crete. Other monuments include the Neratze mosque, the Great Gate, the Piazza Rimondi, the town was captured by the Ottoman Empire in 1646 during the Cretan War and they ruled it for almost three centuries. The town, called Resmo in Turkish, was the centre of a sanjak during Ottoman rule, during the Battle of Crete, the Battle of Rethymno was fought between German paratroopers and the Second Australian Imperial Force and Hellenic Army. Agriculture is also notable, especially for oil and other Mediterranean products. Rethymno hosted the international athletics meeting known as Vardinogianneia, the athletics meeting stopped in 2012 due to Greek financial crisis. Rethymno has many clubs with presence in Panhellenic championships of various sports. Below is shown the list of sport clubs of Rethymno. More, there are about 8.000 students per annum studying at Galos where the Campus rests, also in Rethymnon is located the Department of Music Technology and Acoustics Engineering of the School for Applied Sciences of the Technological Institute of Crete with ~500 Students
9.
Crete
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Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, 88th-largest island in the world and the fifth-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and Corsica. Crete and a number of surrounding islands and islets constitute the region of Crete, the capital and the largest city is Heraklion. As of 2011, the region had a population of 623,065, Crete forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece, while retaining its own local cultural traits. It was once the centre of the Minoan civilization, which is regarded as the earliest recorded civilization in Europe. The island is first referred to as Kaptara in texts from the Syrian city of Mari dating from the 18th century BC, repeated later in Neo-Assyrian records and it was also known in ancient Egyptian as Keftiu, strongly suggesting a similar Minoan name for the island. The current name of Crete is thought to be first attested in Mycenaean Greek texts written in Linear B, through the words
10.
Republic of Venice
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It was based in the lagoon communities of the historically prosperous city of Venice. It was a leading European economic and trading power during the Middle Ages, the Venetian city state was founded as a safe haven for people escaping persecution in mainland Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. In its early years, it prospered on the salt trade, in subsequent centuries, the city state established a thalassocracy. It dominated trade on the Mediterranean Sea, including commerce between Asia, Europe and North Africa, the Venetian navy was used in the Crusades. Venice achieved territorial conquests along the Adriatic Sea, the city became home to an extremely wealthy merchant class, who patronized renowned art and architecture along the citys lagoons. Venetian merchants were influential financiers in Europe, the city was also the birthplace of great European explorers, including Marco Polo, as well as the classical music composer Vivaldi. The republic was ruled by the Doge, who was elected by members of the Great Council of Venice, the ruling class was an oligarchy of merchants and aristocrats. Venice and other Italian maritime republics played a key role in fostering capitalism, Venetian citizens generally supported the system of governance. The city-state enforced strict laws and employed ruthless tactics in its prisons, the opening of new trade routes to the Americas and the East Indies via the Atlantic Ocean marked the beginning of Venices decline as a maritime republic. The city state suffered defeats from the navy of the Ottoman Empire, in 1797, the country was colonized by Austria and France, following an invasion by Napoleon Bonaparte. Venice became a part of a unified Italy in the 19th century and it was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in reference to its title as one of the Most Serene Republics. He was the first historical Doge of Venice, whichever the case, the first doges had their power base in Heraclea. Ursuss successor, Deusdedit, moved his seat from Heraclea to Malamocco in the 740s and he was the son of Ursus and represented the attempt of his father to establish a dynasty. Such attempts were more commonplace among the doges of the first few centuries of Venetian history. They desired to remain well-connected to the Empire, another faction, republican in nature, believed in continuing along a course towards practical independence. The other main faction was pro-Frankish, supported mostly by clergy, they looked towards the new Carolingian king of the Franks, Pepin the Short, as the best provider of defence against the Lombards. A minor, pro-Lombard faction was opposed to close ties with any of these further-off powers, the successors of Obelerio inherited a united Venice. By the Pax Nicephori, the two emperors had recognised that Venice belonged to the Byzantine sphere of influence, many centuries later, the Venetians claimed that the treaty had recognised Venetian de facto independence, but the truth of this claim is doubted by modern scholars
11.
Gramvousa
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Gramvousa also Grampousa refers to two small uninhabited islands off the coast of north-western Crete in the regional unit of Chania. They are administered from the municipality of Kissamos, today, Imeri Gramvousa is a popular tourist attraction. Agria Gramvousa, which translates to Wild Gramvousa, is less hospitable and is located due north of Imeri Gramvousa. The fort at Imeri Gramvousa was built between 1579 and 1584 during Venetian rule over Crete to defend the island from the Ottoman Turks and these three forts defended Venetian trade routes and were also strategic bases in the event of a new Ottoman–Venetian war for Crete. On 6 December 1691, during the Morean War, the Neapolitan Captain de la Giocca betrayed the Venetians by surrendering Gramvousa to the Ottoman Turks for a generous bribe and he lived the rest of his life in Constantinople and was well known by the nickname Captain Grambousas. Not long after the start of Turkish rule, Cretan insurgents used to gather at the three coastal forts which included Gramvousa, with the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence, the fort fell to the insurgents hands. Towards the summer of 1825, a body of three to four hundred Cretans, who had fought with other Greeks in the Peloponnese, journeyed to Crete. On 9 August 1825, led by Dimitrios Kallergis and Emmanouil Antoniadis, this group of Cretans, disguised as Turks, captured the fort at Gramvousa and these and subsequent actions revitalized the Cretan insurgency, ushering the so-called Gramvousa period. Although the Ottomans did not manage to retake the fort, they were successful in blocking the spread of the insurgency to the western provinces. The insurgents were besieged in Gramvousa for more than two years and they had to resort to piracy to survive, Gramvousa became a hive of piratical activity that greatly affected Turkish-Egyptian and European shipping in the region. During that period the population of Gramvousa became organised and they built a school, the church was called Panagia i Kleftrina and was dedicated to the wives of the klephts, namely the pirates. In 1828, the new Governor of Greece, Ioannis Kapodistrias, sent Alexander Mavrocordatos with British and this expedition resulted in the destruction of all pirate ships at Gramvousa and the fort came under British control. On 5 January 1828, on Kapodistrias orders Hatzimichalis Dalianis landed at Gramvousa with 700 men, there is a lagoon, named the Balos lagoon, between the island and the coast of Crete. There is an islet which forms part of a cape, through the lagoon, north of Balos, at the Korykon cape, are the ruins of the small ancient Roman city of Agnion, with a temple to the god Apollo. List of islands of Greece Maltezou, Chrysas A, in Panagiotakis, Nikolaos M. Crete, History and Civilization. Vikelea Library, Association of Regional Associations of Regional Municipalities, in Panagiotakis, Nikolaos M. Crete, History and Civilization. Vikelea Library, Association of Regional Associations of Regional Municipalities
12.
Spinalonga
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The island of Spinalonga, officially known as Kalydon, is located in the Gulf of Elounda in north-eastern Crete, in Lasithi, next to the town of Plaka. The island is further assigned to the area of Kalydon and it is near the Spinalonga peninsula – which often causes confusion as the same name is used for both. The official Greek name of the island today is Kalydon, originally, Spinalonga was not an island – it was part of the island of Crete. During Venetian occupation the island was carved out of the coast for defence purposes, during Venetian rule, salt was harvested from salt pans around the island. The island has also used as a leper colony. Spinalonga has appeared in novels, television series, and a short film, according to Venetian documents, the name of the island originated in the Greek expression στην Ελούντα stin Elounda. The Venetians could not understand the expression so they familiarized it using their own language, and called it spina thorn longa long, an expression that was also maintained by the locals. The Venetians were inspired for this expression by the name of an island near Venice called by the same name, the Venetian cartographer Vincenzo Coronelli reports that Spinalonga was not always an island, but was once linked with the adjacent Peninsula Spinalonga. He mentions that in 1526, the Venetians cut down a portion of the peninsula, because of its position the island was fortified from its earliest years in order to protect the entranceway of the port of Ancient Olous. Olous, and accordingly the wider region, were depopulated at the middle of the 7th century because of the raids of the Arab pirates in the Mediterranean. Olous remained deserted until the mid-15th century when the Venetians began to construct salt-pans in the shallow, subsequently, the region acquired commercial value and became inhabited. This, in combination with the emergent Turkish threat, particularly after the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, in 1578 the Venetians charged the engineer Genese Bressani to plan the islands fortifications. He created blockhouses at the highest points of the northern and southern side of the island, in 1579, the Provveditore Generale of Crete, Luca Michiel, put the foundation stone of the fortifications, built over the ruins of an acropolis. There are two inscriptions that cite this event, one on the transom of the gate of the castle. The Venetian fire would thus have bigger range, rendering Spinalonga an impregnable sea fortress and these three forts defended Venetian trade routes and were also useful bases in the event of a new Venetian-Turkish war for Crete. Many Christians found refuge in these fortresses to escape persecution from the Ottoman Turks, in 1715, the Ottoman Turks captured Spinalonga taking over the last remaining Venetian fortress and removing the last trace of Venetian military presence from the island of Crete. At the end of the Ottoman occupation the island, together with the fort at Ierapetra, was the refuge of many Ottoman families that feared Christian reprisals, after the revolution of 1866 other Ottoman families came to the island from all the region of Mirabello. During the Cretan revolt of 1878, only Spinalonga and the fortress at Ierapetra were not taken by the Christian Cretan insurgents, in 1881 the 1112 Ottomans formed their own community and later, in 1903, the last Turks left the island
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Greece
