Crete (formerly known as Candia) is the largest Greek island and formerly one of the most important islands of the Ottoman or TurkishEmpire, situated in the Mediterranean or south Aegean Sea, 81 miles from the southern extremity of the Morea and 230 from the African coast, Crete is 160 miles long, 14 to 50 miles broad and has an area of 4026 square miles.
High mountains, covered with forests, run through the whole length of the island in several ranges. On the north side the island declines moderately to a fertile coast, provided with good harbours; on the south side steeply to a rocky shore. Numerous springs give fertility to most of the valleys, in which, and on the declivities of the mountains, is seen a luxuriant vegetation. The air is mild; the summer is cooled by the north winds; the winter is distinguished only by showers of rain.
The early history of Candia is lost in the fables of Greek mythology, in which Saturn, Zeus, and Minos are spoken of as among its kings, and it was the centre of the Minoan Civilization between 3400 and 1100 BC . At one time a republic, it became the seat of the Cilician pirates until conquered by the Romans, from whose hands it passed in 823 to the Saracens, and then to the Greeks again in 962. In 1204 the Byzantine sovereign sold it to the Venetians, who held it until the second half of the 17th century, when the Turks conquered it after a desperate struggle and the siege of the capital for no less than twenty years.
During the Greek War of Independence, the people of Crete joined the unsurgency, but were quickly defeated and made subject to the Egyptian Viceroy, Ali Pasha. In 1840 the island passed to the Ottoman Empire again, and revolys ensued with calls for Cretan independence. In 1898 Crete was declared independent, and in 1913 Crete joined the kingdom of Greece.
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Gazetteer
Research Crete