General Information

Heraklion prefecture rests between the mountains Psiloreitis and Dihti, is the most populated in Crete, and her administrative and commercial centre. In the region developed the more important centres of the Minoan civilization like Knossos and Phaistos.

The city of Heraklion is inhabited since the pre-historic years and is considered that it was the harbor of Knossos. Later it was named Chandakas because of a ditch that the Arabs made when they occupied Crete. It took its current name in 1922. Heraklion was destroyed almost completely by the Germans in the 2nd World war and was rebuilt in such a way that the modern city has a circulatory problem and minimal green.

Nevertheless Heraklion is a modern commercial and tourist center with important academic community and intense tourist activity.