|
Sightseeing and monuments
 The Prefecture of Heraklion manages to combine Crete's best highlights.
Both the coastal and the inland parts have been inhabited without
interruption since prehistoric times, and so the area is the richest in
Crete in terms of archaeological sites. At 5km east of capital Heraklion,
Knossos is the most important and well known ancient site in Crete,
inhabited since Neolithic times and famous for the Palace of Knossos built
around 1900 BC. Phaistos, evidently the second most important palace-city of
Minoan Crete, is about 65 km of Heraklion, while at 34 km east of the
capital is Malia, the 3rd Minoan place found on Crete. Second to size and
importance only to the National Archaeological Museum in Athens,
Heraklion's outstanding Archaeological Museum is rich in exhibits,
including pottery, jewellery, figurines and sarcophagi, as well as the
famous frescos from Knossos. The Historical Museum of Heraklion deals with
the history and folklore of Crete since about 1000 AD, housing among its
collections a painting by El Greco, who was born near Heraklion. The
prefecture has a number of magnificent Byzantine monasteries, the most
important of which are the 15th c. Vrondissi, the abandoned monastery of
Varsamoneri and the Monastery of Kardiotissa, while the countryside is
strewn with small and larger churches, picturesque chapels and small temples
carved inside rocks.
|
