After two pleasant days at sea, we were happy to get off the ship and spend some time on dry land. Our first port visit was Heraklion, on the Greek island of Crete. We’d been to Heraklion once before, in 2009, with our kids. The big attraction on that visit was the excavated and dubiously “restored” Palace of Minos at Knossos.
Throwback to Knossos, 2009. We may have been a bit younger then.
We decided to skip Knossos on this visit, and instead spent the day wandering the city of Heraklion and its waterfront. The cruise provided a convenient free shuttle bus from the ship to the south edge of the old city, which suited us fine. We walked north along 1866 Street, one of the main shopping streets. Right in the centre of the old town is Eleftheriou Venizelou Square, more commonly known as Lion’s Square. It includeds the Morosini Fountain, built in 1629 when Crete was part of the Venetian Republic.
The former Saint Mark’s Basilica has been deconsecrated and converted into a community space. During our visit it was hosting an exhibit of the works of Nikos Psilakis, a cultural anthropologist and photographer, documenting the traditions of rural Crete.
On the southern edge of the old city is the Cathedral of Agios Titos. Built in the 1869 as a mosque, it has been a Greek Orthodox church since 1925.
The interior is richly decorated in the Byzantine style.
From the centre we walked to the old harbour and out to the end of the breakwater, which gave us a good view of the Queen Elizabeth. The pink oval marks our cabin.
On the way back Karen decided to dip her feet in the Mediterranean just behind the Kouless Fortress. You can see the breakwater behind her, and the Queen Elizabeth behind a crane at the far right.
From there we headed along the coast. Here’s a view of the Fortress from a bit farther down. The Fortress was built by the Venetian Republic between 1523 and 1540.
We had lunch at Mare Heraklion Riviera overlooking the sea, then walked back through the old centre along the other major shopping street. Here’s a picture of Karen taking a picture of a tree, just behind the Morosoni Fountain.
Then it was back to the ship and south towards the Suez Canal.
