Something to Declare

May 19, 2024: Arrival in Heraklion, Crete

We flew to Crete yesterday. Settled in to the upscale Aquila Atlantis Hotel and took a guided city walking tour, where we saw the old Venetian Walls. Below are the Morasini Fountain, the Venetian Loggia and the Church of St. Titus:

The omnipresence of references to Venice dates back to 1204 CE. The Crusaders had conquered Constantinople, and the Byzantine Empire (of which Crete was a part) was partitioned that year. The Republic of Venice had long had trade relations with the island, and they took the opportunity to buy Crete from Byzantium. There were many failed rebellions by the Cretans against the Venetians over the next 465 years. Ultimately, however, the Venetians lost Crete to the Ottoman Turks in the Siege of Candia in 1669. Crete remained in the Ottoman Empire even after Greek independence in the earlier 19th Century (see previous posts). The Cretans gained their independence from the Turks in 1898, and became part of Greece in 1913.

On our walk, we also saw a couple of stencilled grafitti in Hebrew:

I sent this photo to an Israeli back home, who emailed the translation:

“You are the Killer. You are not expected here.” Somewhat ominous, sorta “if you can read this, you are a Zionist or a Jew, so get out of here.” Anyone have a kinder, gentler translation to offer?