Heraklion, Crete: Greece

Today, we are in Heraklion, the capital city of Crete. This island has been inhabited since at least 7000 BC and is a major center of Minoan civilization dating back to approximately 2000-1350 BC. It is often considered Europe’s oldest city.

The city was quite a distance from the cruise port, and since it was extra hot, we grabbed a taxi to show us around. For sixty euros we drove around the island, to the highest point, and to the center of Old Town. 

We walked up to the Cathedral of St. Minas. This church was built from 1862-1869. It has a cruciform architecture with a central dome, and is stunning! The painted walls and ceilings were vibrant in color, and the chandeliers were massive in size. Interestingly enough, there was no pipe organ.

There was a side chapel with the “Holy Skull of Saint Titus”. St. Titus is revered as the first bishop of Crete. At the fall of Heraklion to the Turks, all relics were removed to Venice, where they remain today. The single exception is the skull of St. Tuts, which was returned to Heraklion in 1966 and is now kept in a silver reliquary in the church.

It is all kind of weird to me; why do all the other relics remain in Venice? I suppose I might be able to find out more about this with some research. (side note, Venice owned Crete)

After visiting the cathedral, we went to the Morosini Fountain, a fountain with four lions, for the obligatory photo, grabbed a Cappucino Freddo, my favorite coffee thus far in Europe, and hopped back in the taxi for a drive over to Firkas Fort.

The inner walls of the fort were built by the Byzantine Empire, with the outer walls built in the 16th century by the Republic of Venice; parts of both walls remain intact. 

It is hard to believe that little bit of touristing took three hours, although I felt as though it took six. I think all of my adventuring is starting to catch up to me. I was happy to head back to the ship and have our last “fancy dinner” on the ship.

Cagney’s Steakhouse has been hit or miss on the Norwegian Cruise Line, so I was extremely happy that tonight was a hit. The crab cake was amazing, and I would have been happy with just that for dinner. But no, I also ordered a filet, which was cooked to perfection, medium-rare. I managed to eat half of it, leaving just enough room for a few bites of cheesecake.

It was the perfect ending to the day, and I was happy to climb into bed.

Night, y’all!