Crete (Greek: Κρήτη), comprising the eponymous island and a number of surrounding islands and islets, is an administrative region of Greece. The Cretan mainland is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, and the fifth-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and Corsica. The capital and the largest city is Heraklion. As of 2011, the region had a population of 623,065.
Crete forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece, while retaining its own local cultural traits (such as its own poetry and music). It was once the center of the Minoan civilization (c. 2700–1420 BC, named after the legendary King Minos), which had its capital at Knossos and is the earliest known civilization in Europe.
Crete was part of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire (with occasional interruptions by Arab rule), the Republic of Venice, and the Ottoman Empire, before being absorbed into the modern state of Greece in 1913.
Crete in "Occupation Duty"[]
Tradition held that Crete was the ancestral homeland of the Philistinians, who were closely related to the Ellenes of the mainland. Although the two cultures acknowledged their ancient kinship, after 3000 years they had evolved separately to the point where even their languages were no longer mutually intelligible.
Crete in Worldwar[]
In 1944, a German Elektroboot set out from Crete on a suicide mission which planted an explosive-metal bomb in Alexandria.
See also[]
- Erket, an analog of Crete in "Running of the Bulls".
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