The Walls Of The City Of Heraklion

The walls of the city of Heraklion compose a special fortification project for the whole Mediterranean which is preserved to this day and is a monument of cultural and architectural heritage for the city and for the whole of Europe. The fortified enclosure, with a total length of 7 km, has the shape of a triangle, with the base facing the sea, and is essentially a huge embankment. The excavation of the ground at great depth around the perimeter created the moat that surrounds the fortification. 5 star hotels crete The soil removed from the trench was used to create a high mound with a sloping outer edge, which was lined with small chipped limestone (scarpa). This device aimed at better damping of gunfire and greater static efficiency.

The first interventions in the fortification work of the then "Castle" were made by the Arabs who, in 828 AD., improved the existing fortification and strengthened the moat. Then, the Venetians, after settling in the later "Chandakas" and identifying the threat from the Turkish domination which steadily grew, implemented the new fortification of Chandakas with the instructions of the most famous military engineer of Venice, Michele Sanmicheli. Reconstruction began in 1462 and lasted for about 100 years. However, the great innovation in the design of the wall of Chandakas was the system of bastions and anti-bastions that covered the land part. There were a total of seven bastions that protruded from the wall at distances and were heart-shaped in shape. Each bastion was attached to the wall with a neck on each side of a lower level square, with two canisters.