Crete

Crete is the most famous Greek island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is the most popular resort in Greece, because tourists are attracted here by the warm sea, an abundance of beaches, many museums and ancient cities.

The infrastructure for tourists in Crete is very well developed. There are many archaeological sites here and many visitors to the island seek to visit them, since the island was the center of the Minoan civilization (2600-1400 BC), which left behind such ancient cities as Knossos, Gortyne, Feste. A settlement on the territory of Knossos appeared as early as 7000 years BC. In those days, people lived in stone houses, but some people were more comfortable in caves, and they found a lot of tools, weapons, and religious objects. Later, Greek polis began to arrive in Crete and form their own cities.

Before the powerful eruption of the Santorini volcano, about a million people lived here. A wave about 100 meters high formed after the explosion of the volcano swept away coastal cities, and ash covered fields, making agriculture impossible. This is how the Minoan civilization was destroyed, the traces of which are everywhere found on the island. There is a theory that it was the eruption of the Santorini volcano that formed the basis of the myth of the legendary Atlantis.

The Archaeological Museum of Heraklion is of the greatest interest to lovers of cultural recreation, where the most important exhibits are collected in 20 halls: frescoes, books, sarcophagi, ceramics, jewelry, traditional clothes, musical instruments of the island's inhabitants. There are also archaeological museums in the cities of Agios Nikolaos, Ierapetra, Rethymno, and Chania. It takes a lot of time to get around them all, and there are also ancient settlements that are open-air museums.

There are a lot of beaches with clean sand and sea water in Crete. There are showers and sun beds on the beaches for tourists, and almost every beach in Crete has parking. Large beaches usually have diving schools where you can learn how to dive and get the appropriate certificate. There is a lot to see in the local waters! There are a lot of marine inhabitants who hide in corals and shipwrecks. During the Turkish occupation, local resistance sank Turkish and Egyptian ships, and when the island completely came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, piracy flourished, sinking all ships. Only John Kapodistrias was able to defeat the pirates by sending an Anglo-French squadron with a government army to Crete, which sank the pirates' ships. So swimming in local waters, you can find a sunken ship and maybe even find jewelry in it.