I have recently returned from another wonderful two weeks on the island of Crete. I ask myself, sometimes, why I always feel so at home on Crete. Why do I feel more 'myself' there than anywhere else? Why does it feel, to use a cliché, as if there is a 'David shaped hole' on Crete that I perfectly fit.?
I have often reflected over this. Is it because, and I exaggerate a little here, that I travel from the cold, clenched, Protestant and regimented north to the warm, open, Orthodox and anarchistic south? That I move from feeling like a wind up toy to feeling like warm honey melting out over the brown and rocky landscape?
Is that too florid? But it captures something of what it feels like..
The climate, of course, is part of it, although I have yet to spend a winter on Crete. But in the spring and summer one can almost guarantee warmth and unbroken sunshine. Of course there are dull days, and very occasionally there is rain, and that can be very heavy. But, the rain doesn't last long, in the summer. Yes, there are days that aren't so good. But usually all one has to consider is the heat, and it can get hot. It can reach 40 degrees C. That is hot! But, on average, the temperature is around 30 degrees, give or take. And the humidity is low, compared to northern Europe, so one does not feel so uncomfortable.
In that sunshine and warmth the weather fades away as an issue. One can do whatever one chooses without having to think about the weather. And life is much more public, as in so many Mediterranean countries. Sitting in a taverna, drinking coffee, and watching the world go by.
And the terrain of Crete is so special. Rocky. Wild. With real mountains that have remote little villages and hidden little valleys, nooks and crannies. A very special atmosphere. It is, of course, cooler in the mountains, and therefore it is greener. The terrain of the lowlands is very brown in the summer. I love the mountains. To see the mighty White Mountains on the horizon gives me a pleasurable chill, an emotional reaction, ever single time I see them.
The wildlife, too, is fascinating. There are, of course, goats everywhere, but they are not wild. The national animal of Crete is a wild goat, the Kri-Kri. They only exist, now, on three small offshore islands.
But there are birds, my great love. There are eagles, vultures, pelicans, owls, kestrels and many smaller species. As I love raptors it is wonderful for me. To see an eagle soaring in a valley high up in the mountains, that is a very special feeling, for me.
There are no poisonous animals on Crete. There are four species of snake, but I have yet to see one. There is a huge amount of insect life, especially ants, or so it seems sometimes. They fascinate me too. There are several species of scorpion, but the sting of the most deadly of these is no worse than a mosquito bite.
And, of course, cicadas. Some people find their chirping irritating, but I don't. That sound IS Crete for me, in many ways. A dark night, sitting on the terrace, feeling a slight breeze and hearing the song of the cicadas. Lovely.
And the history of Crete, the history. A wonderful, incredible history. It is a history of occupation and resistance, in many ways. I will come on to that.
But first, right back at the beginning, in the misty dawn of time, a civilisation flourished on Crete that was sophisticated culturally and technologically. That civilisation has been called the 'Minoan' civilisation since at least Karl Hoeck used it in 1825, but it is more closely associated with the great archaeologist, and discoverer of Minoan culture, Arthur Evans. He excavated, amongst others, the most famous palace of the Minoan era, Knossos, just south of Heraklion.
Minoan civilisation, and it is not known what they called themselves, was the first fragile stirring, the first 'link in the chain', as it has been called, of the greatest culture the world has ever seen - European.
That grabs me. Here, so long ago, the roots of Europe began to establish themselves.
Then, the Minoan civilisation fell, and natural disasters where a factor in this. The civilisation had faded away by about 1200 BCE and Crete underwent periods of occupation and turbulence.
The Mycenaean Greeks were the first conquerors. There appears to have been a period of aristocratic rule and city states. Crete was conquered by the Romans in 71 BCE, for being on the wrong side in a war, and was grouped with Cyrenaica to become the Roman province of Creta et Cyrenaica, with the capital at Gortyn.
Roman rule slowly segued into Byzantine rule.
The island was dominated by arabs from the 820's, for about 150 years, actually becoming the Emirate of Crete. The Byzantine Empire reconquered the island in 961 and expelled the Arabs.
Anyway, I am rambling on. I love history and I never know when enough is enough.
After the Fourth Crusade in 1204 the Byzantines lost control of Crete to the Venetians. Venice ruled Crete, known as the Kingdom of Candia, from 1212 to 1669 (over 400 years). Candia is the city of Heraklion today.
The Venetian influence can be seen in, for example, the town of Chania today. The harbour was Venetian, many of the streets and street names in the Old Town are Venetian, and the remains of the massive fortifications are Venetian.
The Venetian presence fueled a renaissance in art, of which possibly El Greco is the most well known representative today.
However, life was hard for the Cretans under the Venetians. As non-Catholics (Greek Orthodox) they suffered heavy taxes and not many civil rights. I don't know of any rebellions or resistance by the Cretans during this period, but I cannot imagine that there were none at all.
Then, in 1669, after a 21 years long siege, Candia fell to the Ottoman Turks and Crete became a part of the Ottoman Empire for 200 years. Mainland Greece successfully rebelled against the Ottomans starting in 1821, and Crete followed suit with the Cretan Revolt of 1866 to 1869, finally overthrowing the Ottomans.
Crete was an independent state until 1908 when they voted for unification with the mainland of Greece.
The 200 year long muslim presence is not visible in Crete today. In Chania the mosque is now an exhibition centre. Of course, in 1923 the Greeks and the Turks exchanged populations. Orthodox Greeks in Turkey, who had been suffering persecution and had begun to flee, were swapped with Muslims living in Greece. This meant that Greece did not have, and does not have, a Muslim population as such to this day.
During the period of Ottoman occupation there were several attempts at rebellion and continual resistance by the Cretans. This is a fascinating and detailed story in its own right, but I will leave it there. The greatest epic of Cretan resistance was, of course, during the German occupation from May 1941 to the end of the war. Under the occupation Greece as a whole suffered more than any other occupied country except for Poland, and their resistance was one of most effective in Europe.
I appear to have rambled on anyway. But the point of this, besides outline what fascinates me about Crete, is to look at the culture and the people of the island. This landscape, this climate, and this history has shaped both the culture and the people of this place.
Yes, I love the food here. Nothing can beat fresh Cretan oranges or fresh tomatoes for example. And the olive oil is second to none. I love the music, too, the traditional Cretan music and dance. This does carry a trace of arabic/ottoman influence.
But, it is the people that truly make a place. It is people that truly matter. And the people of Crete are ... well, they are magnificent.
The Cretans are Cretans first, and Greeks second. They are very proud, and very independent. For a 100 generations and more they have resisted central authority, and they still do. They are anarchistic. The most important social unit is the family, and the village. The extended family and the village are often the same thing anyway. They are open, and extremely generous. They love life and they enjoy life. But, despite the myths, they also work very, very hard. They work hard to extract an existence from the world they inhabit, and they play very hard too.
However, I have never seen a Cretan drunk. Yes, they drink alcohol in pretty impressive amount sometimes, but they dance, and they drink a lot of water at the same time. Maybe that's why?
The pace of life is slow, and when a Cretan says they will come on Saturday, for example, you aren't sure which Saturday they mean.
Some people we know went to a Cretan wedding. There were over 1,000 guests and they provided, between them, all the food and drink. There were also a group of young men from the mountain villages, all dressed in traditional Cretan clothing. And, of course, firearms were discharged. At any major event guns are fired into the air.
Up in the mountains you can see where road signs have been used, a lot, for target practice. It is said that there are more weapons on the island than people. A lot were left after World War 2 was over of course, and disappeared into people's homes.
In the remoter villages it can feel as if one has gone back in time by about 100 years, as if there really is no connection with the modern world. That is, until a young man pulls out his iPhone of course.
The people of Crete ... I love them. Funny, proud, independent, fiercely loyal to family, open and hospitable ... anarchistic.
In the final analysis, although everything else I have said is true, I think it is the people and their culture that suits my own personal outlook and views more than anything else.
And, I must include this. A wonderful, wonderful clip:
In that sunshine and warmth the weather fades away as an issue. One can do whatever one chooses without having to think about the weather. And life is much more public, as in so many Mediterranean countries. Sitting in a taverna, drinking coffee, and watching the world go by.
And the terrain of Crete is so special. Rocky. Wild. With real mountains that have remote little villages and hidden little valleys, nooks and crannies. A very special atmosphere. It is, of course, cooler in the mountains, and therefore it is greener. The terrain of the lowlands is very brown in the summer. I love the mountains. To see the mighty White Mountains on the horizon gives me a pleasurable chill, an emotional reaction, ever single time I see them.
The wildlife, too, is fascinating. There are, of course, goats everywhere, but they are not wild. The national animal of Crete is a wild goat, the Kri-Kri. They only exist, now, on three small offshore islands.
But there are birds, my great love. There are eagles, vultures, pelicans, owls, kestrels and many smaller species. As I love raptors it is wonderful for me. To see an eagle soaring in a valley high up in the mountains, that is a very special feeling, for me.
There are no poisonous animals on Crete. There are four species of snake, but I have yet to see one. There is a huge amount of insect life, especially ants, or so it seems sometimes. They fascinate me too. There are several species of scorpion, but the sting of the most deadly of these is no worse than a mosquito bite.
And, of course, cicadas. Some people find their chirping irritating, but I don't. That sound IS Crete for me, in many ways. A dark night, sitting on the terrace, feeling a slight breeze and hearing the song of the cicadas. Lovely.
And the history of Crete, the history. A wonderful, incredible history. It is a history of occupation and resistance, in many ways. I will come on to that.
But first, right back at the beginning, in the misty dawn of time, a civilisation flourished on Crete that was sophisticated culturally and technologically. That civilisation has been called the 'Minoan' civilisation since at least Karl Hoeck used it in 1825, but it is more closely associated with the great archaeologist, and discoverer of Minoan culture, Arthur Evans. He excavated, amongst others, the most famous palace of the Minoan era, Knossos, just south of Heraklion.
Minoan civilisation, and it is not known what they called themselves, was the first fragile stirring, the first 'link in the chain', as it has been called, of the greatest culture the world has ever seen - European.
 |
| Knossos. |
 |
| Minoan Bull |
 |
| Minoan Axe |
 |
| Reconstruction of life at Knossos |
That grabs me. Here, so long ago, the roots of Europe began to establish themselves.
Then, the Minoan civilisation fell, and natural disasters where a factor in this. The civilisation had faded away by about 1200 BCE and Crete underwent periods of occupation and turbulence.
The Mycenaean Greeks were the first conquerors. There appears to have been a period of aristocratic rule and city states. Crete was conquered by the Romans in 71 BCE, for being on the wrong side in a war, and was grouped with Cyrenaica to become the Roman province of Creta et Cyrenaica, with the capital at Gortyn.
Roman rule slowly segued into Byzantine rule.
The island was dominated by arabs from the 820's, for about 150 years, actually becoming the Emirate of Crete. The Byzantine Empire reconquered the island in 961 and expelled the Arabs.
Anyway, I am rambling on. I love history and I never know when enough is enough.
After the Fourth Crusade in 1204 the Byzantines lost control of Crete to the Venetians. Venice ruled Crete, known as the Kingdom of Candia, from 1212 to 1669 (over 400 years). Candia is the city of Heraklion today.
 |
| Candia (Heraklion) |
The Venetian influence can be seen in, for example, the town of Chania today. The harbour was Venetian, many of the streets and street names in the Old Town are Venetian, and the remains of the massive fortifications are Venetian.
The Venetian presence fueled a renaissance in art, of which possibly El Greco is the most well known representative today.
However, life was hard for the Cretans under the Venetians. As non-Catholics (Greek Orthodox) they suffered heavy taxes and not many civil rights. I don't know of any rebellions or resistance by the Cretans during this period, but I cannot imagine that there were none at all.
Then, in 1669, after a 21 years long siege, Candia fell to the Ottoman Turks and Crete became a part of the Ottoman Empire for 200 years. Mainland Greece successfully rebelled against the Ottomans starting in 1821, and Crete followed suit with the Cretan Revolt of 1866 to 1869, finally overthrowing the Ottomans.
 |
| The mosque in Chania. |
Crete was an independent state until 1908 when they voted for unification with the mainland of Greece.
The 200 year long muslim presence is not visible in Crete today. In Chania the mosque is now an exhibition centre. Of course, in 1923 the Greeks and the Turks exchanged populations. Orthodox Greeks in Turkey, who had been suffering persecution and had begun to flee, were swapped with Muslims living in Greece. This meant that Greece did not have, and does not have, a Muslim population as such to this day.
During the period of Ottoman occupation there were several attempts at rebellion and continual resistance by the Cretans. This is a fascinating and detailed story in its own right, but I will leave it there. The greatest epic of Cretan resistance was, of course, during the German occupation from May 1941 to the end of the war. Under the occupation Greece as a whole suffered more than any other occupied country except for Poland, and their resistance was one of most effective in Europe.
I appear to have rambled on anyway. But the point of this, besides outline what fascinates me about Crete, is to look at the culture and the people of the island. This landscape, this climate, and this history has shaped both the culture and the people of this place.
Yes, I love the food here. Nothing can beat fresh Cretan oranges or fresh tomatoes for example. And the olive oil is second to none. I love the music, too, the traditional Cretan music and dance. This does carry a trace of arabic/ottoman influence.
But, it is the people that truly make a place. It is people that truly matter. And the people of Crete are ... well, they are magnificent.
The Cretans are Cretans first, and Greeks second. They are very proud, and very independent. For a 100 generations and more they have resisted central authority, and they still do. They are anarchistic. The most important social unit is the family, and the village. The extended family and the village are often the same thing anyway. They are open, and extremely generous. They love life and they enjoy life. But, despite the myths, they also work very, very hard. They work hard to extract an existence from the world they inhabit, and they play very hard too.
However, I have never seen a Cretan drunk. Yes, they drink alcohol in pretty impressive amount sometimes, but they dance, and they drink a lot of water at the same time. Maybe that's why?
The pace of life is slow, and when a Cretan says they will come on Saturday, for example, you aren't sure which Saturday they mean.
Some people we know went to a Cretan wedding. There were over 1,000 guests and they provided, between them, all the food and drink. There were also a group of young men from the mountain villages, all dressed in traditional Cretan clothing. And, of course, firearms were discharged. At any major event guns are fired into the air.
Up in the mountains you can see where road signs have been used, a lot, for target practice. It is said that there are more weapons on the island than people. A lot were left after World War 2 was over of course, and disappeared into people's homes.
In the remoter villages it can feel as if one has gone back in time by about 100 years, as if there really is no connection with the modern world. That is, until a young man pulls out his iPhone of course.
The people of Crete ... I love them. Funny, proud, independent, fiercely loyal to family, open and hospitable ... anarchistic.
In the final analysis, although everything else I have said is true, I think it is the people and their culture that suits my own personal outlook and views more than anything else.
And, I must include this. A wonderful, wonderful clip:
