Heraklion is the largest of the four departments of Crete.
It is centrally located on the island, and is bordered to the west by the Rethymnon department and to the east by the Lassithi department. In the north it borders on the Cretan sea and in the south on the Libyan sea. The surface is mainly mountainous or hilly, 34% of the surface is flat.
The capital is the city of Heraklion (also known as Iraklion). Here is also the largest airport in Crete. South of the capital is the excavation of the famous palace Knossos of King Minos. Near the south coast are the archaeological site Phaistos (Festos) and Gortys.
The north coast is one of the most touristic parts of Greece with the famous tourist resorts of Hersonissos, Malia, Stalis, Agia Pelagia, Amoudara and Gouves.
On the south coast are a number of smaller seaside resorts, of which Matala is the best known.
In the Messara plain you will find many greenhouses around the town of Timbaki, where mainly tomatoes grow. The Idi Mountains runs partly through the department.
In the department of Heraklion it is possible to make beautiful day trips to for example:
It is centrally located on the island, and is bordered to the west by the Rethymnon department and to the east by the Lassithi department. In the north it borders on the Cretan sea and in the south on the Libyan sea. The surface is mainly mountainous or hilly, 34% of the surface is flat.
The capital is the city of Heraklion (also known as Iraklion). Here is also the largest airport in Crete. South of the capital is the excavation of the famous palace Knossos of King Minos. Near the south coast are the archaeological site Phaistos (Festos) and Gortys.
The north coast is one of the most touristic parts of Greece with the famous tourist resorts of Hersonissos, Malia, Stalis, Agia Pelagia, Amoudara and Gouves.
On the south coast are a number of smaller seaside resorts, of which Matala is the best known.
In the Messara plain you will find many greenhouses around the town of Timbaki, where mainly tomatoes grow. The Idi Mountains runs partly through the department.
In the department of Heraklion it is possible to make beautiful day trips to for example:
- Archanes: a beautiful village with 4,500 inhabitants with a lively square with several restaurants / terraces. The area around Archanes is one of the most famous wine regions of Greece. From here, grapes, raisins and also olive oil are exported to all corners of the world
- Hersonissos: a popular tourist destination and is very busy in the months of July and August, especially with young people who go "out of their roof". Hersonissos is originally a fishing village, but nowadays it is an elongated village with several hotels and a busy main road. On the beach and overlooking the sea are the numerous terraces of restaurants, taverns and bars. Around the harbour are most discos, clubs, bars, pubs and other entertainment venues.
- Old Hersonissos: a small cozy village that lies two kilometres north of the "new" Hersonissos. Here you will also find the nice villages Koutouloufari and Piskopiano which offer a beautiful view of the sea and where people who love peace and the Greek atmosphere like to spend their holidays.
- Festos / Phaistos / Phaestos: it is the most famous palace of antiquity in Crete, after Knossos. It is built in the year 4000 BC. on a hill in the heart of the Messara Valley in the south of Crete. This "city" was in the Minoan period the regional center of the whole of south Crete. The famous Festus Discus was found in one of the Festos rooms. This discus is described on both sides, archaeologists have not yet deciphered the texts.
- Gortys: is the second most famous archaeological site after Festos and was originally built on an old cemetery. The first thing you see upon entering is the Basilica of St. Titus. Titus was left here by Apostle Paul to spread Christianity. Gortys is also known for her Odeion and her laws. The Odeion was an indoor music temple. As for the laws of Gortys, they are legal texts from the 5th century BC. written in a Cretan-Doric dialect.
- Heraklion city (Iraklion): one of the largest cities in Greece and is a lively city. Because of its central location, the presence of the airport with good connections to the mainland and Europe and the presence of many hotels, Heraklion is usually the starting point of a Crete trip. The city offers a lot of variety; busy shopping streets, many terraces on squares with various eateries with Cretan specialties. Although at first sight the noisy and dusty atmosphere of the city can cause a setback, Heraklion is a city with character. Make a walk along the harbour, the old Venetian ramparts, the lively market, through the shopping streets, past the Morosini fountain, the beautiful churches such as the Agios Minas and Agios Titos, the large square and visit the impressive archaeological museum.
- Knossos: the famous capital of Minoan Crete, is located 5 km south of Heraklion and was the first and largest city in Greece and throughout Europe for ten centuries. Now there are the beautiful remains of the great palace of King Minos, the villas, the theatre, large jars and the graves. Man lived on this site for the first time about 6000 years BC. in an organized context. The reconstructions carried out by excavator Evans give visitors an insight into the structure of such a Minoan palace complex. He has been digging and researching on that spot for about 25 years. He then rebuilt the enormous palace on those ruins, as he suspected it should have ever looked. This civilization came to a head under King Minos. The beautiful and large Minoan palaces on Crete have all been destroyed. According to the scholars, this happened by a terrible eruption of the Santorini volcano almost 150 km north of Crete. That eruption took place around 1500 BC. and was accompanied by all-devastating earthquakes and unprecedented high tidal waves. Before that time and thereafter, a natural disaster with such a devastating force would never have occurred anywhere in the world.
- Komos: a few kilometres from Matala, near the village of Pitsidia lies the beautiful long sandy beach Komos. Just behind the beach is an excavation (not accessible to the public) of the old Minoan port of Komos. The beach is a protected natural area, because the endangered sea turtle Caretta Caretta lays its eggs here in the summer months.
- Matala: located on the south coast of Crete, at the end of the Messara plain, and is a (small-scale) tourist attraction of central south Crete. Matala became world famous for its unique location between the chalk cliffs, where numerous holes (antique burial chambers) give this place a distinctive look. In the sixties Matala was the domain of the hippies. Nowadays the holes can be visited during the day, but in the evening everything is closed. The village is expanding towards the interior, more and more new hotels and apartments are added. The old village center is now closed for cars. There is plenty of choice of restaurants and terraces with fantastic views of the bay. There are several souvenir shops along which it is pleasant to walk. It is difficult to imagine during the busy summer, but in the winter there are only about twenty residents in the village of Matala! Most people live in Pitsidia, which is slightly further inland. In Matala the "Matala Beach Festival" ("Today is life, tomorrow never comes") has been organized since 2011 and then the hippie times from the 60s and 70s of the last century revive. Because of the great success of the first edition in 2011, it has become an annual event that takes place in the month of June.
- Zaros: a typical Cretan village and is known throughout Greece, which comes from the exploitation of the drinking water in the area, a very famous brand is the "Zaros" water. Northwest of Zaros is the famous lake where trout swimming. It is a beautiful area with lots of greenery. In the area around Zaros are a lot of hiking trails or better said mountain trails where one can walk.
- Fodele: 29 km west of Iraklion, a picturesque village in a valley with orange trees and plane trees. Here the famous painter D. Theotokopoulos (El Greco) was born in 1545.