Considered the center of Europe’s oldest civilization, Crete is the largest island in Greece and the 5th largest island in the Mediterranean. It marks the southern border of Greece, as well as Europe. The southern coast of Crete faces Africa; the sea between these coasts and Africa is called the Libyan Sea.
Crete; In the middle of the Mediterranean, close to Africa in the south, to Asia in the east, where three continents intersect. Because it is in a highly strategic region, it has been a place of frequence for many civilizations throughout history. Among these civilizations, those who left the most marks; Venetians and Ottomans.
Except for the military airport, there are two airports in Crete, one in Heraklion and one in Chania, but as far as I know, there are no direct flights from our country. If you are going by air, you can fly to Thessaloniki or Athens; If you are going by sea, you have to choose ferry services to Piraeus, Mykonos, Santorini and Rhodes.
As a special flight was organized for our seminar, we flew directly and our flight was from New Istanbul Airport, which was built on the European side. Built on an area of 76.5 million square meters and started to serve a year ago; In this way, we would have seen Istanbul Airport, which attracted the reactions of environmentalists by coming to the agenda frequently due to the tree trunks, the distance and the birds on the way of migration.
Because we missed a plane because of traffic on the way to Atatürk Airport from Izmit before, and we couldn’t predict the traffic, we set off in the morning in the morning for the flight that would take off at 10.30. Of course, at that time the road was empty and we were at the airport in 1.5 hours. I don’t know if we went too early or because there were no flights at that time, we had our check-in done without waiting for any queues.
Thus, we had the chance to examine the new airport until the flight time. When you look from the outside it is quite a big and modern building but I don’t know what the infrastructure is. According to our observations, there is a lack of health. It seems difficult to find a solution for someone who has a health problem at the airport. Because the area is like a small infirmary given to a private institution, at one end of the airport. It takes 15-20 minutes to get here.
Blue-Flagged Beaches
We spent our first day in Crete with our friends swimming in the hotel’s blue flag beach and exploring the city center within walking distance. Restaurants, cafes, nightclubs, souvenir shops lined up by the sea If we don’t speak Greek, we are in a coastal town in the Aegean. Spouses at the door ‘hadithenize’ style, while waiting for small gifts to remind you of Crete to enter each shop, shin and pinch, mixing the happiness of buying something that will never be used women who live … God of heaven in our country of heaven olive oil delicious Otherwise, we’d buy them with the demijohns!
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I said that there are many places to visit in Crete, not to end in 5-6 days. We have identified important cities to visit in Crete in the remaining time from the sea and the seminar. Narrow and long geography of the island is located in the north of almost all important cities. Heraklion (Heraklion) is the largest city and capital city. Besides commercial and industrial development, Knossos, Phaistos and so on. It is also developed in terms of tourism due to the ancient areas and natural beauty.
Crete, II. Heraklion (Heraklion) was heavily bombed in World War II, and because of its central location, it was rebuilt after the war. To the west of the island is the city of Chania. You know, the real face of a business to come to his senses, to use in the sense of intelligence ‘You see Chania in Konya’ in the phrase Chania. It is rumored that a rebellion in Konya during the Ottoman period was said as a result of the deportation of the people from Konya to Chania.
Like the Venetians, the Ottoman Empire, who wanted to dominate the Mediterranean, conquered Chania (Chania) in 1645, Rethymno (Rethymno) in 1646, but the administration of the whole island lasted for 1669, ie 24 years. Chania is one of the must-see cities when you go to Crete. There are many artifacts from the Ottomans and Venetians, well preserved, but a two-hour drive from our hotel. Since the round trip will be four hours on the road, we chose to visit Heraklion, which is half an hour away.
It is also possible to walk around the island by bus, but we rented a car because we thought it was both time-saving and more practical. It is more advantageous and comfortable to rent a car in almost all Greek islands, especially if you are four or five people…
We set off from Hersonissos and watched the beautiful azure bays and reached the ancient city of Knossos, which was the capital of the Minoan civilization 5,000 years ago. Built as a multi-storey building on an area of approximately 22,000 square meters, the Knossos archaeological site is one of the most famous and must-see historical sites of Crete. Crete is the largest archaeological site from the Bronze Age and used as a ceremonial and political center for the Minoan civilization and culture. The city, which was damaged in earthquakes, was rebuilt. Knossos, estimated to be 100 thousand people, was one of the most important cities of Crete until the Byzantine period.
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