rete experienced Byzantine rule in two periods: the first of these (330 - 826 A.D.) was interrupted by occupation by the Arabs (826 - 961) and was followed by the second Byzantine period (961 - 1204/10). The main characteristic of the first period was the establishment of Christianity in the island.
		After the Arab occupation in 826,there was much persecution of Christianity and the religion's hold over the island slackened. It was not until 961 that the Byzantine general Nicephorus Phocas was able to liberate Crete and bring it back into the Byzantine Empire. In this second period Christianity gained in strength.
It was at this time that Herakleio became the seat of the Archbishop and churches and monasteries sprang up everywhere.

n 1204 Venetians became the rulers of the island. In this period, Herakleio was renamed Candia and it remained capital of Crete. The Venetian influence in Crete's architecture remained until our days.
When Constantinople fell to the Turks in 1453, large number of Greek nobles and scholars took refuge in Crete. As a result, Byzantine culture and Byzantine art took on a fresh lease of life. The Monastery of St. Catherine in Herakleio was a particularly important center of Byzantine culture where theology, philosophy, music and literature were developed.

		The traditional Byzantine style of painting combined with elements taken from the Italian Renaissance formed a new school of art called the "Cretan school". Among the most famous painters in this period were Michail Damaskinos, Klontzas and Ioannis Kornaros. The youthful works of Domenico Theotokopoulos, better known as El Greco, should also be seen as belonging to the Cretan school.

he Turks after an endless invasion which took place 130 years about, they succeeded to become the rulers of the island. Generally speaking the Turkish occupation was the darkest period in the island's long history. And when the Greek War of Independence broke out in 1821, the Turks in their rage behaved with even greater cruelty to the Cretans. The great Cretan rebellion began in 1866 and lasted until 1868. This was the climax of the Cretan desire for freedom and union with the rest of Greece.
During the course of the revolt, the Arkadi Monastery was destroyed and it became a symbol of the indomitable will of the Cretans to be free. The Arkadi sacrifice sent a tremor of horror round the world. In the end, the rebellion petered out amid incalculable destruction and loss of human life. Fresh fighting broke out in 1895 - 1896, after a period since the beginning of the decade when the old wounds had reopened and violence was an everyday occurrence. In 1897, Greek forces gradually began to liberate the island, with the intention of uniting it with Greece.

		he fighting stopped in 1898. The great powers recognized the existence of autonomous "Cretan State'. Prince George of Greece was appointed High Commissioner over it. However, the struggle of the ordinary Cretans continued, culminating in the Theriso rebellion of 1905. That rebellion led to the eventual union of Crete with Greece. The most recent heroic event in Cretan history occurred during the Second World War, when Crete became the theatre of hard fighting, in the world famous "Battle of Crete".

Photos and text taken from "Crete - today and yesterday" and "Crete - A tour of all the towns and villages" (Toubis Editions)

Previous historic period: Ancient times