The Municipality of Heraklion, Prefecture of Heraklion, Crete, came from the merger of the pre-existing municipalities of Heraklion, Paliani, Temenos, Nea Alikarnassos and Gorgolina, according to the Kallikratis program.
The municipality currently has 245.12 km2 and a population of 173.450 inhabitants. The seat of the municipality is Heraklion and Nea Alikarnassos is the historic seat.
Heraklion is a modern metropolis with strong multicultural features. It combines cosmic life, crowded tourism with archaeological treasures scattered throughout the region.
Just outside the historical center of Heraklion city, 5 km away is the archaeological site of Knossos. During the Minoan era, Knossos was the capital of the island and the most important center of Minoan civilization.
Ancient Knossos grows on the hill of Kefalas, surrounded by olives and vineyards, and next to the Kiraatos river (nowadays Katsabas). What impresses is the space of the palace, the five-storey building of the Bronze Age, with an area of ​​22,000 square meters, 1,200 rooms with two large paved courtyards, workshops, warehouses and sanctuaries. This magnificent palace was built with pioneering architecture, so that it has a warm winter and dew in the summer. The frescoes with which it was decorated are considered to be masterpieces of world art. According to mythology, the first king who lived in the palace was Asterion with his wife Europe and his three children, Minos, Rodamanthy and Sarpedon, who were in fact children of God Zeus.
After Asterion's death, Minos rose to the throne, making the palace capital of the state.
The first to believe the myth of Minos was the archaic Minos Kalokerinos, who in 1878 made the first amateur excavation, with his own money and permission from the Turkish authorities, and pulled out some objects but failed to reach the end.
The English archaeologist Arthur Evans continued, though with a holiday, work and systematic excavations and endless work, managed to discover in 1931 the entire Minoan palace and much of the city. The archaeological site of Knossos attracts thousands of visitors every year from all over the world.
Shortly before Knossos, the visitor faces the famous Kamares, which is part of an aqueduct, built during the period of the Egyptian rule (1832-1840).
Apart from Knossos, the municipality of Heraklion has many important archaeological monuments.
At the entrance of the Venetian harbor of the city of Heraklion dominates the 16th century Koules fortress.
The Old City of Heraklion is bordered by 16-17th century walls. These are not, however, the first walls of the city because according to the excavations it is certified that from Roman and Early Christian times there was a fortified settlement.
Today the walls are in a very good condition and are considered to be great monuments of the fortified architecture of the Mediterranean. Named are the Shamonara Promahonas, the Vittouri Promontory and the St. George Gate, the Gate and the Promahonas of Jesus, the Martinetko Bastion, and others.
The ornament of the city of Heraklion is the Morozini Fountain or the Lion Square, as it is known today, built in 1628 by General Prosecutor Francesco Morozini, who secured the city's water supply.
The Loggia was the Evgeny's Club, the place where the lords were gathering for relaxation, and today this magnificent monument houses the services of the municipality.
The Archaeological Museum of Heraklion hosts thousands of exhibits mainly of Minoan civilization. Its findings come from all over Crete and date from the Neolithic to the Greco-Roman period.
The historical seat of the Municipality of Heraklion, Nea Alikarnassos, was created by refugees who fled to Crete after the 1928 Asia Minor catastrophe. Its name was taken from the Asia Minor area, Bodrum, now called Turkish, Bodrum.