Worth a DetourSpinalonga
Lasithi
About 34 miles away
A Venetian island fortress off Elounda, later a leper colony, reached by small boat.
Guide Coming Soon
Venetian Walls
Massive walls around the old city, with the grave of the writer Nikos Kazantzakis on one of the bastions.
- Open
- Always
- Price
- Free
- Time Needed
- 2 hours
- Address
- Martinengo Bastion, HeraklionDirections
- Getting There
- The Martinengo Bastion is a 15-minute walk south of Lions Square.
Why Go
Begun in 1462 and strengthened for a century after, the walls ring the old city for more than 2.5 miles, with seven great bastions. They held out through the Ottoman siege of 1648 to 1669, one of the longest in history.
On the Martinengo Bastion lies Nikos Kazantzakis, author of Zorba the Greek, under the words he chose: "I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free."
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