Koules Fortress

At the end of a stone breakwater that guards the old harbour of Heraklion, Koules Fortress is the building that most people picture when they think of Heraklion’s waterfront, on the northern coast of Crete. The Venetians, who called it Rocca al Mare, 'the fortress on the sea', built it in the first half of the sixteenth century, replacing an earlier tower to protect the harbour mouth. By then the Ottoman threat was real, and Candia, as Heraklion was then known, was the most important city in the overseas empire of the Venetian Republic.

The building is compact and sturdy, a square block of limestone with thick walls, rounded corners and a low profile meant to withstand cannon fire. The Venetian emblem, the winged lion of Saint Mark, appears in relief on the walls, the most obvious sign of who built it. The fortress held out during the long siege of Candia, which lasted from 1648 to 1669 and is counted among the longest in history, until the city finally fell to the Ottomans. They used Koules as a garrison, and it later served as a prison and a place of storage.

Visitors enter through a passage into the ground floor, where a series of vaulted rooms that once held storerooms, barracks and cells lead off a central corridor. Some of these now host exhibitions, and the plain, cool interior gives a good sense of how the garrison lived. Stairs lead to the upper level, an open terrace with cannon emplacements and a wide view across the harbour, the modern city and, on a clear day, the line of Mount Juktas inland, with the Cretan Sea on the other side.

The best approach is on foot along the breakwater from the old harbour, past fishing boats and the arches of the Venetian arsenals, which are also worth a look. Waves sometimes break against the outer wall in rough weather, and on windy days it can be an exposed walk. The old harbour is lined with tavernas and cafes, which makes a convenient stop afterward.

From here, it is easy to continue into the Venetian Old Town to see the Morosini Fountain, the Agios Minas Cathedral and the narrow lanes around Lion Square. Today, Koules works well as a first stop for orientation, because from its terrace the shape of the old walled town and its relationship to the sea is easy to see.